James Marc Leas, Cancel the F-35.
On January 7, 2027, Vermont’s next governor can end a grave injustice. The next governor possesses the constitutional authority to order an immediate halt to the F-35 training flights operating from Burlington International Airport (BTV). This is a legal, moral, and public health imperative, grounded in facts the U.S. Air Force itself provided.
The Harm Is Authoritatively Documented and Undeniable
The Air Force’s own 2013 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is unambiguous and its damning. It reveals that training with F-35 jets amidst the city neighborhoods surrounding the runway at Burlington International Airport exposes 6,663 civilians, 1,200 of whom are children, to 115-decibel noise with each F-35 takeoff (Vol. I, BR4-23, BR4-30, BR4-31, BR4-81).
The US Air Force EIS also presents studies showing that repeated exposure to this level of military aircraft noise can cause permanent hearing damage (Vol. II, C-22, C-25). The EIS also presents studies showing that repeated exposure to high aircraft noise levels, like the F-35, can impair children’s cognitive development: It cites studies showing “that chronic exposure to high aircraft noise levels can impair learning,” including “lower reading scores.” It also reports that “Researchers have found that tasks involving central processing and language comprehension (such as reading, attention, problem solving, and memory) appear to be the most affected by noise.” (C-28 to C30). The US Air Force EIS acknowledged repeated exposure, stating that there would be 5,486 takeoffs and landings each year from Burlington airport (BR4-3 and BR4-20).
The US Air Force EIS further disclosed that the affected neighborhoods around the airport in Vermont are disproportionately low-income and minority (Vol. I, BR4-83). The noise contour map in the EIS (BR4-31) reveals that none of the area’s wealthier neighborhoods lie within the oval-shaped danger zone centered on the runway. The suffering is confined to populations least equipped to organize, mobilize, and fight back.
The EIS compared six candidate sites nationwide. Of the six, the Air Force identified Burlington as the worst: It was the only one that showed an increase in the number of people (+2,061) and households (+997) severely affected by extreme F-35 aircraft noise compared to the baseline. For Burlington the baseline was the F-16 using its afterburner for most takeoffs. (Vol.1 p 2-32). All but one of the other candidate sites had fewer people and fewer households severely affected.
Notwithstanding the clear danger to children and adults disclosed by the Air Force, the F-35s began arriving at the Burlington airport in September 2019, and Governor Phil Scott ordered the training with those F-35 jets to proceed.
The suffering the Air Force predicted was confirmed by surveys (pps. 8-10) and news reports after most of the full complement of 20 F-35s arrived in Spring 2020.
Here is a selection of what survey respondents wrote regarding their overall experience with the F-35: “Particularly when working outside in our yard – the takeoffs fly directly overhead and can be painful (causing me to have drop what I’m doing and block my ears).” “The noise is alarming and unbearable.” “Wakes our 9 month old up from Sleep.” “Way loader than i thought they would be.” “4-6 planes one after another. house shook for whole event!” “completely terrifying.” “It feels like they are going to crash right into this house.” “My kids cannot be outside.” “Sound straight out of hell.” “Way louder than I thought it would be.” “House shook.” “My ears were ringing and I developed a headache.” “Makes me feel like I live in a war state and am in danger.” This is just the first dozen responses. Hundreds of people responded similarly.
The damage to ears and brains is not hypothetical; it is a daily reality for nearly 3,000 households in Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, and Williston.
Noise monitors installed by the airport confirmed the 115-decibel noise level for the F-35 anticipated by the US Air Force EIS. Here is a screen shot from the airport’s online tracking system showing the 115-decibel noise level that it measured:
Constitutional Authority Rests with the Governor
People often assume military decisions are purely federal matters, settled and out of Vermont’s hands, an idea that was promoted by the present governor. That is wrong on the specific question that matters most: National Guard training is under state control.
The U.S. Constitution divides authority over what was then called the Militia but is now called the State National Guard:
The Congress shall have Power…To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.
Congress and the federal government control the arming, which is also known as basing and set the discipline, which includes the legal standards for properly conducting military operations. But the constitution requires the training itself to be under state control.
Under the Vermont Constitution, “The Governor shall be Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief of the forces of the State.” As commander, the governor is responsible to ensure that the training of the Vermont Air National Guard complies with the military discipline set by Congress. State law 20 VSA § 421 vests in the governor the power to issue orders through the Adjutant General. That includes the power of the governor to order a halt to training in a location where the governor believes the military discipline is violated. A new governor does not have to wait for federal approval or a court ruling. A new governor can issue the order as commander in chief.
