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WASHINGTON — Colorado Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard say they will push to have six helicopters permanently stationed at the unique military aviation training site in Gypsum.
The Colorado Army National Guard’s High-Altitude Aviation Training Site, based at the Eagle County Airport, is the only place in the United States where pilots can practice flying in the high-altitude conditions they see in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Salazar said the military has to bring in helicopters whenever it sends pilots to use the site. He said more pilots could get the training if aircraft were based there.
He hopes to add to add an amendment to a defense spending bill would require the Army to examine the potential cost-savings of permanently basing six new Blackhawk, Chinook and Lakota helicopters there.
Various U.S. military services and allies train at the site because of the region’s variations in altitude, weather and topography, and for the conditions those factors create for helicopter crews.
Expanding military training over local public lands near the site has been controversial. Environmentalists have said increasing flights could disrupt protected wild areas nearby.
The Colorado Army National Guard’s High-Altitude Aviation Training Site, based at the Eagle County Airport, is the only place in the United States where pilots can practice flying in the high-altitude conditions they see in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Salazar said the military has to bring in helicopters whenever it sends pilots to use the site. He said more pilots could get the training if aircraft were based there.
He hopes to add to add an amendment to a defense spending bill would require the Army to examine the potential cost-savings of permanently basing six new Blackhawk, Chinook and Lakota helicopters there.
Various U.S. military services and allies train at the site because of the region’s variations in altitude, weather and topography, and for the conditions those factors create for helicopter crews.
Expanding military training over local public lands near the site has been controversial. Environmentalists have said increasing flights could disrupt protected wild areas nearby.
