Ralph Hamilton is caught between military regulations and a hard place.

The disabled veteran was able to travel to the Naval Hospital on Island Transit’s paratransit until he was halted by tightened security regulations at the gates to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Hamilton spent 30 years in the Navy. His duties included setting type for various publications long before the computer age. Now, at age 68, he suffers from pulmonary disease and emphysema. He’s attached to an oxygen tank and can’t walk more than a few feet at a time. He uses an electric scooter to get around on hospital visits and at home.

The ride on paratransit doesn’t cost riders a fee and a lift is available for wheelchairs and scooters.

Both Hamilton and his scooter have to get to the hospital, so a car or regular taxi aren’t really an option unless there’s an electric wheelchair lined up on the other end to whisk him away.

Marie Hamilton, his wife of almost 50 years, isn’t angry with the Navy or Island Transit, but she’s frustrated.

“It seems little by little we are losing our independence,” she said.

The Hamiltons no longer own a car. A former city dweller, she never learned to drive and he can no longer operate a vehicle.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, paratransit wasn’t allowed to enter the main gates of the Navy base and had to use Porter, the commercial gate. But after a few months, the bus was again allowed to enter the main gate.

Both gates to the base were later retrofitted and tighter access restrictions put in place. The result was no admission of any commercial traffic except through the Porter Gate.

The paratransit bus went through the Porter gate for some time despite delays for inspections. Navy officials then granted “front-of-the-line” privileges to speed the process. But it didn’t prevent delays.

When trucks and trailers were ahead of paratransit, the guards couldn’t see the bus and there was no room to move ahead, Marie Hamilton said.

Island Transit drivers tried to work with the new system, but delays were causing hardships to other disabled folks who were waiting for a ride to appointments elsewhere.

Island Transit made the decision to eliminate the Naval Hospital from its route after a series of delays, one as long as 45 minutes, said Phyllis Brett, service development administrator for the transit system.

Island Transit doesn’t have enough manpower or buses to accommodate deviation from a tight schedule, she said. Paratransit handles between 150 and 200 elderly and disabled passengers per day.

The Hamiltons haven’t been able to come up with an alternative, and neither has the Navy.

There can be no exceptions to the rules or security is breached, said Kim Martin, public affairs officer at the base.

Marie Hamilton wonders why a sailor or a volunteer with security clearance couldn’t meet the bus at the main gate and ride along to the hospital.

“Most of the bus drivers are retired military and have ID,” she said.

Meantime, the Hamiltons have to ask their daughter or son-in-law to take time off from work when a hospital visit is essential. Trouble is, they only own a compact car. Getting into the vehicle with the oxygen tank and then getting out at the other end and having to walk a distance is tortuous to a man whose poor health has made him weak.

Brett knows where to place the blame and he doesn’t think its’ with Island Transit or the Navy.

“It’s more effects of global terrorism,” she said.