Carol Miller is concerned as anyone about what Cannon Air Force low-altitude training flights might do to harm this region’s environment and culture. But, researching one of the proposed warplanes – the CV-22 Osprey – has her even more concerned about safety. She says the tilt-rotor aircraft was a poor design in the beginning and has a poor safety record.

Check the links and documents below to find out more about the Low Altitude Tactical Navigation training proposal.

Click For Full Screen

If you have concerns, return the Air Force comment form and contact members of your Congressional delegation:

Air Force Documents:

Initial Notice Via Newspapers

LATN Overview

LATN Proposal 01

LATN Proposal 02

LATN Q & A's

AFSOC Fact Sheet

NEPA Fact Sheet

C-130 Fact Sheet
CV-22 Fact Sheet

Public Comment Form Due Oct. 4th, 2010

Comment Form



Your representatives:

Senator Jeff Bingaman:
DC Office – 202-224-5521
New Mexico – 505-346-6601

E-mail  – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Senator Tom Udall:
DC Office – 202-224-6621
New Mexico – 505-346-6791
E-mail from website  – http://tomudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan
DC Office – 202-225-6190
New Mexico – 505-984-8950
E-mail from website – https://forms.house.gov/lujan/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Well, not exactly at your gate, but possibly only a few hundred feet above your front gate if Cannon Air Force Base gets its way. How soon is soon? The public comment period on the proposal to train pilots flying large warplanes low over Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado ends in three weeks.

Groups opposing the Low Altitude Tactical Navigation (LATN) program are hurrying to organize in towns and villages throughout the region. In Taos, a group of concerned citizens, including Mayor Cordova, are currently planning to come together on Monday, September 27th. That date could change; we’ll keep you informed. September 27th is a week before the public comment period closes.

If you want to learn the details of the Air Force’s frequent flyover program, You can link up with Cannon Air Force Base from here, download the program description, get the comment form if you want, and send it back. Many have demanded the comment deadline be extended but, as of now, October 4th is comment-closing day.

To learn more, go to the Cannon Air Force Base website at:

http://www.cannon.af.mil/

Click on the LATN documents on the right-hand side of the home page, read all about it, and respond if you want to – before October 4th.

Although Senator Tom Udall supports military jobs in New Mexico, he is not happy with the way Cannon Air Force Base is pushing its LATN program. He promises to get with Air Force representatives and get them to get the information out to the people.


At this point, only 24 days remain for public comment on Cannon’s proposal to fly huge aircraft very low to the ground. Pilots would be training and practicing evasive maneuvering across a large training area covering much of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado, including Taos County.

Your Northern New Mexico Newsroom has the link for downloading the proposal and the comment form.

Go to:

http://www.cannon.af.mil/

On the right-hand side of Cannon’s home page, look for the subtitle “LATN Area Proposal Information.” Under that subtitle are eight documents you can click on, read, and download. One of those is the comment form that, as it stands now, must be filled-out and returned by October 4th.

At this point, Cannon Air Force Base proposes to fly gargantuan C-130 cargo planes and CV-22 Ospreys low to the ground over Taos County. The Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft itself has a controversial history of crashes and fatalities.
But, according to local realtor Albino Martinez, those propeller-driven war machines are just the tip of the spear aimed at Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.
“Bino” is a retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant with more than 20 years of service. He says this Low Altitude Tactical Navigation training is likely a Special Ops program. Sound-barrier-breaking jets may not be far behind.

Your Northern New Mexico Newsroom reported yesterday about Cannon Air Force Base plans to practice low-altitude, high-speed flying over this part of Northern New Mexico. Folks have until October 4th to comment on the proposed Low Altitude Training. But, if you want to know what it’s like, just ask Pat Leahan of Las Vegas, New Mexico.

She is co-director of the Las Vegas Peace and Justice center, and they are right now doing some deep research, preparing talking points, reports, and more. She and many others around Northern New Mexico want it stopped; or at least extended beyond the October 4th comment deadline.

But Leahan says: first, make your comments to the Air Force now at their website. Read and download the material they provide, and make your opinions known now, while you can. Your Northern New Mexico Newsroom has the Cannon Air Force link for you.

Get all the Air Force information about the proposed Low Altitude Tactical Navigation:

Pat Leahan, who is against LATN (Low Altitude Tactical Navigation), says go to the Cannon AFB website  and look at the right-hand column on their home page. There, you will see all the information to download, including where they are in the process of developing the draft Environmental Assessment.

That Environmental Assessment is much less demanding than an Environmental Impact Statement, which Leahan and others say is a must.

The information is in plain language and they even have an FAQ page to download that might answer some of your questions.

Then, if you want to have a say in military aircraft flown low over and between Northern New Mexico mountains, you should fill out the comment form before time runs out on October 4th.

Everything you need to know right now about LATN is on the right-hand side of the homepage of the Cannon AFB website:

http://www.cannon.af.mil/

You can reach Pat Leahan at the Las Vegas Peace and Justice Center by phone at (505) 425-3840. Or, email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The website fighting against the Air Force plans can be found at

http://lvpeacecenter.org/

Maybe you heard a military jet blast through Taos last month. If you missed it, you may have an opportunity to experience that blast over and over again. If the U.S. Air Force gets its way, some of Taos’ sacred places will become official Low Altitude Tactical Navigation areas. Training flights from Cannon Air Force Base are being planned to come roaring through the Sangre de Christo Mountains and throughout Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. The plan is to train pilots to operate at high speeds and very low altitudes an average of three times a day.

The Air Force posted a relatively obscure notice on page B10 of last week’s Taos News indicating the comment period on the program will close October 4th.

Calls made to Cannon Air Force Base were not answered or they went to indefinite hold. Your Northern New Mexico Newsroom will continue to follow-up. Meanwhile, peace and quiet reigns over this part of Northern New Mexico -- for almost another month, anyway.