Some may claim that this power interferes with federal basing. But basing and training are distinct. The founders wanted them to be separate. The governor would not be ordering removal of the F-35 jets. By halting the F-35 training over cities, the governor would be doing her or his job to ensure that the training is in compliance with the discipline prescribed by Congress.
The People Have Already Spoken, and they have Been Ignored
The current governor defied the will of the people. In 2018, Burlington Town Meeting voters passed a measure that was on the ballot to “cancel the F-35” at the city-owned airport, with 55% supporting the ballot measure. In 2021, Winooski voters urged the state to halt the training in densely populated areas, including Winooski, with 67% approving. These are not fringe opinions; they are democratic votes in two of the most affected cities. Both votes were ignored. A new Governor is needed who will use his or her constitutional power over the training and give those town meeting votes the effect they deserve.
The Discipline Prescribed by Congress
Some may argue that this is a national-security question that should not be decided by a governor, or that Vermont has a duty to host its share of national training regardless of civilian injury. However, even if one sets aside health and justice, the F-35 training in cities full of children fails the discipline prescribed by Congress and the legal standards that apply to all military operations.
The discipline prescribed by Congress is included in DoD Directive 2311.01 and the DoD Law of War Manual, which bind all U.S. military forces to “comply with the law of war during all armed conflicts, however characterized,” and to “continue to act consistent with the law of war’s fundamental principles” in “all other military operations.” And military operations is defined in the DoD dictionary to include military training.
Under 20 VSA 361, the governor is required to ensure that the Vermont National Guard conforms to the discipline prescribed for the U.S. Armed Forces.
The fundamental military law principles consist of Distinction, Humanity, Military Necessity, Proportionality, and Honor. The F-35 training in Vermont cities violates each and every one of those principals.
- Distinction requires separating military operations from civilian populations. The F-35’s noise and flight path in Vermont not only don’t distinguish, they target homes, schools, and playgrounds in the most densely populated cities in the state.
- Military Necessity is not satisfied by mere convenience. Training with F-35 jets can equally be conducted over unpopulated areas. And Vermont has plenty of unpopulated areas.
- Humanity prohibits using a weapon in a manner for which it was not designed that causes unnecessary suffering. The F-35 was designed for stealth and supersonic attack, not for inflicting 115-decibel jet noise on thousands of children in a city.
- Proportionality requires that feasible precautions to protect civilians. These feasible precautions must be completed before military operations begin. Insulation retrofits didn’t begin until years after F-35s arrived. That does not satisfy proportionality.
- Honor is betrayed when uniformed officers knowingly strike children with blasting F-35 jets. Subjecting 1,200 children to permanent harm from daily strikes with the noise of those jets is incompatible with the uniform’s core ethic.
A Further Dark Consequence of Allowing F-35 Training in a City
The F-35 training over Vermont cities normalizes disregard for the discipline prescribed by Congress. That normalization has real-world consequences: the same Vermont airmen who trained with F-35 jets in cities where they injure civilians were selected by President Trump for joint strikes with Israeli F-35 pilots on civilian-populated targets in Iran starting on February 28, 2026. Whether intended or not, the years of F-35 training in Vermont cities that blasted thousands of civilians, including children, created this pipeline of indifference that President Trump exploited.
The Benefits of Halting the Training Are Immediate and Profound
A new governor who orders a stop to the F-35 training at Burlington airport will deliver transformative benefits:
- Protect children: End the daily assault on their hearing and cognitive development.
- Restore military integrity: Free Guard members from violating the discipline prescribed by Congress while training in Vermont.
- Advance justice: Stop targeting low-income and minority communities disproportionately. Or at all.
- Preserve moral standing: Ensure Vermont airmen are not trained in a manner that makes them candidates for future combat operations directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
- Avoid liability: Shield the governor, Vermont military personnel, and their corporate collaborators from potential prosecution under state and federal law for authorizing harm to civilians, including children in Vermont.
- Restore local democracy: Honor the votes of Burlington and Winooski, giving Vermont town meeting its due respect.
- Oppose militarization: Money for education, health care, housing, and social security, not for wars.
- Stand up for human rights: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” under Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Will the Next Governor Act?
The facts are settled. State authority is clear.
Will the next governor act? Not in deference to Washington like the present governor, but in defense of 1,200 Vermont children and in compliance with the constitutional mandates and with the military’s own discipline that protects civilians. And for decency and human rights.
Each and every voter can take responsibility. At every opportunity during the election campaign voters should demand an answer from each of the candidates for governor: “If elected, will you order a halt to the F-35 training in Vermont?”
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