[W]hen Gov. Phil Scott traveled to Washington on April 9 for a meeting at the Pentagon with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, the trip was not included on his public schedule, nor were there any indications his office had taken steps to publicize it.
However, the following Monday his participation in an Aerospace Innovation Forum in Montreal was noted on the calendar and followed up by an afternoon press release.
The subject of Scott’s Washington meeting was the Air Force’s plans to base F-35 fighter jets at Burlington International Airport beginning in 2019 once the current squadron of F-16s are phased out. The governor has been a long-time supporter of the basing plan.
Scott flew to the nation’s capital explicitly for the meeting, traveling on a military plane provided by the Army National Guard. Those who accompanied him included Steven Cray, the Vermont Air National Guard’s adjutant general, and Frank Cioffi, a Chittenden County businessman who has long supported the basing and is part of the Air Force’s civic leaders program.
According to emails obtained through a public records request, the meeting was described as “positive and productive.” Scott reiterated his backing for the impending basing of the 18 F-35s and provided a “statewide perspective of the support for the VT Air Guard.”
“[Wilson] was very complimentary of the Green Mountain Boys and their mission to the state and nation,” Cray wrote in an email summarizing the meeting. “All in all it was a very good meeting and well worth the trip to DC.”
Cioffi, president of the Greater Burlington Industrial Corp., told VTDigger that he wasn’t sure who called the meeting, but that Scott communicated the state’s support of the planes to Wilson.
“It was a dialogue about Vermont, the Air Force, the planes,” Cioffi said. “They also sat together alone and I don’t know what they discussed, it seemed to be a get-to-know-you meeting.”
After the meeting, Scott’s chief of staff, Jason Gibbs, emailed Cray with a note of support.
“General,” Gibbs began, “The Gov suggested that we (you and I) discuss what else we can do to illustrate and communicate Vermont’s overwhelming support. Let me know when you have a few minutes to catch up.”
Scott issued a statement reiterating his support for the F-35 program on May 18, one day after Wilson testified before a Senate committee that there was no alternate mission for the Vermont Air Guard if the planes were not based in Burlington. The Air Force secretary also said it was “highly likely” the Guard would no longer have a flying mission in that instance.
Scott, whose role as governor deputizes him as the de facto commander-in-chief of the Vermont National Guard, has long been one of its most ardent supporters. As lieutenant governor, Scott organized colleagues from other states in 2014 and 2015 to oppose cuts to the National Guard.
As governor, he has proposed free tuition for guard members and advocated the elimination of state income tax on military pensions. The governor’s race car at Thunder Road features a green Vermont National Guard logo and an image of a fighter jet above the back-left wheel well.
As opponents of the F-35 gear up for another battle over the basing, which may involve a new lawsuit — and in the wake of three cities nearest the guard base telegraphing a clear disapproval of the F-35 — Scott and other high-level officials have been ramping up efforts to project robust support for the program.
The Vermont National Guard has long employed a savvy media messaging campaign around the planes. Before the basing decision was made, Vermont officials encouraged F-35 supporters to attend public meetings, author supportive newspaper columns and draft talking points.
On a national level, the Air Force created weekly media assessments complete with charts and graphs on how the F-35 was being covered in the press. Between April 20-27 in 2012, for example, 27 percent of F-35 stories had a “negative tone,” according to one assessment.
In 2010, Lloyd Goodrow, the former director of public affairs at the Air Guard, emailed Cray about an upcoming interview on a statewide news show. In the back-and-forth, Goodrow assured Cray that he would work with the television reporter to “craft the interview to make sure the right focus comes out.”
An undated internal press document obtained by VTDigger shows that guard officials identified the state’s news channels and reporters who were most willing to “get the [guard] message out,” as well as those with “an agenda.” Vermont Public Radio, for instance, was assessed as asking “hard-hitting questions”, while WPTZ was more “responsive to queries and concerns.”
Earlier this year, after city councils in Burlington, South Burlington and Winooski adopted resolutions against the F-35 basing, Vermont’s political leaders — including the three-person congressional delegation — came out in force and restated their support of the F-35 program.
Around the same time, the guard invited television reporters to the base in an effort to advance the cause. The resulting news segments featured guard members engaged in flight simulator operations, and featured images of model planes and posters bearing the Lockheed Martin logo.
Two other key allies in the F-35 public relations are Cioffi and real estate executive Ernie Pomerleau, who has also been active in the Greater Burlington Industrial Corp.
A week before Scott’s Pentagon meeting, GBIC sent a detailed memo to Air Force Secretary Wilson providing background on the F-35 basing in Vermont. The GBIC memo appeared to downplay the state’s opposition to the planes, characterizing F-35 opponents as “a core group of perennial protesters, many of whom are longtime anti-military political activists.”
