Coupeville Sports

A supporter (NOT the creator of the Facebook page) of NAS Whidbey’s OLF.

The movement begins.

It’s the story the Canadian-funded papers tried to get, but couldn’t. So I did.

I know people. People who know people. People who know people who know … OK, you get it.

When a small group of big money gadabouts went after NAS Whidbey’s OLF, trying to shut down flights that had been going on for decades, many in the Navy community were ticked off. A few have done something about it.

One of the more prominent is a Navy wife who kick-started the “I Support the NASWI OLF” facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ISUPPORTTHENASWIOLF?hc_location=stream), which has already picked up more than 2,400 “likes” in a matter of days.

A focal point in the drive to fight back against a group that threatens their jobs, and, in many people’s perspectives, national security, the page drives the resistance.

Now, in an exclusive (suck it, Canada), we present her story.

And while she prefers to keep her name out of the spotlight, believing she is just one of countless who are fighting the good fight, we can tell you this — she is obsessed with Christmas, is one of the most genuinely sweet people I know (but with a biting sense of humor) and is not going to back down. Ever.

In her own words:

If you had told me two months ago that I would create a Facebook page that would help in a very important crusade I would have laughed at you. Yet, here I am, and here you are, and I’m not laughing.

My love of planes and the military started when I was a little girl. I was raised an Army brat.

I spent several years in Germany where my mom worked for “Donutland”. She would take me to Rhein-main Air Force Base where we would go onto the flight line to sell donuts.

I would hear the planes closer than most civilians or dependents my age ever would.  I remember getting goosebumps seeing the planes up close and personal.

I remember the guys coming out in their uniforms to buy out all of our donuts (even the cake donuts, which were always the last to go).

They LOVED that my mom would bring her kids with her. They always said it reminded them of home. It was at that point that I fell in love with the military.

Didn’t matter the branch. They were my heroes.

That is the basis for why the military means so much to me. It’s my history and my future.

Personally, I try to stay current by reading the news daily. I even have the Whidbey New-Times app.

When I started reading what people had to say about the Navy’s presence on Whidbey Island I didn’t really understand what all of the fuss was about. In my world everyone appreciated the military.

Boy, was I wrong!

When I started following the OLF situation I would read the comments after each story and think one of two things: 1) good point, or 2) what an idiot.

I read comments like “I was here first”, “health and public safety”, “we are forced to live in a war zone”‘ or “my family has lived here since dirt was created”. What are we, four years old?

There are comments from those who moved by the OLF before the Noise Disclosures were required. They act like they didn’t know there was a HUGE landing strip in the middle of a field. Are you blind? Did nothing in your head register “uh, what’s that for and why does it look used”?

Of course, on a whole different playing field are those that signed the Noise Disclosure who apparently thought to themselves “self, the planes won’t be that bad”.

Did they not realize that the military is an ever-evolving machine? They must have thought that the government would come up with a whisper-quiet plane.

The government isn’t going to install a Prius engine in their planes. Those planes need oomph to get in the air (and if you’ve ever been behind a Prius on Snoqualmie Pass you know they ain’t got oomph). That’s just logical thinking.

Now they want to have the OLF closed because THEY made a bad decision. So, their bad decision is something they expect the rest of us to pay for.

If they think for one moment that we all won’t pay for it they are highly mistaken.

To me, those people are selfish and irresponsible. We are all adults here. When we make mistakes we should take responsibility for them.

When we buy property we should do our research and check out the neighborhood. As my husband and I were looking for a home we did our research.

We wanted a certain side of town. We wanted to be nearer to some things and further from others. We saw our house twice before buying it. We were familiar to the neighborhood. We made an INFORMED decision.

When we signed the documents I read every page so I would understand what I was getting myself into.

So, when these people spout off about the sound of the planes making their eyes pop out/eardrums burst, being here before this plane or that plane, or “our quality of life is greatly diminished” it reeks of ignorance and poor decision-making skills on their part.

If they aren’t willing to take the blame for their ignorance, then they need to focus their anger on the county for allowing the area around the OLF to be developed.

Just because you can build a house at the end of a landing strip doesn’t mean you should. It definitely doesn’t mean that you should buy said house.

The fact of the matter is that the Navy is part of keeping this country safe. The pilots need their training and they get that training at the OLF.

The Ault Field Base has its own operations to manage, so throwing into the mix the OLF traffic is ludicrous, unsafe, unsustainable, and selfish.

As for Pickard and his sheeple … our Facebook page has gone from 400 members to 2,400+ in ONE WEEK! Your page is holding steady at 51.

So, if you think for one moment that we will go quietly into the night you are mistaken. Honey, we are just getting started!