Vermont Governor Phil Scott wages war against Winooski

A statement issued by Vermont Governor Phil Scott to a reporter for Seven Days effectively admits that he is waging an illegal war against Winooski with the state’s military forces. A totally one-sided war that violates constitutional rights and all law-of-war principles. Vermont National Guard forces under his command are conducting the operation, and civilians are the only ones being battered.

Though the City of Winooski is the primary target, the vicious attacks targeting civilians are not just directed against Winooski. With the F-35, the governor is also illegally blasting the low and moderate income wards in the City of Burlington, more than a thousand affordable working class homes in the Chamberlin School neighborhood of the City of S. Burlington, and residential, commercial and industrial parts of Williston.

While the Air Force Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) admitted a “disproportionate impact on low income and minority populations” from the F-35 training at Burlington International Airport (BTV), it is actually much worse: None of the area’s tony neighborhoods are in the flight path. The brutal F-35 violence directed by the governor is focused on working class, immigrant, and black and brown populations.

The governor’s statement was reported in a Seven Days cover story this week, “Sound Effects: in the F-35’s Flight Path, Vermonters’ Lives Have Changed:”

In response to a request for comment for this [Seven Days] story, Scott said in a written statement that he “unequivocally” supports the F-35 mission and remains proud that Vermont's Air National Guard was one of the first units to be assigned the stealth fighters.

“I respect the concerns of those impacted by the several minutes of noise per day, but I believe the benefits of this mission to our state and nation are vitally important and outweigh the costs,” Scott said.”

Governor Scott thus admitted “costs” to civilians from the F-35 training. Which he downplayed as “concerns.” Scott also admitted a motive for his illegal order to target thousands of civilians for daily assaults with F-35 jets for training: unnamed “benefits.”

Governor omits mention of key facts

(1) The governor omitted mention that the Air Force EIS showed that F-35 training can equally be accomplished from a runway remote from populated areas, and it is merely a matter of convenience, not military necessity, to use the runway at BTV, amidst the state’s most densely populated cities, for the F-35 training.

(2) The governor omitted mention that the Air Force itself admitted that repeated exposure to the 115 decibel F-35 noise can cause “noise induced hearing loss in humans” and can impair the learning and cognitive development of children.

(3) The governor omitted mention of the reports of pain, injury, and distress submitted by hundreds of Vermonters, all of which have been shared with the governor, his chief of staff, other top Vermont officials, and Vermont Guard and Pentagon military personnel. He also omitted mention of another 1400 complaints submitted on the Vermont National Guard complaint line.

(4) The governor omitted giving the names of the business leaders who are getting the “benefits,” and for whom thousands of Vermont families are being forced to suffer.

By submitting the written statement to the Seven Days reporter, the governor avoided facing questions from the reporter. But even the written statement exhibits depraved indifference to the mass suffering he is causing.

Using the F-35 in a manner for which it was not designed

True, the illegal war against Winooski is not being waged with bombs, napalm, white phosphorus, and Agent Orange. Instead, thousands of families, workers, and businesses are being assaulted with 115 decibel F-35 noise hundreds of times a month that multiple US government agencies, including the US Air Force, recognize as producing serious injuries, particularly to children.

At that 115 decibel noise level, the F-35 taking off and landing in a densely populated area is a non-lethal weapon so loud as to cause pain, injury, distress, and suffering to thousands of civilians. Injuries that can last a lifetime for a child who is repeatedly exposed.

Winooski fights back with a weapon the F-35 cannot match

On March 2, the city of Winooski fought back, voting at town meeting to adopt a resolution by more than a two to one margin: “Shall the City of Winooski urge the State to halt F-35 training flights in a densely populated area, such as Winooski?”

Yes: 67.1% No: 32.9%

Winooski thus used democracy itself to strike back at the warmongering governor–a weapon the F-35, with all its armaments, cannot match.

The vote confirmed the mass opposition to the F-35 previously demonstrated by passage of a town meeting resolution in Burlington in 2018 that called for “cancellation of the planned basing of the F-35 at Burlington International Airport.” That resolution passed in Burlington with more than 55% of the vote notwithstanding a $100,000 campaign to defeat it sponsored by a business organization.

Abusing civilians on a mass scale

The population the governor is abusing by directing the Vermont National Guard to train with the F-35 amidst cities is immense: The US Air Force EIS reported that the F-35 especially blasts 6,663 civilians–including some 1,300 children–living in 2,963 affordable homes on 2,252 acres of densely populated cities. Therefore, the F-35 training, conducted under orders from this governor, is more than a mere “concern.”

The hurt, injury, and distress Vermonters receive, even without considering the gross disrespect of town meeting democracy, is enough reason for the F-35 training in a city to be immediately abolished.

The basing decision was federal

The US Constitution divides powers among the three federal branches and also between federal and state governments. “Organizing, arming, and disciplining” the state militias is an enumerated power of congress. As the 2013 F-35 basing decision fell under that arming-the-militia provision, the F-35 basing decision was under the authority of the federal government.

The training of the Guard is under state authority

But the constitution then goes on to say, “reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.” Thus, unlike the basing of the F-35, the training with the F-35 is under state authority. The state, therefore, has full authority to halt the F-35 training in a city. In addition, because the training must be conducted according to the discipline prescribed by Congress, training with F-35 jets in a city is disallowed. By targeting and injuring civilians, the F-35 training in a city totally runs afoul of the discipline prescribed by Congress.

The F-35 training in a city violates the discipline prescribed by Congress

That discipline does not permit civilians to be threatened or injured for training. It includes the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the US War Crimes Act, and Senate ratified treaties, including the Hague Convention, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Each of these US laws includes provisions that protect civilians from military operations.

Under the Vermont Constitution, the governor is the Commander-in-Chief of the Vermont National Guard. In that role, he is responsible not only to maintain their training “according to the discipline prescribed by Congress” but also, under a state law, for ensuring that the training adheres to all regulations for the US armed forces. Those regulations, issued as Department of Defense and Air Force Directives, Instructions, Policies, and Doctrine, add even more protections for civilians.

For example, US Department of Defense Directive 2311.01 states that it is DoD policy that members of the US armed forces “comply with the law of war during all armed conflicts, however characterized.” In addition, in “all other military operations,” this directive requires members to “continue to act consistent with the law of war’s fundamental principles and rules, which include those in Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the principles of military necessity, humanity, distinction, proportionality, and honor.” (p. 3).

Military forces that conduct such military operations as F-35 training in a densely populated area violate each and every one of those law of war principles, as described in the “Complaint to the Inspector General” submitted by 657 Vermonters on October 22, 2020. (The complaint, with slight modification, was also submitted to the Governor).

A constitutional right is being violated by F-35 training in a city

The US constitution provides Vermonters with a constitutional right that is being violated: the right that the training of the Vermont Guard be “according to the discipline prescribed by congress.” Discipline that keeps civilians safe. The suffering of civilians, recorded in complaints by hundreds of Vermonters and admitted by the US Air Force, means the F-35 training in a city is being conducted in gross violation of that discipline. Therefore, the governor’s war against Winooski is illegal and unconstitutional. That one-sided war must stop now. The F-35 training flights in a city must stop now. And the perpetrators, including the governor, must be held accountable.

Write or call your public servants:

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

Vermont National Guard's Complaint Line: 802-660-5379

Add your own report & complaint to the online F-35 Spring-Summer 2021 Report & Complaint Form: https://tinyurl.com/4zjjn39x

See the responses to the F-35 Spring-Summer 2021 Report & Complaint Form (so far 439 responses): https://tinyurl.com/3svacfvx

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>