Dangerous Jet Combat Training over Tohono O'odham Nation Endangers O'odham

Tohono O'odham were not informed of jet combat training overhead during the last two weeks, or that the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems had built an 11th spy tower in the heart of the Tohono O'odham Nation

By Brenda Norrell

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April 3, 2023

GU-VO District, Tohono O'odham Nation -- Jet combat fights above the Tohono O'odham Nation the past weeks endangered the lives of O'odham, who were not informed. The jets were identified as being owned by the private training company, ATAC, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, which uses second-hand jets. It is not the U.S. military.

The company, ATAC, based in Virginia, flew out of Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix and engaged in simulated air combat over the Tohono O'odham District of Gu-Vo numerous times. ATAC has air combat training contracts with the U.S. Navy, Marines and Air Force.

"Living out here on the land, we are not fully informed, and we have not given permission for them to fly over us," said Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, who lives in Gu-Vo District.

Rivas points out the high risk for O'odham who live on the land, pointing out the extreme danger for O'odham. Due to the remote area, there are slow responses to fuel spills and crashes.

"Constant sonic booms over Ali Jeg'k village along the US/Mexico border have shaken the ground of the entire valley. My adobe brick house has many cracks and the roof seal to the walls are cracked from the sonic booms," Rivas said.

"The effects on the people, animals, insects, and plants must be evaluated by experts to document the impacts and alteration, especially the health effects on people in the village."

Tohono O'odham could see the jets engaged in battle overhead but were given no information.

Why are jets endangering Tohono O'odham with this continual jet combat fighting?

The Airforce has the Goldwater Bombing Range and other areas for this. The Barry M. Goldwater Complex is a training range for U.S. and allied pilots, and consists of 1.9 million acres of Sonoran Desert, southwest of Luke Air Force Base, between Yuma and Tucson.

Jet fighter training crashes have already ended in death for the foreign military being trained in southern Arizona, including an Iraqi pilot in 2017, and a pilot from Taiwan in 2016. In 1997, a woman jet pilot was killed in a crash at Goldwater Bombing Range, west of the Tohono O'odham Nation. ATAC has a history of crashes during jet training exercises.

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