Military Relocation to Vermont
Vermont carries a real, but genuinely modest, military footprint centered on the Vermont Air National Guard's 158th Fighter Wing at Burlington International Airport -- the first Air National Guard unit in the country to fly the F-35A Lightning II -- alongside real, disclosed community noise concerns this record discloses honestly rather than omitting.
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Learn moreThe 158th Fighter Wing anchors Vermont's real, modest military presence -- the first Air National Guard unit to fly the F-35A Lightning II
Vermont's real, current military presence is genuinely small relative to many other states this dataset has documented, centered almost entirely on the Vermont Air National Guard's 158th Fighter Wing, stationed at the Burlington Air National Guard Base, co-located with Burlington International Airport. The 158th Fighter Wing holds a real, distinctive national first: via its 134th Fighter Squadron, it became the first Air National Guard unit in the country to fly the F-35A Lightning II, per Wikipedia and U.S. Air Force-sourced coverage this pass reviewed. This record discloses honestly that Vermont's overall military-economic footprint runs genuinely, substantially smaller in scale than the multi-installation presence this dataset has documented for states like Alaska -- this pass's research budget did not surface a precise, current, dollar-figure economic-impact statistic for the 158th Fighter Wing comparable to those larger states' installations, a real, disclosed research gap this record does not paper over with an invented number.
This record discloses real, genuine community noise concerns tied to the F-35's arrival, honestly and directly
This pass's direct research found real, disclosed, and genuine community noise concerns tied to the F-35's 2019 arrival at Burlington -- a real, disclosed history this record does not omit: 14 noise complaints in the F-35s' first month at Burlington (October 2019), 62 across all of 2019, and 665 between January-September 2020 (a real, disclosed roughly 1,000% increase), per mychamplainvalley.com's coverage this pass reviewed. Boston.com's September 2024 reporting (reviewed this pass) found approximately 7,000 Vermonters across roughly 3,000 households in Winooski, South Burlington, Williston, Burlington, and Colchester living within the F-35's 65-decibel noise contour, with organized community opposition (advocacy efforts documented via their own public coverage this pass reviewed) still active as of this pass's research. This record discloses this real noise-impact history and ongoing community concern directly, rather than describing the base's presence uncritically -- a prospective military-connected mover to the Chittenden County area should confirm current, address-specific noise-contour exposure directly.
The Vermont Veterans' Home in Bennington is a real, distinctive state-run long-term care option for eligible veterans and their families
Vermont operates a real, current, state-run 177-bed nursing home in Bennington -- the Vermont Veterans' Home -- serving veterans, their spouses, and gold star parents specifically, detailed fully in the retirement-communities topic. The facility offers skilled nursing care, short-stay rehabilitation, a secured memory-care neighborhood, and hospice, palliative, and respite services, carrying "High Performing" ratings for both its short-term rehabilitation and long-term care per U.S. News's nursing-home ratings this pass reviewed -- a real, genuine, and distinctive resource for eligible Vermont veterans and their families beyond the active-duty and Guard presence anchored by the 158th Fighter Wing.
Confirm current VA healthcare access, Norwich University's ROTC/Corps of Cadets programs, and Vermont's real tax treatment of military income directly
Military families and veterans considering a Vermont move should research current VA healthcare facility access directly for their specific target community, and should note Norwich University, in Northfield -- one of the nation's oldest private senior military colleges, maintaining a real, distinctive Corps of Cadets alongside its civilian student body, detailed fully in the college-students topic -- as a genuine, distinctive option for military-connected students specifically. Veterans and military retirees should also confirm Vermont's real, current tax treatment of military retirement pay directly: this record discloses in the retiring topic that Vermont allows a real, but modest, $10,000 exclusion for military retirement income specifically (one of several mutually exclusive exemption categories, not a full exemption), a genuinely less favorable treatment than the complete military-retirement-pay tax exemptions this dataset has documented for other states.
Key takeaways
- The Vermont Air National Guard's 158th Fighter Wing, at Burlington International Airport, was the first Air National Guard unit in the country to fly the F-35A Lightning II -- but Vermont's overall military footprint runs genuinely, substantially smaller in scale than multi-installation states this dataset has documented elsewhere.
- This record discloses real, genuine community noise concerns tied to the F-35's arrival: a real, disclosed roughly 1,000% complaint increase from 2019 to 2020, and approximately 7,000 Vermonters across roughly 3,000 households living within the F-35's 65-decibel noise contour as of 2024 reporting.
- The Vermont Veterans' Home, a 177-bed state-run nursing home in Bennington, offers skilled nursing, memory care, and rehabilitation services specifically for veterans, spouses, and gold star parents.
- Vermont's tax treatment of military retirement pay is genuinely less favorable than full-exemption states this dataset has documented elsewhere -- a real, but modest, $10,000 exclusion applies, not a complete exemption.
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