Vance is on fire!

Flying Safety, Sept, 2004 by Ryan E. Guiberson

It's Friday, 19 March 2004, and another successful week of training America's next generation of aerial warriors is beginning to wind down at Vance AFB. As the last T-37 engine is shut down, the sweeping Oklahoma wind becomes the only distraction from an eerie silence that has enveloped the airfield. Seemingly unaffected by the wind, and with a chilling, calculated calmness, one man quietly surveys the field and sees only the enemies that he has been plotting against for months. With the simple phrase "Cleared to Press" whispered in his handheld radio, his operation to deal his enemy a stinging blow has begun. Glancing to the North, he sees a gray cloud begin to rise into the Oklahoma sky, and flames begin to move across the field, pushed along by the ever-present wind. With a smile slowly forming across his mouth, he knows the battle has begun and his enemies will have no choice but to flee.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

OK, maybe the above scenario is a pretty weak attempt at drama, but a significant battle was waged at Vance on 19 March against one particular enemy--birds! As part of an aggressive and multifaceted Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) program, Vance initiated a prescribed airfield burn to help in the never-ending effort to reduce the wildlife hazards to aircraft. Although the storyline may not rival Tom Clancy, Vance is hoping the results of the burn will, in themselves, be dramatic.

The Oklahoma Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the US Department of Agriculture, provided technical assistance on the actual burn and worked in conjunction with numerous base agencies, including 71 FTW Safety, DynCorp CE, Airfield Management, 71st Communications, Security Forces and the Vance Fire Department. The NRCS provided the assistance at no monetary cost to Vance, and they used the opportunity to satisfy one of their own recurring training requirements. The effort involved some local volunteer fire departments, which also capitalized on the training opportunity. Additionally, Vance DynCorp civil engineering personnel received excellent experience, which will be invaluable three years down the road when the next prescribed burn is planned. The entire operation was completed in approximately three hours, and the only unintended damage was an aging plywood runway distance marker on a seldom-used cross-runnway.

Prescribed airfield burns have proven themselves to be great tools in an effective habitat management program. By burning, attractive habitat features are removed from the airfield environment, and would-be bird and other wildlife populations are dissuaded from calling the airfield home. Vance AFB annually suffers over $50,000 in damage costs due to bird strikes. These bird strikes also contribute to the loss of precious training time, which always seems to be in short supply at a JSUPT base. These costs are significant, and the potential costs of a bird strike, i.e., loss of aircrew or aircraft, provide enormous motivation to deal with the issue.

At Vance, in particular, Bermuda grass is the dominant and desired turf on the airfield. However, annual weeds begin to grow before the Bermuda grass and tend to "suffocate" the development of a uniform turf across the airfield. Additionally, the native grass and weed seeds are an attractive source of food for larks, which constitute over 50 percent of bird strikes at Vance. The varied and uncontrolled vegetation also makes the area attractive to a wide variety of rodents, who themselves pique the interest of raptors such as hawks and falcons. A prescribed airfield burn in the spring effectively destroys the embedded and germinated annual weeds. This promotes the growth and dominance of the desired Bermuda grass, which forms a uniform turf, and thus an unattractive location for birds, rodents and other wildlife.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Although habitat management was the No. 1 goal of the airfield burn, the effort provided numerous other benefits to Vance. Currently, Vance spends approximately $60,000 in chemical herbicides for weed control each year. The airfield burn not only negated the requirement for a large spring herbicide application, but it also destroyed the accumulated thatch on the field that normally hinders efficient chemical application. Early estimates of the annual savings are at least $20,000 in chemicals alone, not to mention the environmental benefits of reduced chemical use. Additionally, the development of a homogenous Bermuda grass turf will only require mowing once or twice a season. This results in an additional annual net savings of over $10,000 in mowing costs!

Removal of the vegetation also allows civil engineering to assess the uniformity of the underlying terrain on the airfield. This helps base surveyors to better determine drainage patterns, rodent habitats, and depressions in the terrain, which tend to pool water and serve as bird attractants. A better understanding of the underlying terrain will serve as an invaluable source of knowledge when addressing future BASH techniques.