Out of nowhere, they appear above the tree line. One moment, they’re specks in the distance; the next moment, they’re screaming overhead and disappearing just as quickly. People have called it “the sound of freedom.”
Beaufort County residents may be hearing “freedom” ring on a regular basis when the Navy reopens the Long Shoal Naval Ordnance Area, more commonly referred to as the Stumpy Point Bombing Range in Hyde County, which has been closed to military operations since 2003.
As in the past, several branches of the armed forces will be using the facility for training missions.
“You’ve got F–18s out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia; F–15s and F–15Es from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base; and AV8B Harriers from Cherry Point,” said Mike Maus, chief deputy of public affairs for U.S. Naval Air Force Atlantic in Norfolk, Va.
The fixed-winged aircraft from the various bases will make practice bombing runs to an offshore target designed to resemble the type of vessel forces could potentially encounter overseas — a missile-equipped patrol boat.
Initially, Maus said, “Helicopters with machine guns will be shooting (at the target) from 1,000 feet or below,” however, the SH 60 Navy Seahawks will soon be sharing the range with Air Force F–15 Eagles and F–15E Strike Eagles, Navy F–18 Hornets and Marine Corps AV–8B Harriers. The Eagle, Strike Eagle and Hornet are supersonic, all-weather fighter jets, while the Harrier is a vertical/short-takeoff-and-landing, ground–attack aircraft.
Maus said the Naval Air Station Oceana, Va., could begin missions as early as Monday, though he considers it unlikely given that Monday is a national holiday.
“We don’t have a firm start date, but it could be as early as Tuesday,” Maus added.
The Stumpy Point Bombing Range is authorized for air-to-ground exercises using inert ordnance, including water/sand-filled bombs, practice bombs, flares, photo-flash, phosphorous and training rockets.
When asked to estimate the number of training runs per day or week, Maus responded, “There’s no way to estimate it. It’s based on missions and the need at the time.”
The Stumpy Point range first saw action in 1959 during the height of the Cold War, and it was continuously used until 1997 when deterioration of the site forced the Navy to discontinue operations. It had only recently been reinstated when Hurricane Isabel destroyed the target there. The bombing range, R-5313 on Federal Aviation Administration navigation charts, is restricted air space, extending in some areas from the ground to 18,000 feet.
From their home bases, the fighter jets will fly designated flight paths that, in the case of the military facilities south of Beaufort County, will intersect with the Pamlico River, which could take some getting accustomed to.
The F–15 Eagle, rivaled only by the Air Force’s F–35 Lightning, is known as one of the loudest jets in operation, but Ross Hamory, former director of FAA security and a Washington resident, said the FAA has many restrictions in place to prevent excessive noise pollution.
“It depends on the navigation charts, but normally the very minimum they can fly is 500 feet, and that’s out in the middle of the prairie or desert,” Hamory explained. “In a populated area, there are greater restrictions.”
The FAA directly handles violations of altitude regulations that may also result in excessive noise in populated areas, as the federal agency owns the air space and only cedes control to the military.