JOE A.

KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER

[Word to the wise: This document is intended to be printed double-sided. Thanks.]

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 1

 20 October 2017

Commanding Officer Captain Geoffrey Moore,

NAS Whidbey Island,
Attn: NASWI CR PM,
1115 W. Lexington Drive
Oak Harbor, WA 98278,

Dear Captain Moore;

Attached is my commentary on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) regarding
security enhancements (aka eco-blocks, barriers) at Naval Outlying Field Coupeville (OLF
Coupeville, OLF). Please accept these comments to have your staff address and get back to me
please as appropriate. Its been a privilege working with NAS Whidbey Island Archaeologist and
Cultural Resources Program Manager Kendall Campbell these past four years to address
Barriergate and hopefully in future years building a truly just post-COER world.
Very respectfully;

Joe A. Kunzler
growlernoise@gmail.com

CC: Kendall Campbell, NAS Whidbey Island Archaeologist and Cultural Resources Program
Manager

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 2

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Joe A. Kunzler Barriergate Comment Letter ................................................................................................. 1
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Table of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 5
Addressing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) ................................................................................... 6
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Planting of Vegetation .............................................................................................................................. 6
Section 106 Consultation Plan .................................................................................................................. 7
A professional report on the historical legacy of OLF Coupeville.......................................................... 7
Implications of COER As A Concurring Party ............................................................................................. 9
Community Awareness of Naval Outlying Field Coupeville .......................................................................... 9
Better Visibility of OLF Coupeville from State Highway 20 = Better Noise Disclosure? ........................... 9
Regarding Commemorating the Efforts to Hold OLF .............................................................................. 11
Regarding Future Outlying Field Coupeville Visual Impact Issues .......................................................... 13
Process to An MOA ..................................................................................................................................... 13
COER at the Table ................................................................................................................................... 13
Lack of Updates ....................................................................................................................................... 13
Concluding Thoughts .................................................................................................................................. 15

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 3

 TABLE OF ACRONYMS
Acronym Definition
COER Citizens of the Ebeys Reserve
Shorthand for the current electronic attack
EA-18G or EA-18G Growler
jet aircraft of NAS Whidbey Island
Environmental Impact Statement for EA-18G
EA-18G Airfield EIS "Growler" Airfield Operations at Naval Air
Station Whidbey Island Complex
Ebeys NHR Ebeys Landing Natural Historical Reserve
MOA Memorandum of Agreement
NAS Naval Air Station
OLF Outlying Field
OLFer Advocate for Outlying Field Coupeville

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 4

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Overall, I think the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is not a catastrophic threat in

the eyes of at least this OLFer a citizen of America who want to support Naval Outlying Field

Coupeville (aka OLF Coupeville, OLF) by photographing Field Carrier Landing Practice and

politically fight for OLF. The arrangement with shrubs and a historical report is barely acceptable.

I do also see longstanding issues around OLF disclosure and awareness being amplified. But

ultimately, my support for this MOA is 100% contingent on a truly professional report on the

historical legacy of OLF Coupeville so we bend the arc of history in the right direction.

It has been tempting for me and others to attack the MOA process and the Draft MOA;

but the professional report on the historical legacy of OLF Coupeville tempers my view and

will lend credibility to OLF Coupevilles place in Whidbey history, will help OLF Coupeville and

Ebeys Landing National Historic Reserve (Ebeys NHR) coexist, will help justify OLF Coupeville

in the community and in coexistence with Ebeys NHR. Those are all very important things worth

fighting for and paying the price to get there.

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 5

 ADDRESSING THE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA)
Introduction
I have read the agreement multiple times before sending this off and spoken to US Navy

spokespeople to obtain a full grasp of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). Also, as I

fundamentally believe silence IS 100% consent, so I shall proceed regarding reviewing the MOA

itself I believe the best path forward would be to go through the MOA itself and only comment

where there are issues.

Planting of Vegetation
Being the agreement says under STIUPLATIONS, 1), A), The Navy shall plant screening

vegetation along the exterior border of the concrete eco-block barrier where existing native,

perennial screening consistent with the proposed hedgerow vegetation does not already exist.

I have no problem with this, provided its where,

Hedgerow vegetation does not already exist (emphasis

added as I recommend should be on the final MOA). Im

sure we OLFers will continue to respect the space, tread

lightly, cheer loudly and photograph heavily.

Figure 1: Unique Angle of @BoeingDefense EA-
For the record, the best sightlines to viewing 18G Growler on Short Final to #OLF

opportunities of Runway 14 peer between the trees and

OVER the barriers as per Figure 1. For Runway 32 of OLF

there are mostly very narrow paths cut through the

preexisting hedgerows and then a small trail between the

hedgerows & the barriers as per Figure 2.

