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EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - The federal government will spend $3.5 million to build a safer place for a New Jersey Air National Guard unit based here to arm and disarm its weapons.

The funds will finance construction of two concrete and asphalt pads - along with protective earthen berm - to be built outside of the safety zone of Atlantic City International Airport's main runway.

Jets from the 177th Fighter Wing will use those pads to arm and disarm their crafts weapons before and after flights, said Sam Donelson, chief engineer for the South Jersey Transportation Authority, or SJTA, which runs the airport.

The jets currently perform those procedures closer to the runway, he said.

"While that is going on, it can have a significant impact on commercial aviation," Donelson said, as both the 177th and commercial flights use the main runway.

The earthen berm will be constructed so that, "In the event there is a discharge of weapons, it will go into the berm and not hit anything else," he said. He called the possibility of a weapons accident "remote."

SJTA recently awarded a contract for the work to A.E. Stone here. The work is expected to begin in about a month and be completed by the end of next summer.

The project will be financed by federal stimulus funds.

The 177th patrols the skies from Massachusetts to Virginia, protecting cities that include New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

The unit was the first to fly 1,000 missions after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,

The unit's base adjacent to Atlantic City International has also undergone millions of dollars in upgrades since that time.

3 comments:

• henre5 (1) posts 12:33 pm

  Ok Ohmygoodness (Tom) Enough is enough

• Ohmygoodness (157) posts 11:36 pm

  Arent these the same butt clowns that shot up a school years ago and then dident report it until a janitor found the shredded roof and classroom? Arent these the same clowns who asked a black pilot to stand on the runway holding a lantern? Arent these the same guys whos base commander was arrested in vegas for solociting a transvestite prostitute? Arent these the same guys who sent 2 guys up to fly who hated each other then they crashed and wrecked a 20 million dollar plane? Someone lasso these flyboys, hide the planes and protect us from Roger Pharo. Will this area be big enough to hold all of Tony Lasures girlfriends if they all show up at the same time? Just wondering!!!!!

• IzzyStone (307) posts 3:35 pm

  Now, will they, at long last, strafe the Black Back Maryland area? A cluster bomb or 3 would be helpful, too. "Base to Werewolf 1: Check six!" "Roger that, Pomona. Rolling hot!!"

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