The GBIC timeline further asserted that protesters had “manipulated, misused and distorted the [environmental impact] data and sought to instill a sense of fear in homeowners living in the flight path of our airport.”
“Vermonters overwhelmingly support the Air National Guard,” the report reads. “We are proud to have been selected for the basing of the F-35A.”
GBIC has produced numerous reports promoting the F-35 in recent years. In 2012, it commissioned a study that projected no decline in home values from the F-35 basing, a claim that was challenged by real estate appraiser Steve Allen. He said the data set used was “extremely small” and therefore “statistically unreliable.” In addition, the study included home purchase data by the Federal Aviation Administration, which offered top dollar to residents.
In February, the group released an eight-page study by University of Vermont economist Art Woolf about the economic impact of the guard. Woolf’s analysis showed, among other things, that the Air and Army Guard has 3,600 employees and provides $2.6 million annually in fire and safety services to the airport.
While there no doubt are economic benefits derived from the basing, the most recent report included no assessment of the potential harm that also might accompany it, such as a dip in home values or a declining interest in living near the base.
Woolf’s report cites no sources and equates the guard’s economic impact to that of GlobalFoundries in Essex Junction, despite the fact that 71 percent of all guard jobs are part-time. The analysis also portrays an alternative economic scenario as one with no guard base at all, which is far from the likely outcome, as each state is mandated to have a guard base.
After the report was released, Cioffi suggested that without the F-35, “there’s a huge risk” that the base’s Air Guard jobs “could vanish” if the basing decision were somehow reversed.
One economist who spoke with VTDigger questioned the report’s validity because it was “paid for by an outspoken supporter of the basing decision.”
The economist, who asked not to be identified out of concern for ongoing relationships with some of the involved parties, said: “It highlights the positive economic things without touching the potential negative consequences of the basing.”
Woolf did not respond to a VTDigger inquiry for comment. Cioffi said GBIC commissioned the study to “highlight the positive economic impacts in Chittenden County. I don’t see any negative impacts.”
Pomerleau said Woolf was “simply asked to illustrate the entire economic impact of the Air National Guard.”
For his part, Scott in his May 18 statement outlined a perspective that appeared to closely track the conclusions in the GBIC report.
“Combined, the Vermont Air National Guard provides 3,634 jobs for Vermonters — making it one of our state’s largest employers, with a collective payroll that puts it on a scale comparable to GlobalFoundries (formerly IBM)”, the governor said. (The Air Guard employs just over 1,000 people, while the Army and Air Guard combined have roughly 3,600 people on the payroll.)
In recent weeks, Pomerleau has purchased, through his company, Pomerleau Real Estate, seven paid stories in the Burlington Free Press that highlight the stories of Air Guard members. An eighth so-called advertorial will be released in the near future.
A June story, entitled “VTANG pilots look forward to new F-35 fighter jets” features multiple pilots explaining their joys in flying.
“The F-35 is going to make us more effective and survivable in a combat environment,” Capt. Clay Shaner is quoted in the piece. “It’s a tremendous leap forward, and it makes us, overall, a more formidable Air Force to have the F-35 as our baseline airplane technology.”
Pomerleau declined to discuss the costs of the paid content, and a request for comment on advertising rates from the Free Press was declined. Pomerleau did say the effort was to “offset the anti-argument” from opponents.
“I was inspired by the fact that a bunch of misinformation was getting out,” he said. “The antis were demonizing a bunch of families who are really nice people. Our neighbors have been painted as warmongers. And I think what’s missing is a human angle, these families worked after Hurricane Irene, and volunteered on 9/11.”
Opponents have raised concerns about noise and safety and the loss of affordable housing near the airport.
Ahead of Tuesday’s statewide primary elections, the F-35 is seeing some opposition from those looking to replace Scott and, in doing so, become the next leader of the guard. While Scott’s Republican opponent, Keith Stern, agrees with the governor on the planes, Democrats Ethan Sonneborn, Brenda Siegel and Christine Hallquist have voiced some opposition to the fighter jet, if not concrete plans for what they would do to stop the planned basing.
Democrat James Ehlers has made opposition to the F-35 a major part of his platform, having announced in March he would actively push to stop the basing. Earlier this summer, Ehlers brought on Rosanne Greco, a retired Air Force colonel and a leader of the F-35 opposition, as his campaign treasurer. Ice cream magnate and longtime F-35 opponent Ben Cohen also endorsed Ehlers in late July.
“As governor I would seek an audience with Air Force, Department of Defense and Congress to find a common ground and settle on a mission that works for our state, our community, and the needs of the nation,” said Ehlers, a former Navy officer. “I want a mission more compatible with the environmentally sustainable, socially just, peace-based economy Vermonters believe in.”
