It began the week after New Year's, and it hasn't let up since. The planes are prepping. I live about four miles away from Albuquerque International Sunport, and flight patterns for commercial planes occasionally drift near my house. As 2004 got under way, the planes started flying directly over my house, but it all seems like a masking for a different kind of plane. Along with Southwest, American, Delta, United and the like, another company buzzed my neighborhood: The United States Air Force.

Next to the Sunport is Kirtland Air Force Base, and it takes up many square miles on the south end of town. At first, there was the occasional fighter jet blasting practically straight up and out from the base, but with a little practice, those boys are getting better and better about cruising right over the town. I imagine that Albuquerque has been blown away in dozens of simulations. What are they preparing for? Take a guess.

I don't really mind the fighter jets running formations over my town. I grew up in Clovis, New Mexico, where good old F-111s used to blast across the flat plains from Cannon Air Force Base. Now that I've moved to the big city of the state, I still have Kirtland nearby. With Holloman Air Force Base down south near Alamagordo, New Mexico is one of the big training grounds for hot shot pilots. And as natives, we know exactly what they are protecting.

Unlike in Iraq, the weapons of mass destruction are not hard to find around here. Since the first A-bomb blew up at the Trinity Site in our state back in 1945, we've been known to stash many of the big boom bombs. Anyone who knows anything about my town can point to the dimple of a hill on the base where they keep our nukes. Of course, that means that people outside of the state have no idea about them. When bases were being cut around the country in the mid-1990s, Kirtland was square on the list. Then, our senators asked the question "If you close the base, where are you going to put all the nuclear weapons?" The reply was "What nuclear weapons?" Shortly after that, Kirtland was taken off the closure list. That's right, nuclear weapons saved our base.

Although not an integral part of our local economy, Kirtland definitely helps employ many folks in Albuquerque, and government money is as green as anybody else's. If that means we have to endure a few jets buzzing over the town, so be it.

The president keeps harping about how dangerous the world has become. Terrorists can hide in every corner and cave. People are plotting to overthrow are government. We're living in historical times (aren't we always?). National security, national security, national security. With all due respect, Mr. President, I'm not afraid. All it takes is one of those jets shaking my house to know that even if I blew up in a brutal and tragic act of terror, someone would pay.

In the next few months, there is going to be a lot of jabber about protecting America. Many thing will be reiterated about how we should keep ourselves safe with an extra can of beans in the cupboard and duct tape in the closet. This is all I have to say about the whole issue: When I know that the fighter jet buzzing the town is on my side, I don't really fear the terrorists at all. There's probably a better chance of friendly fire or plane malfunction than anything else, but it still doesn't bother me. Just a risk of waking up in the morning.

I'm just as safe as I am vulnerable in this world, and I find myself getting tougher all the time. I don't even duck when the jets fly over anymore, and it's only been a month since they started. Hey, there goes another one.

Chris Jungle is not a part of any intelligence committee.