Editor,

Twenty-five year ago, in June 1991, the Base Closure Commission made the unanimous decision to remove NAS Whidbey from the list of bases to be closed.

The commission’s chair stated that “it should never be listed again.”

Thank goodness! Thanks and congratulations to our community, the Save NAS Whidbey Task Force, retired Adm. James Seely, USN, consultant, and our local, state and national elected officials for their dedication, help, commitment, support and loyalty.

And from that to the recent Department of Defense announcement that NAS Whidbey, known as “Team Whidbey,” was selected and recognized as a winner of the 2016 Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence! We are proud of and love our Navy neighbors.

Robert Severns, mayor

Oak Harbor