EGLIN AFB — The two Valparaiso residents appointed to the recently reconstituted Noise Committee used the panel's first meeting to ask that the base look into changing flight paths to keep military aircraft away from populated areas.

The committee, comprising Eglin Air Force Base officials, residents and local government representatives, was re-formed in connection with an ongoing assessment of the environmental impacts of the F-22 Raptor fighter jets and T-38 jet trainers moved from Tyndall Air Force Base to Eglin after Hurricane Michael all but destroyed the Panama City base.

An initial environmental assessment, abbreviated due to the need to quickly find a new home for the Tyndall aircraft, identified increased noise as the only likely environmental impact from the additional jets. Under an "interim beddown" proposal accepted by the federal government, the F-22s and T-38s from Tyndall could stay at Eglin for as long as three years.

Currently, the Air Force is conducting a broader environmental assessment involving Eglin and other bases that will find a permanent home — which may or may not be Eglin — for the fighter jets and training aircraft.

In the meantime, the Tyndall aircraft are, according to an Air Force document, expected to bring an additional 31,000 operations — takeoffs and landings, counted separately — to Eglin each year. Prior to their arrival, Eglin had 52,000 operations annually. The additional operations could “cause significant impacts to the areas to the west and southwest of Eglin," according to the Air Force document.

Minutes from the Jan. 28 Noise Committee meeting, dated Feb. 5, note that Valparaiso residents Joe Arthur and Richard Woelfl "suggested that Eglin research the flight paths instituted at (Florida's) MacDill Air Force Base that take the aircraft out over water so no approaches are made over populated areas."

MacDill, near Tampa, is home to the Air Force's 6th Air Mobility Wing. Aircraft using MacDill include the KC-135 refueling tanker and the C-37 passenger aircraft, but the base also hosts a wide variety of fighter jets and other aircraft from the Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard for training.

In addition to the request for over-water approaches to Eglin, Arthur and Woelfl asked the Eglin personnel at the Noise Committee meeting to "look into the possibility of having aircraft taking off on RW 1 (Runway 1, a northbound runway directly facing the western end of the city of Valparaiso) ... climb out at 10 degrees more to the west, which would keep them over (Eglin AFB) reservation land, not populated areas."

Meanwhile, noise isn't an issue for the city of Fort Walton Beach, according to City Manager Michael Beedie.

"We fully support the military missions (at Eglin)," Beedie said. "The noise is not an issue, whether it's the F-35s (the stealth fighter jets operated by Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing since 2011) or the F-22s."

Mike Spaits, an Eglin public affairs staff member specializing in environmental issues who convened the Noise Committee meeting, told the committee that "Eglin would research that (the requests for rerouting aircraft traffic) and have an answer at the next meeting."

No specific date has been set for the next meeting, but committee members — which also include a handful of Okaloosa County and Fort Walton Beach government officials — agreed to meet again sometime near the end of March.

According to Spaits, that is when most of the public comments connected with the more detailed environmental assessment of keeping the F-22s and T-38s at Eglin will be available for review.

Over the longer term, Spaits said Eglin officials will rely on the Noise Committee as a channel for noise complaints.

"We're counting on them to be a conduit," Spaits said.