Editor,

The April 15 Whidbey News-Times once again has a letter from people who are suing to shut down OLF Coupeville, which; if successful would most likely shut down Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, a base designated to train carrier aircrews.

The current complaint is to quit OLF operations because of the additional stress of COVID-19 and its stay-in-place restrictions, potential job loss, and financial difficulties. What this group of people chooses not to recognize is that all of these additional stresses impact the Navy members and families all the same as the rest of us.

However, the forgotten elephant in this argument is the Navy members and families different from the rest of us are also super stressed because the life and death training they are doing at OLF is so they and the remainder of the squadron members can depart on a six-month plus cruise away from all their family to protect us. I am confident they would all prefer the mere stress of staying home-in-place than being away from family for six months.

Also the COVID-19 stress is magnified for the Navy people because of the close proximity of 5,000 sailors working, eating and sleeping all within approximately five decks on a large ship.

I once again say, stop your incessant whining and recognize you purchased where you are, in a location with airplanes flying overhead since the 1940s, jets overhead since the 1960s and, if you have purchased in the last 28 years, your title report available before purchase notified you that your home was in a noise zone. You enjoyed buying property at a lower price because of the noise.

The amount being flown these days at OLF is no more than when the A-6 and EA-6Bs were flying between 1970 to the mid 1990s.

Mac McDowell

Oak Harbor