Cecil Field

Cecil Field Base Reopening

Jim Edgar

University of Phoenix

COMM/105

Dr. Roberta Henry

August 24, 2005

Cecil Field

Recent events in our community have brought the possibility of Cecil Field Commerce Center being converted back to a military base. This could be great news if the air strip is not in your back yard. But for some, this possibility is not something they look forward to.

I am not unpatriotic about the military. My father was a lifer with 28 years in the Navy. I can understand the economic benefit to the Jacksonville community if the military returned 10,000 military jobs and the addition of civilian jobs (Decamp, 2005). However, if you look at the impact of the negative effects to our community, I believe you will feel as I do.

Some of the negative aspects of Cecil Field returning as a base are community issues. Schools are already overcrowded and with the addition of 10,000 families moving in the area overcrowded class rooms will only get worse. We do not have enough schools in our infrastructure to handle the additional students, so more schools will have to be built. The surrounding roads in the Cecil Field area are already crowded and traffic congestion on the Westside is already a problem. Currently 103rd street is nothing but a parking lot, no matter the time of day. With the addition of thousands more people and cars in the area, traffic will only get worse.

Another issue is the noise. Residents in the immediate area of the flight pattern will have to listen to the noise of the military jet aircraft 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A military jet takes off at an ear-splitting 140 dB; 10 dB over the human threshold of pain (FSU, 2004). Cecil Field will become a permanent duty station for squadrons waiting to be deployed, and will also be used as a training facility for Navy fighter pilots prior to being deployed. Pilots must fly constantly whether they are training to become a pilot or preparing for battle. But the general public may not be ready for the noise unless controls are put in place to help alleviate some of it. Per Anjaneyulu Krothopalli, a professor of engineering and chair of the mechanical engineering department at the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering, "the public may not accept the operation of these military jets so close to commercial and residential complexes unless their noise can be effectively controlled" (FSU, 2004).

Property values are a major concern among many local residents. The majority of residents bought homes here after the initial base closing was announced in 1993 (Global Security, n.d.). The Westside has seen growth in property values and with families moving in since then. Oakleaf Plantation, a planned community of over 15,000 homes and businesses did not come into affect until after the original closing