Cronkite News Puts Boeing On The Radar > Aerospace & Defense Spending in Arizona

The article and link here with a video published yesterday starts off like this:
How the aerospace industry impacts Arizona’s economy
By Audrey Weil | Cronkite News | POSTED: Feb 1, 2016                                
MESA – The world’s premier attack helicopter is made only in Mesa, and it’s one of the many reasons Arizona ranks fourth in the nation in employment for aerospace and defense manufacturing.
Boeing also manufactures on the assembly-line in Pennsylvania the Chinook CH-47F [see post yesterday]

"Even though, they’re working here in Mesa, Arizona, they’re making a difference in Afghanistan, they’re making a difference in Saudi Arabia, they’re making a difference in Asia Pacific,” Director of Global Sales and Marketing for Boeing Attack Helicopter Programs Mark Ballew said.
[shown herein image from Defense Helicopter to the right at a ceremony in Fort Hood TX celebrating the return from Iraq by the Blackcats of B/2-227 Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. Deployed to Iraq in 2009 and 2010, as one of the first Army units equipped with the CH-47F Chinook, the Blackcats flew more than 10,000 hours, seven thousand of which were flown under night vision goggles, moved in excess of one million pounds of cargo and transported 50,000 troops during its deployment.]
Boeing along with MD Helicopters and other aerospace/defense/tech industries is located at Falcon Field, newly "re-branded" by the City of Mesa as a powerhouse accelerator for the local economy joining the PHX Mesa Gateway for industrial high-tech and residential development. 
Here's a link to the 2:49 YouTube video included in the report - just touch the arrow on the screenshot to play forward


On-air reporter Jackie Padilla follows the script written by Audrey Weil using one source: "According to the Arizona Commerce Authority, Arizona trails only California, Washington and Texas in employment for aerospace and defense manufacturing. Boeing, one of the state’s major defense contractors, has been producing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters in Mesa since the early 80’s.

Here's a link to another YouTube video about how Apache AH-64s cleared the way to start Operation Desert Storm back on 07 Aug 1990. It was not uploaded or published until 21 May 2015.

Why Cronkite News chooses to make Boeing a feature yesterday is interesting - there are many posts here about Boeing. Another example of reporters being "spoon-fed" what stories to write? . . . mebbe