Joyful news on the Navy

I was joyful to hear from Congressman Larsen at the May 1 Navy League NAS Whidbey Island luncheon that, “The role (that Whidbey’s electronic attack squadrons) play in current and future conflicts in fact only solidifies the importance of Whidbey Naval Air Station in my mind, the men and women who are stationed here, the people who support the base being here. My  assessment is that we can plan on the base being here for a long, long time,” a comment which was met with spontaneous applause.

Of course it was! We at the Navy League love the growling sound of freedom from two General Electric F414-GE-400 turbofans, not to mention the sight of Orions, Knighthawks and Prowlers overhead!

I’ve also been reading Bill Burnett’s well-researched IslandPolitics.org on, among other things, the risks to NAS Whidbey Island. As a Skagitonian I sincerely do not want to tell another county how to conduct its land use policies but I sure wish we had accident potential zones to protect volcanic floodplain farmland from development and help recruit more naval aviation action. I hope Islanders value APZs as much as I covet APZs for Skagitonians.

Let me conclude with this thought: Many disabled Americans like I wish they could be athletes, I would rather be part of the US Navy. For those of you who agitate to close NAS Whidbey Island; just remember that peace comes at the cost of the bravery and integrity of better men and women.

Josef A. Kunzler
Sedro-Woolley

 

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