Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley ' Delta Utah S2000 In out of countv -6 months S1300 tin Advance) Copy 50c Senior Citizens fSS and Oitiarl SI 800 v Commentary iL That is not possible Too many questions remain Answers must be sought however in view of the electronic battlefield the Air Force proposes to build in the West Desert The primary question Is the project a threat to public safety? BLM House Range Resource Area Manager Rex Rowley wrote to Hill Air Force Base officials May 24 1988 to “find out why military pilots are firing live ammunition into the floor of the West Desert" The answer sent June 16 1988 by Maj Francis C Bates provides insights into the primary question "We have looked into the matter and think we can tell you probably what happened but not w hen or by w horn" B ates said "The local explosive ordnance disposal unit and the munitions item managers located at Hill AFB all believe from the corrosion and markings on the shells that they have been in the dirt for over ten years" he said The shells were manufactured in 1968 The c wings are brass “It should be noted Iso that brass casings are very un usual in modem aircraft as the Air Force Heel cartttjfl about terf rootinciy erff years ago" he said “They are unique cartridges in that they are special high pressure test (HPT) rounds that were manufactured to test new or rebuilt tail gun barrels in the B52-model" Bates said "The technical orders we consulted indicate that the HPT round only went to the B52-aircraft model the brass and “In the B52-its attached cartridge belt are ejected from the aircraft via an ejection chute after firing There is a noted problem with the ejection chute and it is very common for rounds to stick in the chute and not eject properly People we talked to who are familiar with this system say that the impact of landing or turbulence in the air is often enough to cause the spent cartridges to loosen in the chute and fall out If a B 52 was the culprit in this event it is entirely possible that low level turbulence in the area caused the cartridge to fall out into the T ulc Spring area The actual shell dislodged may have been fired hours or days earlier "The exact reasons why cartridges were found in the Tulc Springs area are unknown as is the question of who fired them There seems to be no way to track the origin of these cartridges any fur- ther" The letter concluded: “We have passed this information onto the parent headquarters of each wing expressing your concern and restating the Air Force regulations that require delivery of live We ordnance only over DOD land sincerely regret this incident as an to public safety and if done a dear violation of Air deliberately Force regulations We will continue to remind flying units of the regulations and make every attempH to find those who violate the rules” There the matter rested until ths writer found 20mm shells a year later Rowley Air Force officials and others were contacted The Bates latter oromotad as manv questions as it answered Those questions have been put to Air Force offiSome of them remain unancials swered For example did the shells get there accidentally or deliberately? Bates wrote at length that “it was entirely ptossible" that discharge of the But in the last shells was accidental paragraph of his letter he said it could have been “done deliberately" He also said me shells may have been fired “hours or days earlier" B ut not minutes or seconds? Military oversight bill killed A bill requiring federal agencies to get a license from state government before any new military projects can be built in Utah was (defeated in committee The proposed Military Impacts Planning Act House Bill 182 was tabled in the House Trans pwrtirion and Public Safety Committee Friday Jan 19 It was also denied a committee recommendation for study during the interim between legislative sessions The bill was sjxmsorcd by Rep Blaze Wharton a Salt Lake City Democrat It sought a system stic approach for submitting preliminary statements from the military about the environmental scop of new projects such as the electronic battlefield the Air Force wants to build in the West Desert of Millard and Juab Counties Slate licensing for such projects would also be required “Everyone in Utah including the Governor the Legislature and the congressional delegation wu caught by surprise in August 1987 when the Air Force announced its objections to Utah’s Supercollider sites because thoae sites conflicted with Air Force plans to develop an Electronic Combat Test and Training Range nearby" Wharton wrote in a fact sheet on the bill “Air Force objections to Utah’s SSC bid may well have knocked Utah out of contention for the dollar project If the Military Planning Act were law such misunderstanding and lack of formation exchange would be less likely in future statefederal rela tions" Steve Erickson spokesman for Downwinders a military watchdog group advocated passage of the bilL Rep Joseph Moody Delta who sits on the 18 member committee said it was defeated unanimously It wu opposed by representatives of business and the military among others Opponents predicted bureaucratic snarls and the possibility that it might prove unconstitu“You’d have all kinds of tional legally" Moody said problems “and lawsuits I'm sure That I think issue was probably the as far as the committee wu con- cerned" Opponents said it was not needed since Environmental Impact Statements are already required They also said it would jeopardize potential defense contracts Erickson said passage of the bill would not effect Air Force contractors “They were doing this to send the message to the DoD (Department of Defense) that whenever you get into