Air Force to consider housing F-35s at Choctaw Field

Choctaw Field could play a greater role in the Joint Strike Fighter training program than originally expected, Air Force officials said last week.

That’s fine with Dave Del Castillo.

“Placing military aircraft at Choctaw Field, or anywhere in this area, is good for the community,”  said Del Castillo, who lives on Telford Court in Navarre, about 14 miles south-southeast of the small airfield.  “It’s also good for the Air Force. (State Road 87’s) connecting directly to Choctaw Field offers a lot of advantages. Heavy cargo could be brought by truck without having to impact communities in Navarre; it’s miles from any residential area, so noise wouldn’t be as much an issue; and it could potentially provide employment for area residents.”

Del Castillo spoke Aug. 25 at an Air Force-sponsored  “scoping”  meeting at Navarre Conference Center to collect public input on a supplemental environmental impact study to determine the most efficient implementation of the Joint Strike Fighter training mission prescribed by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act.

Gregory Wagner of Estates Circle was more succinct and echoed many of his neighbors’ comments.

For more on this story, see the Sept. 3 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.