Army Rangers from Fort Lewis, along with military aviators from Kentucky and Florida, will join forces for two weeks of training exercises starting Monday. And their spokespeople warn neighbors that they might notice increased noise, low-flying aircraft, and more air traffic coming and going during that time.

The training is scheduled from July 13 to July 27 and involves fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. The public may report any concerns to the Fort Lewis Community Relations hotline at 253-967-0852.

But in general, the Army has asked the surrounding community to understand the importance of this training for the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. A statement from Fort Lewis public affairs says, in part:

Tough, realistic training is critical to prepare Army Rangers for their mission to stand ready to deploy anywhere in the world and conduct high-intensity military operations at a moment's notice. This is scheduled training, conducted at regular intervals, to maintain individual soldier and unit readiness. ... Every measure to reduce the amount of noise associated with the training will be taken, and we appreciate the support of the local community.

We at The News Tribune wish we could check out the training and tell you more about it, but Fort Lewis officials say it won't be open for media coverage because of "operational security and safety reasons."

Some of the training will be held at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane.

Finished this story to run in the paper sometime over the weekend. Placed a few calls in search of neighbors who might have something to say about the prospect but came up empty Friday afternoon. Feel free to comment as you see fit here.

The Army is looking into firing sonic boom-inducing rockets at Fort Lewis and wants to know what the neighbors will think.

Post officials are holding a public meeting Tuesday night in Lacey. It’s part of the environmental assessment of a proposal to fire the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System – HIMARS, for short – on the post’s training ranges.

The meeting is 6-9 p.m. at the Lacey Community Center, 6729 Pacific Ave. S.E.

“We recognize that noise that comes from training at Fort Lewis is an issue with some of our communities, and we recognize that noise would be one of the primary issues with firing HIMARS rockets,” said Joseph Piek, a post spokesman.

“That’s why we’re taking the necessary time to do the environmental assessment and analysis and taking all of this into consideration.”

The South Sound is already home to an array of military training noise – mortars, artillery, gunfire, demolitions and helicopters at Fort Lewis, and aircraft at McChord Air Force Base.

The HIMARS would add a new, although not necessarily louder, dimension. The rockets create a sonic boom shortly after they’re fired from a launcher mounted on the back of a 5-ton truck.

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The base is out with attendance numbers: 377,616 over the two days.

That's more than twice the estimate of 150,000 that base officials figure was their previous high.

They used turnstiles this time at the two entry control points to the flightline, but at times they waved people around the counters to keep the crowd moving, said Staff Sgt. Oshawn Jefferson, a base spokesman.

Event planners figured they'd get a large turnout, with good weather, the Thunderbirds headlining the event and folks opting not to make long summer road trips due to high gas prices.

But even at that, they predicted they'd likely get crowds of 200,000 to 250,000 Jefferson said. Folks with the local chambers of commerce said they could top 300,000, but base planners were skeptical.

"It blew our minds," Jefferson said of the two-day figure.

“We are extremely proud of the record number of people that attended our Air Expo,” said Col. Michael Hornitschek, 62nd Airlift Wing vice commander, said in a McChord press release. “It is inspiring to see how much support our community has for its military, especially us as Airmen. What a great weekend!”

Click here if you missed Russ Carmack's photo slide show.

True, the Tall Ships are coming to Tacoma, but they aren't the only game in town.

Adrenaline junkies and wannabe flyboys, we hope you have a chance to see the Wings of Freedom tour of World War II era bombers that shows through Friday noon at the Tacoma Narrows Airport, 1302 26th Ave. NW. It's worth crossing the bridge and paying the toll.

This is just a warm-up act for the big, free McChord Air Expo 2008, just a month away, on July 19-20. The local Air Force Base is throwing open the gates for its first public show in three years. They've been a little busy running hundreds of airlift missions to the war zone, and all.

McChord will host classic aircraft from past wars in static and aerial displays. How about a chilling "Tora Tora Tora" reenactment of the attack on Pearl Harbor, for instance, or a Cold War dogfight between two Soviet Migs and a U.S. Navy jet?

And there's no denying the thrill of the modern-era stuff, like the stealth of the B-2 bomber and the grace of the Air Force Thunderbird show.

One of the most intriguing (and noisy) parts of the weekend will be a duel between an Air Force Reserve jet car and a plane flying overhead. The car will turn on the afterburners and reach speeds closing in on 400 mph. We won't tell you who wins, but we will say that the jet car uses 40 gallons of diesel fuel for each performance.

And you thought your last trip to the gas pump was a pain in the wallet.

You can learn more about the Air Expo by clicking here.