To the Editor:

I did not attend the community forum held in Montrose by members of Cannon AFB regarding the environmental impacts of the proposed LATN program.  One statement in "From the Publisher" (Plaindealer, Oct 20/26) stands out: "These 67,000 square miles were described by personnel of Cannon as the best thing we have that replicates the terrain of Afghanistan".  I wish now I had been there. This assertion is totally wrong: the proposed LATN area in no way "replicates the terrain of Afghanistan", not even close.  I say this confidently as a geomorphologist and having helped make several 1:200,000- scale terrain maps for the Afghan government. However, the Air Force does have access to very appropriate practice terrain; I cite this in the following section of a letter I recently sent to Senators Udall and Bennett, Representative Tipton, State Senator Roberts, and, almost a year ago ago, to Cannon AFB Public Affairs, and to Lynn Pagett.

.... the LATN area includes the Colorado Plateau and the San Juan Mountains, which terrain is unlike any that U.S. Air Force operations presently take place in or are likely to occur; training in the LATN terrain and its seasonal conditions will not prepare pilots for actual conditions they will face in present and potential central Asian operating theaters.  Familiarity with conditions typical of the LATN terrain would be poor preparation for current real world taskings.  A much better analog for Afghan and middle eastern terrain (including Iran) is provided by the huge expanse of Nevada incorporated in the Nevada Test and Training Range (Nellis Bombing and Gunnery Range), and the (former) Nevada Test Site.  (For example, the Navy SEAL Team Six detail trained for the Bin Laden raid at the Nevada Test Site).  I recommend that the 27 SOW be detailed from Cannon AFB to Nevada at the Creech AFB (Formerly Indian Springs AFB) located about 50 miles west of Las Vegas, where flight crews would have a much more appropriate training environment than southern Colorado, without public objection or environmental risks.  I ask you to exert your influence to prevent southwestern Colorado from becoming a military training ground, and to direct Air Force training to a more appropriate area in Nevada where LATN can more effectively achieve its goals.  Please contact Senator Reid for his assessment of these suggestions.  I think Sen. Reid would welcome an opportunity to help both Colorado and Nevada.

Air Force training is fine, but Colorado and New Mexico is not the place for it.  The 27th SOW should conduct its training where it makes sense.  Given the Air Force's options, creating a new flight training program for southern Colorado and northern New Mexico does not make sense.

Dennis O’Leary
Ouray