Eric Tadsen
The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter jet is the most expensive military weapons system in history — and it could soon be heading to Truax Field. Business, military and community boosters are lobbying for the jet upgrade, saying it is key to preserving the millions of dollars that the air national guard base generates for Madison’s economy.
Truax was selected last December as one of two bases to get the F-35. However, the decision won’t be final until next year. The F-16 jets currently flown by the 115th Fighter Wing at Truax are nearing the end of their operational lifespan.
Air National Guard representatives decline to speculate on whether Truax would close if it does not receive the F-35. But if that were to happen, local officials fear the worst — that Madison would lose a major driver of economic activity.
“It’s more than just the closing of the base, it’s $100 million of economic impact,” says Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.
Proponents of the F-35 often reference a 2015 study by the UW-Extension Center for Community and Economic Development evaluating the economic impact of Wisconsin military installations, which found that Truax Field’s 115th Fighter Wing generates an annual $99.2 million within the state of Wisconsin.
Matt Kures, the UW-Extension community development specialist who authored the study, calculates that the payroll for the base’s 1,505 part-time and full-time employees makes up $45.7 million of this $99.2 million figure. The rest of the 115th Fighter Wing’s economic impact derives from the base’s local purchases of goods and services — including office supplies, utilities and construction — and spending among employees in the community.
A lot of the spending generated by Truax happens in spurts, during drill weekends. As an Air National Guard installation, many pilots and base personnel work at the base part-time by traveling to Madison for weekend training once a month. Truax Field supports around 500 full-time employees during the week, which surges up to 1,500 on drill weekends.
Penny Ripperger, Force Support Squadron Commander with the 115th Fighter Wing, says that lodging and food service spending mushrooms during drill weekends. The base spends between $180,000 and $200,000 each year at five local hotels.
Not included in the estimate of economic benefits is $1 million in tuition payments that the 115th Fighter Wing spends at Edgewood College, Madison College and UW-Madison, supporting Air National Guard personnel currently enrolled in these institutions. The 115th also provides first-line fire protection and EMT services for the greater Dane County Regional Airport, services which the airport values at $1 million annually, according to spokesman Brent McHenry.
If Truax Field is ultimately designated a home for the F-35 jets, it would likely generate another spending bump for the community. That’s because its facilities will need a number of renovations to accommodate the new aircraft, including upgrades for taxiways and ramps, hangar and aircraft shelter improvements, and the construction of an expanded flight simulator complex.
In its budget estimates for 2019, the Air Force Military Construction Program requested $60 million each for upgrades to bases in Florida and Alaska slated to receive the F-35. Contracting arrangements in Wisconsin will not be made until Truax is confirmed to receive the F-35, but in this case, Ripperger anticipates these construction contracts would go to firms based in Madison or Wisconsin.
In March 2018, Walker designated a number of economic opportunity zones throughout Wisconsin, part of a federal tax incentive program to spur investment; the zones were chosen because of their economic need as well as their potential for commercial development.
Within the Madison area, Walker selected the area around Truax Field as the highest priority. While this designation recognizes the economic need of the area, it also establishes the federal investment in the F-35, as well as the potential to develop suppliers and contractors linked to Truax Field, as a major source of economic growth.
Community support for the F-35 is most strongly displayed through Together Truax, an advocacy group co-managed by the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and the Badger Air Community Council. So far, Truax Together has collected the signatures of more than 2,500 Madison residents supporting the F-35.
Chamber president Brandon reasons that if the current F-16s have had a service life of 30 years, winning the bid for the brand new F-35 means extending the 115th Fighter Wing’s $99.2 million of annual economic impact for another 30 years. That makes for a total of nearly $3 billion of economic activity within Wisconsin over that time.
“Truax Field represents $100 million of economic activity, $1 million a year of fully reimbursed tuition at Edgewood, MATC and UW, and 500-plus jobs, as well as millions saved by the county-run airport because they don’t have to provide bomb disposal or fire prevention,” Brandon said. “What is the value of that, multiplied over three decades? To me it’s a no-brainer.”
Opponents of the F-35 have formed a separate group, No F-35 Fighter Jets in Madison, which disputes the benefits — both economic and social — of having the jets here. Group member Steve Klafka, who lives less than two miles from the airport, says that Madison’s east side disproportionately bears the burden of airport noise while enjoying limited benefits.
“I’d feel differently if everyone that benefited from the fighter jets lived near the airport and contributed to making the east side a better place to live, but I don’t get that feeling,” Klafka said. “Seems like the people who are the most outspoken proponents don’t even live on the east side, and some of them don’t even live in Madison. It seems like they’re telling us what’s good for them, but not what’s good for us.”
The cost will be greater than the benefits for residents like him, Klafka says.
“Madison is my home, and it’s been home for a long time. I want to protect my home, and I want it to be a more desirable place for people to live, a healthy place, a safe place and a prosperous place,” Klafka says. “I think the fighter jets don’t bring any of those things.”
Ed Blume, a lifelong east side resident who lives just south of the airport, believes the planes’ moral implications outweigh their promise of economic support.
“We can talk about the environmental impacts and financial impacts and what have you, but ultimately it comes down to what do you as a citizen of this country find moral and immoral?” says Blume, who moderates the Facebook site for No F-35 Fighter Jets in Madison. “The funding of war machines is not worth the benefit.”
Air National Guard representatives declined to comment on concerns over whether community opposition could derail the F-35 basing. But Brandon believes that the supporters will win the argument.
“For the people who are truly focused on the economic opportunity of the north side, we’re with them. We want to see major investments made there, and we are focused on driving investment to the north side,” Brandon says. “I believe the vast majority of the Madison community support it, and as long as people support it, the Air Force will greenlight it.”
This story is part of a series. You can access the full series here.
