FORT SMITH, Ark. — As the 188th Wing Arkansas National Guard gears up to host Polish fighter jets this December, the base hosted a town hall on Nov. 21 in an effort to keep the public informed.
"I wanted to pull some of my brightest and best leaders out here today so that they could talk and engage with the community because it is extremely important," 188th Deputy Commander Kipp Parker said. "They've been so supportive, and we need to take the time to get back out in front of them and answer their questions."
Among those questions are clear concerns about noise control, air space, and the growing guard base.
"There is a concern when you see new things show up, it's always an unknown. And the whole point of this was to get the information out there and answer those questions. I hope that people walked away feeling informed, but also that they didn't leave any questions," Parker said.
The sound of fighter jets in Fort Smith is familiar to long-time resident H. C. Varnadore for a special reason.
"Well, I flew it," Varnadore said. "I made the noise. I was flying F-4s in the community here. My dad was one of the first pilots in this unit, so we go all the way back to the formation of the 188th. It was the 184th back in those days."
The retired lieutenant colonel served 28 years in the Air Force. Now, he is invested in how the F-35 program will impact his home and community.
"It's going to become a reality when your windows shake, and when you're sat in the backyard and you can hardly talk to your neighbor because of the jets flying over," Varnadore said. "That's just the reality and that's a sacrifice that we'll make for the mission."
That's why Varnadore showed up Thursday for the first town hall to hear what leaders of the 188th had to share.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.