Editor,

I guess Susan Bond’s idea of making Memorial Day Weekend meaningful is to call for the closure of a life-saving naval aviation training facility in OLF Coupeville. Reading Ms. Bond makes me think she has the arrogance to assume her knowledge is greater than several hundred naval aviators with two to three years of training what is safe with a Boeing EA-18G Growler, working with others to conduct a Draft Amended Analysis to double-check years of certification that OLF Coupeville is the rightful home for Field Carrier Landing Practice, also known as bouncing.

I have stood hundreds of feet away from EA-18G Growlers bouncing at OLF Coupeville, and sometimes under Growlers on final approach. I feel perfectly safe doing so and feel it’s more dangerous walking to and from the Island Transit bus stops.

I ask Mrs. Bond please watch the Ward Caroll YouTube “Locals Trying to Shut Down Air Station Because of Jet Noise” which has had 104,000 views, already shared with U.S. Defense Department leaders. YouTube is quite enlightening.

One might also recommend reading Sharon A. Boswell’s July 2022 “Historical Overview of Naval Outlying Landing Field Coupeville Land Use and Whidbey Island Military Missions” to understand OLF Coupeville’s place in Whidbey history. I would also add that if I had my way, we would have a F/A-18C Hornet on a stick painted to remind the public where Blue Angel pilots come from.

Finally, I wish Mrs. Bond had expended her letter to the editor sortie for advocating to install the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System “Auto GCAS” into the Boeing EA-18G Growler. Auto GCAS prevents controlled flight into terrain unless the gear is down and locked.

Joe A. Kunzler

Skagit County