An Air Force proposal to lift restrictions on F-35 flight traffic from Eglin AFB, Fla., over the adjoining city of Valparaiso has sparked criticism from the city's mayor and rekindled a debate that began some five years ago when the Air Force first considered bringing F-35s to the northwest Florida installation. The proposal comes as the Air Force is preparing to ramp up F-35 operations at Eglin, which has hosted the Defense Department's joint F-35 schoolhouse since 2009. The document, released in May, outlines several alternative proposals for how the schoolhouse could accommodate more students and aircraft.The preferred alternative would lift the flight restrictions over Valparaiso. While the Air Force is not expected to make a decision until early 2014, Bruce Arnold, Valparaiso's mayor, is already criticizing the preferred proposal, saying noise levels from the aircraft would harm the city and its residents. "The city's not encroaching on Eglin," he told Air Force Magazine in a July telephone interview. "Eglin is encroaching on the city."
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