US Navy Willing to Gamble On Pilots Lives for Training Purposes?
The Navy continues to push on with it’s plan to build an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) within a few miles of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife refuge which is the wintering ground for tens of thousands tundra swan and snow geese. There is also countless other birds that live here other parts of the year as well as the Red Wolf that is on the endangered species list. In a press conference about the release of the new environmental impact study Rear Admiral Anderson presented that the there would be no danger for Navy Pilots from migratory birds if the OLF is located on that site. He went on to say;
“It escapes me that anyone would think the Navy would put our pilots and planes in a situation knowingly where the risk is at such a high level, it would be criminal,” he said. “When an airplane hits a bird, it’s not just the bird that loses out. We lose airplanes, we lose pilots.”
One only has to go to the area and look at the number of birds that winter there and see how utterly ridiculous this statement is. Here is a story I covered back in January about a military jet crash in Mississippi caused by a flock of geese. Go to the NO OLF website and check out the video they shot in the proposed area of a near collision between an F18 and Snow Geese.
Well Admiral it’s beyond me why the Navy would want to continue with this ridiculous plan and if your impact study really supports this then someone has to be lying. WRAL Anchorman Bill Leslie in his blog “Tar Heel Traveler” likens this latest event with his experience from a number of years ago where he ended up testifying before congress about the Navy illegally dumping trash into the waters off North Carolina. It wasn’t until the threats of funding being cut did the Navy take action and do the right thing in that issue.
That brings us to the Governor asking for just that to happen as I reported the other day. I now have what Governor Easily wrote to our congressional delegation;
“I am writing to express my frustration and disappointment with the Navy’s decision to again identify Washington County as its preferred site for the proposed Outlying Landing Field (OLF) through its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS).
“I have spent a great deal of time with the higher command of the Navy and top Pentagon officials, and with people here and in Washington discussing alternatives to the Washington County site. Our Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources has repeatedly talked with the Navy leadership in charge of this project, and our OLF Study Group has worked hard to identify viable alternatives. As the draft SEIS shows, the Navy remains unwilling to even fully consider reasonable alternatives.
“I believe this matter can be resolved, but spending millions of dollars to build the proposed OLF next to a world-renowned wildlife refuge for migratory birds is not an acceptable resolution. Congress controls the purse strings for this project, and Congress should withhold funding until the Navy is willing to consider reasonable alternatives.”
I agree whole heartily with the Governor on this issue and I hope our congressional delegation pushes the Navy to rethink this plan. I want the Navy to have places to train our men and women but an area like this is just to risky for all involved.
Cool story brotha. Wish you could have got one, after all the head ache. T.
[...] Navy’s plan to build an OLF in the very close proximity to the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is a story we have been following very closely. The local newspaper The Washington Daily News is breaking a [...]
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