Navy’s noisy need for speed on Whidbey Island riles residents

A decision on a Navy plan for a dramatic increase in jet flights from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island is imminent. The Navy scheme would add 36 more EA-18G Growlers to the 82 aircraft already in use and ratchet up training flights by as much as 370 percent. Many residents on the island and on the Olympic Peninsula have long complained about the noise generated by the Growlers and they are up in arms about the proposed increase. In early October, anti-noise protesters rallied on Whidbey, Fidalgo and Lopez islands and in Port Townsend, but they worry that their complaints are not being heard. The Navy brass may have proverbial deaf ears when it comes to the roar of their jets. See more of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey View other syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons