Air Force Shows How to Act Peacefully

Air Force Col. Stephen Clark, the commander of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, N.M., has spent six years of his career on Afghanistan and Iraq tours, but last week he had an even tougher battle to fight -- explaining why the service wants to conduct training flights in northeastern New Mexico and southern Colorado to a bunch of NIMBYs in Santa Fe; Taos; and my home, The Original Las Vegas.

Clark ventured out to all three towns to have a dialogue with the residents about their concerns about the training flights, but here in The Original Las Vegas the meeting quickly bottomed out into a series of nasty, angry and virulent attacks against the Air Force from folks who viewed the meeting as a referendum on war and peace, without the help of Tolstoy.

A sprinkling of veterans gave a wee bit of balance to a wacky forum that included everything from references to mysterious flights of black helicopters to Sept. 11 attack conspiracy theories.

Through it all Clark exhibited true grace under pressure, countering angry assaults with a calm demeanor that could make him a good candidate for a major league umpire.

He deserves some combat pay for this series of meetings, or at the least, a week in a more peaceful place, say Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.