Liam Beran
Rick Soletski on his porch.
Rick Soletski: ‘Nobody seems to be taking an interest.’
When F-35 jets fly over his home in the Carpenter-Ridgeway neighborhood, near Truax Field, Rick Soletski says “you can almost count the rivets on the bottom.”
For Soletski and other north- and east-side residents, the arrival of these fighter jets in 2023 have confirmed their worst fears: the jets produce thunderous noise and vibrations that shake their homes and frighten their pets. And now, hopes for promised noise mitigation efforts are dashed.
The U.S. Department of Defense in March rejected a request from the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs for $18 million in noise mitigation funding for 162 homeowners near Truax.
Soletski says he’s tried to contact the office of U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who supported the jets coming to Madison, but has gotten no meaningful response. “Nobody seems to be taking an interest. And I can’t imagine 500 constituents in any other part of the state where they’d be ignored by [U.S. Rep.] Mark Pocan and Tammy, especially when they’re responsible for that part of the noise that we’re underneath.”
While the U.S. Air Force had the ultimate decision to place the jets in Madison, the state Assembly and Senate joined Wisconsin’s congressional delegation in supporting the jets. The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce was also a big booster. Only the Madison city council passed a resolution in 2019 opposing the move.
In a statement, an unnamed Pentagon official said Wisconsin could submit another application for noise mitigation funding in the spring. The official did not respond to a question asking why the state’s first application was denied.
Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs spokesperson Leslie Westmont says the department is “committed to apply and secure any additional federal funding for noise mitigation through programs such as these.”
Other governmental bodies are unlikely to step in. Ald. Julia Matthews, whose district contains the military base, says the city likely “wouldn’t have funds” for noise mitigation efforts given its recent budget struggles. Dane County also doesn’t have funding, says Dane County Supv. Yogesh Chawla, who represents parts of east and north Madison. Given sweeping cuts in federal spending, “who’s to say we’re going to get anything,” Chawla adds.
“We put our faith in our elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, to come through when they were making these changes, and they utterly failed to deliver,” says Scot Ross, former executive director of liberal advocacy organization One Wisconsin Now and another Carpenter-Ridgeway resident. “Now they are silent about it. I think we’re owed an explanation better than ‘we’re trying,’ which I think is about the only thing that I’ve seen.”
Though the F-35s usually make only two flyovers per day, the noise from the jets is deafening, as high as 115 decibels. Repeated exposure to sounds above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. By 2027, a Dane County Regional Airport report says around 2,200 Madisonians will be exposed to average noise levels between 65 and 75 decibels — a level “incompatible” with residential land use, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Chawla notes that those facing adverse effects from the jets are disproportionately people of color. According to the 2024 Northeast Area Plan, the area has 6.6% more Black residents and 7.2% more Hispanic residents than the city at large.
During discussions over replacing the Madison Air National Guard’s fleet of aging F-16 fighter jets with F-35s, supporters said the move would invigorate the local economy with thousands of jobs and increase the city’s regional and national profile. The 115th Fighter Wing supports 1,650 in-state jobs, according to the pro-F-35 Badger Air Community Council, with an economic impact of $100 million annually.
Baldwin and Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, were among the most vocal proponents for bringing the jets to Madison, while also frequently mentioning the need and potential for noise mitigation funding.
“Brandon was cheerleading almost as loudly and as frequently as these jets come back and forth here,” says Ross.
Liam Beran
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin supported placement of F-35 jets at Truax.
In March 2023, Baldwin said she was committed to “implementing a plan to mitigate noise for those in the area” when announcing a series of community meetings for noise mitigation planning.
A Baldwin spokesperson said the senator was unavailable for an interview and did not respond to a set of written questions. Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who supported the jets, and Pocan, who did not but pushed for noise mitigation funding, also did not respond to interview requests.
Brandon also did not respond to an interview request. A spokesperson later responded on his behalf with a statement attributed to the Chamber, which called it “beyond disappointing” that Madison wasn’t included in this selection process.
“It is not due to a lack of effort, as our organization and our federal delegation have advocated strongly for federal funds for noise mitigation,” the statement read, adding that Chamber leadership would be in Washington, D.C., in May to “again press for investment.”
Constituents like Ross and Soletski feel they have nobody to turn to. Ross wonders why those pushing the jets’ arrival never raised the possibility that “you may not get” the noise mitigation funding so frequently mentioned.
“We were absolutely sold,” Ross says. Though he recognizes that Washington, D.C., is in turmoil after President Donald Trump’s election and Wisconsin’s congressional delegation has other issues to worry about, he’d still like to see more fight.
The effects go beyond residents’ health. The Dane County Regional Airport recommended in April 2024 that the city of Madison not develop low-income housing near the most noise-prone areas; Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway told The Capital Times that the “complete moratorium,” given Madison’s dire housing shortage, “seems not just unrealistic but also damaging to low-income residents and our community.”
Soletski suggests Madison’s deep-blue politics may make elected officials less fearful of constituent backlash.
“One of the problems we have in Madison with being such a one-party city is constituent service is almost non-existent,” Soletski says. “What are we going to do? There’s no alternative.”
But Soletski plans to keep making some noise and, hopefully, spur some action. If officials are working on a solution, he has a simple request: “Just let us know what’s going on.”
[Editor's Note: This article was corrected to reflect that Rep. Mark Pocan did not support placement of F-35 jets at Truax.]