trouble out here we'll help" he said “so keep the gravy train flow- ing" Opponents included Larry Lunt former Republican Chairman Berry Webster director of airspace management for the Utah Test and Training Range a spokesman for Tooele Army Depot and a representative of Hercules a major defense contractor "The basic message from the committee" Erickson said “is that the legislature would rather keep it's head in the sand than deal with an obvious problem" by Ken Rand “I wouldn’t think so but I couldn’t say for sure "Major David Jeffries said “The normal firing range for the B 52s is on our range which is way north of you guys" Jeffries is Director of Operations for the 6501 st Range Squadron at Hill AFB The unit administers operations of the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) are not staged at Hill AFB They use the UTTR from bases elsewhere in the nation as do a variety of other aircraft Ed Trainor airspace manager for the 388th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Hill AFB said weapons are never fired off “We’re always within a range stricted airspace to do that" he said “Those are the regulations” Trainor said use of scorable targets accounts for rounds expended on a training mission by his squadron’s lots “If there were any major they would know" he said their guns for “They only (target practice)" he said “and whenever they’re done they ‘safe’ their guns and that's a check that they have to do There’s no way you can fire once the guns have been ‘safed’” But Jeffries said not all targets are scorable and that it is possible rounds without the Air can be fired Force knowing about it "There's ways that possibility" he said “but the is of that not very great" probability How can pilots miss a target the size of the UTTR by 35 ihilcs? How can they miss with the frequency demonstrated at Fallon? And what of the at buquerque? Does the fault lie with poor training poor equipment poor management or somewhere else? Can there be any acceptable explanation at all for the existence of ordnance? Another question: If accidental ejection of spent shells is “very common" then there should be record of shells elsewhere particufalling from larly at bases where they fly more often Bates did not mention such incidents in his letter a study of the media record failed to reveal any and the question put to an Air Force official at Hill AFB last summer has not yet been answered So what does it mean if such incidents are not common? Docs it mean that Bates lied to the BLM or that he was himself misinformed? What other explanations are possible? Another question: If Bates can so precisely name the typse of round (HPT) its year of manufacture (1968) and say that “technical orders we consulted" put bombers to test them on board tail gun barrels how can he be so imprecise as to say the Air Force cannot determine “when or by whom" the deed was done? If those “technical orders" exist wouldn't the flight orders or similar reference also exist? A finite number of tail gun tests were conducted involving a finite number of airmen in a specific period of time Certainly records get destroyed but the “technical orders" were not and Bates made no reference to looking for other records The question put to an official at Hill AFB last summer remains unanswered If live The question is not petty rounds could have been fired on public lands as Maj David Jeffries admits in what Bates called “a clear violation of Air Force regulations" the Air Force should make whatever effort is needed to get answers Whatever the answer are they can’t If the shells be very comforting accidentally that emerged from a speak volumes about lack of safety If they came out deliberately that speaks volumes about lack of training If the tailgunner was unaware that shells were falling out of his gun that says something about lack of safety If he was aware and didn't rcpxxt it that says something about lack of training Even worse if he did report it and no action was taken what can be said of the See Questions Thursday January 25 1990 itS'Gfex at 7:30 PM Delta High Auditorium Mi-C- county S20 00 out of county USPS 0 Vol 80 No 28 January 25 1990 Hansen: AF project expendable Questions unanswered on proposed battlefield This is the second of ( Ed Itor’ssote: article about military orda nance found on public lands) It was hoped that this article could conclude by explaining why off range ordnance exists and discuss ways to stop In page 2 i Representative Jim Hansen said he believes the electronic battlefield the Air Force wants to build in the West Desert “may be abandoned or put on the shelf” Hansen is a member of the House Armed Service Committee He said last week that the Cold War thaw is prompting Congress to cut defense spending and priorities “We all have to realize there will be some tightening and cutting back Some of the new ideas may have to be abandoned or put on the shelf for a while" Hansen said “Some things will have to be abandoned pigeon holed or funded in smaller increments” Hansen said he and his colleagues who sit on the procurement subcommittee will probably sec the range as expandable That means all the controversy about it in Millard and Juab counties is probably just a tcmpicst in a teapot" he said "I don't think the electronic battlefield has any champions back there (in Washington)” Hansen said “It’s not that high a priority” Steve Erickson spokesman few military watchdog group Downwinders said he was "glad to hear it But by no means are we going to let up the pressure just because there’s no constituency for it in Washington” The Air Force is not letting up either A Draft Environmental Impact Statement is being prepared for public release Feb