Submit a claim if the F-35 hurt you

The federal “National Guard Claims Act” allows you to receive monetary compensation if you timely submit a claim for pain, injury, or property damage--or for work or business loss. Here is how.

If you felt pain, if you were injured, or if your property was damaged by one or more F-35 training flights you can submit a claim. If the flights interfered with your work or if your business lost value you can submit a claim.

A few days ago, I was shocked to read about “The military claims act” while reading a circuit court decision: Federal statutes “provide compensation to victims of military errors or misconduct, but the compensation comes from the public fisc rather than private pockets. For example, the Military Claims Act provides that the Judge Advocate General of each service may award up to $100,000 from the Treasury to any person injured by the military.”

The National Guard Claims Act is one of the parts of the Military Claims Act, and civilians hurt by Guard misconduct, such as training with F-35 jets in cities in violation of their own regulations, are eligible for such compensation.

By intermingling F-35 jets with densely populated areas the Vermont Air National Guard violates Department of Defense Directive 2311.01 and Air Force Policy Directive 51-4, both of which require military forces to locate their operations separate and apart from populated areas.

Important Time Limit

To be eligible for compensation you must submit your claim within 2 years of the date the claim “accrued.” Under the applicable US regulation, the claim “accrues when the claimant discovers or reasonably should have discovered the existence of the act that resulted in the claimed loss.”

Repeated exposure

Although the first F-35 jets arrived on September 19, 2019, nearly 3 years ago, the act that resulted in your claim may not have been the arrival of those very first F-35s. For example, the Air Force stated in Volume II of the EIS that it takes “repeated exposure” to military aircraft noise at 114 decibels to cause hearing loss. So it may have taken months before you experienced hearing loss and first noticed a decline in your hearing or a decline in your ability to distinguish words in a noisy environment, or that you started to hear a ringing or buzzing in your ears.

Similarly for stroke or a heart condition.

Similarly, it may have taken time before you discovered a loss of your child’s ability to learn in school or discovered that your child had an attention problem.

If the date you reasonably discovered your injury was at any time within the last 2 years you are within the time limit for submitting a claim. Same for any cracked walls or other property damage. For any injury or damage—or for any further injury or damage you discover in the future, you have 2 years from that discovery to file your claim.

If you felt pain, you were injured

The pain or injury that you, or someone in your family, experienced could have been temporary or it could be permanent. It could have been mild or it could be severe. If it was mild and temporary it has a lower dollar value. If severe and permanent, or if you were repeatedly hurt or injured by the F-35, it has a higher dollar value.

For your form to be valid, you must record an “amount of claim.” If you decide that your pain or your injury or your property damage has a dollar value that is more than zero, you have a claim and you can submit the form for compensation.

Each time you are hurt is a new injury

Each F-35 training flight in a populated area is a separate act of military misconduct. If you or your child experiences pain, panic attacks, or other trauma from an F-35 training flight you can submit a claim each time (so long as you submit within 2 years of the flight that caused the pain). If in the future you are subjected to more pain from an F-35 training flight you can submit another form for that pain or injury, too.

Link to the 1-page claim form

Here is what you need to do to submit your claim for pain, injury, suffering, or property damage for yourself or your for minor child: Fill in completely and send in the SF 95 form. It is a 1-page form and takes just a few minutes to fill out. Provide substantiation along with the form.

Here is a link to the SF-95 form. To ensure that your claim is promptly received and dated, scan and email the signed 1-page form and any supporting documents to Senior US Airman Kayla Stevens <kayla.stevens.3@us.af.mil>. Then mail the originals to: Air Force Judge Advocate General, 66 ABG/JA, Attn: Claims Section, 20 Schilling Circle, Bldg. 1305, Hanscom AFB MA 01731-2800

If you have questions

Call Senior US Airman Kayla Stevens 781-225-0061 with your questions.

Such individuals have no decency

Vermont’s top political and military leaders foisted the F-35 on thousands of Vermonters against the will of the people. They did not inform us of the federal law that provides for compensation. They had good reason not to inform us: Telling us would have been an admission that they knew we would experience pain, injury, and suffering. So they both inflicted hurt and injury on Vermonters with the F-35 and then concealed the fact that compensation for the pain, injury, and suffering was available.

Spread the word

But now that the word is out, ask your US Senators, Congressman, and Governor, your state legislators, your mayor, your city councilors, your airport commissioners, and all your other state and local officials to immediately inform all their constituents of the availability of this federal claim for the pain, injury, and suffering, and the work and business losses the F-35 is causing.

A lawyer is not needed to submit your claim. But time is of the essence. The 2 years could have already run for some seriously hurt people. But time is likely still available for many others if they are informed about this law now. So spread the word, and ask your elected officials to do so as well, so everyone who lives, works, or goes to school near the flight path of the F-35 or who uses the airport for travel knows that compensation is available under federal law.

Write or call your public servants and demand an immediate halt to F-35 training in cities.

Governor Phil Scott 802-828-3333 Chief of Staff <Jason.Gibbs@vermont.gov>

Vermont National Guard's Complaint Line: 802-660-5379 (Note: the Vermont Guard told a reporter that it received over 1400 noise complaints. But the Guard won’t release what people said).

Submit your report & complaint to the still active online F-35 Fall 2021-Summer 2022 Report & Complaint Form: https://tinyurl.com/5d89ckj9

See all the graphs and in-your-own words statements on the F-35 Spring-Summer 2021 Report & Complaint Form (513 responses): https://tinyurl.com/3svacfvx.

See links to the graphs and in-your-own words statements on all four versions of the F-35 Report & Complaint Form since Spring 2020, with a total of 1670 responses from 658 different people plus 77 more so far on the form that will remain active through summer 2022.

Senator Patrick Leahy 800-642-3193 Chief of Staff <john_tracy@leahy.senate.gov>

Senator Bernie Sanders 800-339-9834 <Senator@sanders.senate.gov>

Congressman Peter Welch 888-605-7270 Chief of Staff <patrick.satalin@mail.house.gov>

Burlington City Council <citycouncil@burlingtonvt.gov>

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger <mayor@burlingtonvt.gov>

Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott <klott@winooskivt.org>

S. Burlington City Council Chair Helen Riehle <hriehle@sburl.com>

Williston Selectboard Chair Terry Macaig <macaig@msn.com>

VT Senate President Becca Balint <bbalint@leg.state.vt.us>

VT House Speaker Jill Krowinski <jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us>

Attorney General TJ Donavan <DonovanTJ@gmail.com>

States Attorney Sarah George <Sarah.fair.george@gmail.com>

Vermont’s Federal Prosecutor <usavt.contactus1@usdoj.gov>

Adjutant General Brig Gen Gregory C Knight <gregory.c.knight.mil@mail.mil>

Major J Scott Detweiler <john.s.detweiler.mil@mail.mil>

Wing Commander Col David Shevchik david.w.shevchik@mail.mil

Vermont National Guard Inspector General Lt. Col. Edward J Soychak <edward.soychak@us.af.mil>

US Air Force Inspector General Lt. Col. Pamela D. Koppelmann <pamela.d.koppelmann.mil@mail.mil>

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall <Frank.Kendall@us.af.mil>