USDA to Assist Vance AFB in BASH Program

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Agneta Murnan
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  What do you do with 2,000 uninvited guests for dinner? How about when they show up for breakfast and lunch, too? These are questions the Vance Air Force Base safety office faces concerning the thousands of geese which make frequent visits to the area in search of food.

Invited or not, bird strikes can be devastating to aircraft and crewmembers. Captain Jamie Baugh, acting Chief of Safety for Vance, and manager of the Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard program, recalled a bird strike experience last fall by her husband, an F-15 E pilot at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C. The damage to the air frame resulted in a Class A Mishap, in this case meaning that the aircraft was destroyed or sustained damage exceeding $1 million. Luckily, he was not injured. This is not always the case. In September 1995, a collision of an E-3 Sentry with a small flock of geese resulted in the deaths of the 24 aboard.

The damage caused by wildlife has risen dramatically through the years. In 2004, Vance accrued $50,000 aircraft damage costs. In 2005, that figure rose to $80,000, and in 2006 it jumped to $213,000. The region's three year drought and the recent cold weather have caused flocks of birds, particularly geese, to seek food in areas near Vance in large numbers.

"We need to break this pattern by making the environments unattractive for wildlife," said Captain Jamie Baugh.

For several weekends, Captain Baugh and a small group including Captain Marcelina Werner of the 32 Flying Training Squadron and Lt. Col. Nathan E. Hill, Operations Group Deputy Commander, have made an effort to scare off the resting geese close to the airfields with pet dogs and "bangers and screamers." This method involves pyrotechnics that produce whistling noises which ward off birds within earshot. This method results in the flock breaking into smaller, 100-200 goose flocks.

Every day, Vance uses bird cannons and airfield drive-arounds to scare off wildlife in the immediate area of the runways. In the spring of 2004, Vance had an airfield burn, a less expensive method than the use of chemical pesticides, to make the grassless runway areas less attractive for birds and wildlife. Because of the three year drought conditions, burn bans in the area have ruled out this option.

The Vance safety office will gain two full time professionals contracted from the United States Department of Agriculture from mid February until mid April, to assist with the BASH program. Vance is the only Air Force Education and Training Command base that does not have a full time wildlife biologist on staff, reported Captain Baugh. She is hoping that this two month trial period will lead to a full time position for Vance.