Hansen said the range designed to t test equipment in combat dilions would be useful in wartime but less so during a time of peace when it is completing with other projects for funds "If I had a son driving a tank or plane” he said “I guess I would like him to have training on that range But in the mode we’re in now I wonder if it will survive I would much rather cut that than operations at Hill (Air Force Base) or Tooele (Army Depot)” H ansen said those programs should be in good shapie “I don’t pierceive as much trouble for Hill Tooele and Dug way (Proving Ground) as other places across the nation" he said "There may be some structuring and some freezes but I don't anticipate anything substantial We have a lot of good missions in Utah" Hansen said members of Congress are debating how to spend what is being called “the picace dividend" money that can be saved from defense spiending cuts as the Cold War ends Projected cost of the electronic combat range is S25 billion Hansen said Proponents say they believe defense contractors would move to Utah to be near the range particularly ne ar Hill AFB Ojjpxments have expiressed concerns including questions about safety and noise and the fear that the Air Force will try to lock up large chunks of public lands for the project Hansen said his opinion was not influ“A few pieople have enced by opipwnents been very legitimate protesters" he said “for example Gary Rose (president of the Utah Cattlemen's Association) But a lot of them are hot dogs They haven't come up with really legitimate yet This whole thing has been kind of a tempest in a teapot" Dove trial postponed The trial of Deon Dove accused of 56 different criminal counts has been until summer Dove a former grocery store chain owner was to have gone on trial in Provo The trial is no w scheduled for Jan before 4th District Court June Judge Boyd L Park An official with the Utah County Attorney's office said prosecutors are having problems subpoenaing the large number of witnesses who will be called to testify in the case See Dove page IfMRGO The Theatre Mask Ensemble Fillmore's first baby of the new decade is Crystal Dawn Edison of Meadow The first baby of the new decade born at the Fillmore Community Medical Center arrived Monday Jan 15 at 8:35 pm f rystal Dawn daughter of Mike ar Dclinda Edison of Meadow weighed 8 oz and wu 21 inches lor' when born She is the family's first chili pxmnds Everest team descends from Mt Timpanogos A group of Utah climbers ended a camp atop of Ml when they descended Timpanogos Monday Jan 15 The group began the camp on Jan as part of their training to propare to climb Mt Everest the world’s highest mountain in 1992 Craig Bishop of Hinckley is part of Utahns on Everest team the led by Doug Hansen of Pleasant Grove Bishop is director of training for the team Most team members live on the Wasatch FronL The Timp e x pied lion was designed for the Everas a partial est expicdition “It’s really a good logistical shakedown in as severe a winter climate as Utah can provide" team member Bob Western said Weather ranged from sunny to exAt one pxiint winds tremely severe gusted to 60 mph and the temperature dropipied to seven below zero The camp was buried under several feet of snow at least twice The descent itself was made during a snowstorm The camp consisted of two dome tents It was located on the west slop of Timp near Ml Baldy about 250 feel t below the summiL It was visible by telescopic from the valley floor 7000 feet below The camp was occupied for all but one night of the period "Keeping someone here for two weeks has been a hassle" team doctor Keith Hooker said Members rotated and shuttled pieriodically from caches just as it will be done on the SevEverest expedition eral hundred pxmnds of equipment was taken up the slopes of Timp to caches along the way Bishop made several shuttles up and down the mountain including six trip's before Jan to cache equipment and He was accompanied by his food dog Rascals when he went back up on Monday Jan 8 “When I started” Bishop told thc Provo Herald by cellular telephone: from the camp “it looked like it would be a piretty good day but then the wind and snow came and I had to stop and pul on every piece of clothing that I had with me winds “There was probably and Rascals had a pretty rough time I) could only see about 20 feet ahead was beautiful too" B ishop and Rascals spxnt the night of Wednesday Jan 10 alone at the high camp Dr Hooker joined them the fol- i lowing day Valuable lessons were learned "Communications have been interest-- i ing“ team public relations director Corey Child said “and we’ve learned a lot atiout our meals We’ve learned a lot about each other and keeping a campu established like this" Those at the camp used radios and cellular phones to keep contact with team members of the floor of the valley They even occasionally provided weather reports for In addition to logistical expertise Lhe Timp expedition also provided the team with publicity Provo Dally Herald repxirter Patrick Christian filed several stories from the camp Deseret News repxirter Robert Rice and KSL repxirter Doug Miller also visited the camp Gov Norm Bangcrtcr has signed a proclamation in supipiort of the expedition which will cost about S500000 Much of that will come from pirivate donations Child said The team also hopes to have another 15 members by the fall of 1992 Meanwhile continues training Members have already climbed Mt Rainier in Washington and Ml Orizaba in Mexico Bishop and three olher team members will take on Aconcagua in South America Feb 18 Ml McKinley in Alaska is on the lisL by Ken Rand 3 Sponsored by the West Millard Cultural Council Tickets: $300 each or $1500 a family i |