Environmental Flight hosts 'meeting of the minds'

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Erik Hofmeyer
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  The 482nd Mission Support Group Environmental Flight hosted an F-16 Environmental Working Group meeting drawing specialists from around the world to discuss a wide array of environmental and maintenance issues regarding the fighter jet from Jan. 29-31.

The conference drew about 50 people, with many arriving from Greece, Denmark, Oman, Holland and Japan. Topics discussed during the three-day conference included pollution prevention, natural resource issues, updates on emerging contaminants and new European Union regulations regarding the registration of chemicals.

Basically, the main mission of this conference was to discuss upcoming issues starting to pop up for the environmental flight and maintenance regarding the F-16 weapon system. It was interesting to learn about all the technical topics that could have an impact on the base, and it offers another avenue to begin looking toward the future, said Anthony Cedeno, 482nd MSG Environmental Flight physical scientist and organizer of the environmental working group.

For example, the European Union has changed laws on the registration, evaluation, authorization and restrictions on chemical substances. This may not seem to matter at first, but the U.S. Air Force has a large F-16 presence in Europe, and this will affect F-16 maintenance, he added.

Dr. Michael Andrejko, 482nd MSG Environmental Flight natural resources program manager, briefed the conference on natural resources issues and effects on military bases, and used examples from Homestead Air Reserve Base.

Among the topics he covered were the effects of invasive species populations on military installations, residential development in nearby communities, and the cumulative impact of environmental issues on a base's military mission.

For a case in point, Dr. Andrejko discussed how open areas such as Homestead ARB have become havens for successful invasive species populations, and how this has affected the mission of Homestead ARB. He also discussed the increased visitation of various bird species on base, which poses safety concerns.

Dr. Andrejko suggested working solutions to the conference attendees including increasing bird harassment activities to clear birds from the areas around runways, and a more active animal removal programs.

In addition to the working group meeting, members from the Environmental Flight attend the annual Air Force Environmental Training Symposium with over 1,000 other specialists to continually learn how to balance environmental stewardship and supporting the military mission.