WIESBADEN, Germany - U.S. military and local Wiesbaden-area officials met Oct. 8 to discuss ways to further reduce noise pollution during the second Noise Abatement Commission meeting of 2014.
"Noise complaints in 2014 are down significantly from 2013," said Col. Mary Martin, U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden commander, while opening the session which included?participation by military and civilian aviation staff, Wiesbaden Mayor Arno Gossmann and other surrounding community leaders, and a representative from the BILGUS citizen's initiative group.
Martin said the reduction in noise complaints was primarily thanks to a concerted effort by Wiesbaden-based aviation units to reduce the burden of noise pollution on the local population.
During the hour-long meeting at the Wiesbaden Entertainment Center, U.S. and German military officials shared data reflecting the decrease in summer flying hours over the past year, alterations in flight patterns around Wiesbaden Army Airfield to reduce noise over neighboring communities, and an increase in aviation traffic at other airfields away from the Wiesbaden area reducing local aircraft training missions.
"We're continuing to make improvements to our practices around the airfield," said Lt. Col. Mark Kappelmann, 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment commander, explaining that through a coordinated effort to manage the different missions by the various units, aviation staff members were able to reduce the number of flying days.
"This year we only used seven nights of flying past midnight between May and August," Kappelmann said, explaining that aviators also took 25 nights off in "payback" for the privilege, as agreed on between the U.S. military and German government. "Last year we flew 14 nights past midnight (during the Summer Night Flying Program) and had 21 payback days."
As agreed upon from past NAC meetings, the local population was kept better informed about the Bundeswehr's oversight of aviation movements in Germany, the Summer Night Flying Program and a NATO exercise -- Jackal Stone -- that brought V-22 Ospreys and other aircraft to the Wiesbaden airfield for training in September.
Uli Soto, USAG Wiesbaden's government relations adviser, said there was a 58 percent decrease in noise complaints from the previous summer.
"It's important to note that the number of complaints went down in the summer months," said Wiesbaden's mayor, thanking the U.S. for using other airfields to reduce local air traffic and its accompanying noise.
Bundeswehr Maj. Sascha Greuel of the German Military Aviation Authority reported that from January to October 2014 the number of complaints was 160 with 91 of those coming from six individuals. During the same period the year before, the Bundeswehr recorded 349 complaints -- 131 coming from five local citizens.
"This is our joint home in Germany -- our shared community," said BILGUS representative Bernd Wulf, saying that he was glad to report that the citizens' initiative group also received fewer noise complaints this year.
"People have told us it's really nice to sit out in your garden -- to enjoy a barbecue during the summer nights," Wulf said, praising the "good working relationship to address issues." Calling the steps taken to alleviate flight noise over residential areas a positive change, Wulf added that it's "important for the citizens to see changes made leading to positive results."
During a question-and-answer session, attendees asked if there were any plans to expand the airfield and when the results of a noise study around the airfield would be released.
USAG Wiesbaden's commander said there are currently no plans underway to increase the size of the airfield. "As far as the installation expansion -- we're not tracking -- there is no airfield expansion planned."
"We don't have the results of the noise survey yet," said Gossmann, "but we will share it as soon as we have it.
"Together, we have made great progress," the mayor added. "Of course, we will continue to have a noise signature (to allow for mandatory aviation training) and we will continue to have complaints. We've achieved a lot of goodwill and understanding through our different communication platforms. … I hope that we will be able to further reduce the noise signature and the number of complaints next year. I think if we continue on this path it will continue to be a positive cooperative effort."
"People are working together to keep our joint community informed," said Martin, in concluding the NAC meeting. The goal is keeping citizens informed through transparency, she said, adding that the next NAC will be held in May 2015.
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