The Navy SEALS are known for their particularly intense training regimens, which can take place at a variety of locations. For three decades five of the Washington state’s coastal parks have been utilized for special operations exercise and cold-water training for SEALs.
However, out of nowhere, these entitled liberals want to stop the U.S. Navy SEALs from using these coastal parks.
According to multiple reports, Navy SEALs have to pause the training operations in Washington state parks as a legal challenge from locals concerned about the environmental and psychological impacts of “war games” comes to a head.
U.S. Navy spokesperson Joe Overton told the Coffee or Die Magazine vial email:
“This area provides a unique environment of cold water, extreme tidal changes, multi-variant currents, low visibility, complex underwater terrain, climate and rigorous land terrain, which provides an advanced training environment.”
“Although there are several Navy properties in the area, they do not provide the full range of environments needed for this training to be as realistic as possible.”
Between 2015 and 2020, the Navy conducted a total of 37 training events in Washington state parks, Overton told Coffee or Die Magazine.
Each consisted of no more than eight trainees and a small safety cadre and lasted between two and 72 hours.
Trainees follow “no trace” principals and the trainings do not include off-road driving, explosives, or live-fire exercises, Overton noted.
Excerpt from WND commentary report:
Well, that could be a problem. After all, who wants to spend some time at the park and be disturbed by massive troop engagements, gunfire, explosives, and all-out war games going on for days?
But after the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission voted 4-3 a year ago to approve Navy training to continue in the parks, organized opposition has risen up, according to Coffee or Die.
That opposition comes from Not in Our Parks, under the auspices of the Whidbey Environmental Action Network.
“State parks prohibit the display of guns and other weapons, intimidating and disturbing park employees, volunteers, and visitors,” a statement from a local resident on the Not in Our Parks website reads. “The environment is put at risk. There is the potential for tragic accidents such as when two military trainees posing as terrorists in North Carolina were shot by an unsuspecting deputy.”
The website juxtaposes a photo of three commandos coming out of the water with one of their guns coincidentally pointed toward the picture of a small child playing with a beach bucket and shovel.
Great propaganda. These guys are good.
And there’s more: “The Navy will conduct covert special operations training in your state parks and your family will be their unsuspecting practice subjects.”
Despite last year’s state approval — which included expanding the number of parks from five to 28 — the Navy has stopped its park training following a March 2021 petition for judicial review.
‘Difficult to find peace in the woods’: Navy SEALs halt training at Wash state parks amid complaints, lawsuit https://t.co/DGo3NZoccz pic.twitter.com/EnRUrHuYsU
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) January 27, 2022
In March 2021, Whidbey Environmental Action Network (WEAN) filed a petition for judicial review against the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, arguing that the proposed training violates laws that dedicate the parks to the public for recreational and ecological purposes. It wants a judge to reverse the commission’s decision and award WEAN attorneys’ fees and other costs.
WEAN argues many members of the public may avoid state parks for fear of “encountering the proposed war games or being spied upon by Navy personnel,” lawyers for the group wrote in its opening brief, filed last month. “It is difficult to find peace in the woods when armed frogmen might be lurking behind every tree.”
A hearing in the case is scheduled for April 1 in Thurston County Superior Court. WEAN’s litigation coordinator Steve Erickson told Coffee or Die Magazine via email that he expects the judge to issue a final decision sometime after the hearing.
The Navy conducted 37 training events — each lasting two to 72 hours and including no more than eight trainees plus a small safety cadre — at Washington state parks from 2015 through 2020. The training included insertion and extraction of personnel via watercraft, reconnaissance, diving, and swimming, Navy spokesman Joe Overton told Coffee or Die in an email.
No Naval Special Warfare training was conducted at the parks in 2021, and operations are on hold again this year pending further review by the parks department, Overton wrote.
Navy officials maintain that there have never been any incidents with park visitors during past exercises, and that the training by its nature requires that trainees leave no trace. Exercises are noninvasive and do not include live-fire ammunition, explosive demolitions, off-road driving, or other destructive activities, according to Overton.
Critics have argued that the Navy should use the 46 miles of Washington coastline already under its jurisdiction for exercises rather than state parks. Navy officials have countered that the geography of the parks more accurately represents the type of environment personnel may experience on a mission.
“This area provides a unique environment of cold water, extreme tidal changes, multi-variant currents, low visibility, complex underwater terrain, climate and rigorous land terrain, which provides an advanced training environment,” Overton wrote. “Although there are several Navy properties in the area, they do not provide the full range of environments needed for this training to be as realistic as possible.”
Sources: WND, Coffee or Die Magazine, WesternJournal
There is a simple fix to this and it costs NOTHING. On the days the Navy wants to use the park Close it to the public. This solves the WHINERS problem of them
beinv in the park and Commandos scaring them. Or even better gave the Navy leave Washington all together. See how much those WHINERS WHINE when all that money is set to leave their area.