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NewsPetition aims to end EA-18G Growler practices over Olympics

An EA-18G Growler soars over mountains.

The Navy has been conducting electronic warfare training with the aircraft in the Olympic mountains for years. – U.S. NavyAn EA-18G Growler soars over mountains. The Navy has been conducting electronic warfare training with the aircraft in the Olympic mountains for years.— image credit: U.S. Navy

Another group is taking aim at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s jets.Members of Protect Olympic Peninsula delivered a petition with more than 120,000 signatures to the United States Forest Service protesting the Navy’s plan to introduce electromagnetic transmitters to its electronic warfare training on the peninsula.The group joined with other activists, including Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, which would like to shut down EA-18G Growler flight training at the outlying field at Coupeville.THE PETITION states: “Unfortunately, if the Navy gets their way, these wilderness areas will be assaulted by 118 of the world’s loudest jets, flying thousands of training exercises, hundreds of days a year, as low as 1,200 feet above the ground.”The petition goes on to describe the peace and tranquility of Olympic National Park and urges people to take action “to keep the Navy from destroying this wonderful area with their ear-splitting jets.”“In addition, the Navy will be using these war games to test electromagnetic weaponry, which has some experts raising concerns about potential health impacts to birds, amphibians and humans, as well.”

Source: Petition aims to end EA-18G Growler practices over Olympics – Whidbey News-Times

Here’s the problem with online activism and petition. First, the petition is completely misleading. The Navy isn’t asking permission to overfly the Olympic peninsula. It already does, routinely. It’s not asking permission to conduct electronic warfare training there. It already does, to some extent.

What they Navy wants is permission from the Forest Service to operate three vans with emission simulators along fire roads in the area.

And just how dangerous are these vans? As the article notes, they’re effectively just the same as a TV news van.

For that matter, the emitters on the vans are an order of magnitude less  powerful than the weather radar already blasting EM energy into the peninsula, but you don’t see environmentalists panicking over that.

Heck, only about half the petition signatures are from the US, and only 8000 from Washington!

If the Navy had simply gone ahead and operated the vans without asking for public comment,* the public likely never would have even noticed the change in operations.

If you want to see a really honking big EM transmitter in the area, look across Puget Sound to the Navy’s facility at Jim Creek, where they’ve been blasting RF energy out for 50 years, and *still* no two headed kids are being born in the region.

*Not that the Navy should ignore the law. The Navy tries hard to be a good neighbor.