Figure 2: Narrow Path to Watch OLF Flight Ops

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 6

 Section 106 Consultation Plan
I have no catastrophic issues with part 1, B of Stipulations which states, Within one (1)

year of executing this MOA the Navy, in consultation with SHPO, the Trust Board, and NPS,

shall develop a section 106 consultation plan to include guidance on how the Navy, Trust Board,

and NPS participate in and share information regarding property management, project planning,

and project execution at OLF Coupeville as long as

1. Island County Commissioners and the Oak Harbor Navy League are kept apprised also.

2. COER is not treated any differently than any other concerned group.

Thoughtfully: Public communication plus bridge-building between different jurisdictions are key

to winning a just post-COER world. COER was not created in a vacuum. No, COER is a group

of sovereign citizens conducting lawfare and other forms of political insurgency in part due to the

vacuum of credible communications between the US Navy and the community. As fellow citizens

of America and I start openly designing a post-COER world something Ill discuss later, lets

make sure we do not create the pretext for another COER. Thanks.

A PROFESSIONAL REPORT ON THE HISTORICAL LEGACY OF OLF COUPEVILLE

Let me begin by saying I am very grateful this is part of the final MOA. There is a deep

need for documentation tying OLF Coupeville to, Its relationship to the broader historic legacy

of the military in Ebeys Reserve. I have felt recently published written and oral NAS Whidbey

Island histories without naming names have given too little mention to OLF Coupevilles role

versus the role OLF Coupeville has played not just in training naval aviators, but in the leadup to

the 1991 BRAC attempt to close NAS Whidbey Island and the multiple current crises around OLF.

Furthermore, I am supportive of any effort to, Provide a historic context for the

property. I am also supportive of any effort to educate Ebeys NHR board members, staff and

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 7

 volunteers as well as the entire Town Government of Coupeville about, The Navys use of OLF

Coupeville and its relationship to the broader historic legacy of the military in Ebeys Reserve.

An education clearly necessary.

Quite frankly, my enthusiasm for the MOA is because of this section and a very deep

patriotic desire to not just defeat COER but also prevent another WISE or COER forming up in

a post-COER world. I deeply feel because too many actors and actresses in this COER World

have not hit the free microfiche of Whidbey News-Times archives in the Oak Harbor Library to

learn what happened between 1987 and 1992, the year after BRAC rejected a WISEs

endorsement to close NAS Whidbey Island. I feel history is somewhat repeating, but at least we

are not having Growlers fall from the sky like Intruders & Prowlers did and that I credit the

VAQ Wing maintenance staff, the teachers, the admin people and the aircrew for as much as

those who gave blood to write those painful safety lessons long before this OLFer who bangs the

shutter button on their camera and my Logitech special keyboard with equal passion.

As to hard copy distribution, I would recommend the hard copy distribution list mirrored

the final Environmental Impact Statement for EA-18G "Growler" Airfield Operations at Naval Air

Station Whidbey Island Complex (aka EA-18G Airfield EIS) distribution list or those whom get

the final EA-18G Airfield EIS be invited to receive copies of this report. To me, the final report

will arguably be complementary to the final EA-18G Airfield EIS.

As to financing, may I please recommend that the Captain of NAS Whidbey Island and the

Commodore of the VAQ Wing are to lend their voices to financing this study through US Navy

budget channels? Im sure if the two US Naval Officer souls most responsible for OLF requested

this study be funded, itd be magically a very high priority.

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 8

 Implications of COER As A Concurring Party
I submit before this MOA is finalized there needs to a very clear written statement sent

to COER what being a signatory to this agreement means and does not mean, reminding COER

and their attorneys of the protocol COER agreed to plus what a concurring party is and is not.

Especially as COER as a group have made very clear intentions to continue efforts to litigate and

harangue the United States Navy over naval aviation environmental impacts.

COMMUNITY AWARENESS OF NAVAL OUTLYING FIELD COUPEVILLE

I have decided that an entire section is directly necessary to address community current

and future awareness of Naval Outlying Field Coupeville (OLF). I perceive COER and other like-

minded groups having as a raison detre (Latin for Reason for Existing) lack of awareness before

purchasing property and living next to OLF. There is even ongoing litigation in Island County

Superior Court Case #14-2-00705-6 against realtors for failure to disclose OLF as a neighbor.

Ultimately, I submit efforts to hide visibility of OLF are detrimental to preserving the mission of

OLF Coupeville and I feel a duty to put these concerns in writing.

Better Visibility of OLF Coupeville from State Highway 20 = Better Noise

Disclosure?
Yes, I believe the more OLF is visible from State Highway 20 means better noise disclosure

for folks. Lets remember one of the websites that addresses the aforementioned litigation has

an entire webpage about the view from State Highway 20 and says at its intro page, A drive

by view of the OLF would be of no help, either. No runway, military looking buildings or signage,

and no jets unless they happen to be flying.

Lets also remember in the May 13, 1992 Whidbey News-Times were published

comments by Steve Hertling, an Oak Harbor Realtor and past president of the Greater Oak

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 9

 Harbor Chamber of Commerce who said, This is a moral obligation, having a noise disclosure

law. Clearly we have a moral obligation to make potential property owners aware of OLF.

Fast forwarding to as one of the anti-OLF litigation websites 1 wrote as of 18 October

2017 2, The barricades are a better clue that something must be there, now, but the odds of

seeing a plane are very low. All of us dream of retiring and moving to a beautiful place with a

view. For many people, an Internet search turns up affordable properties that seem perfect. A

flight to Seattle and a drive in may not reveal any jets or even the mostly hidden OLF. There are

just a few days to look, a hurried offer for a home that seems a bargain, a return flight to catch,

and a trip back home to start making all the preparations for a move

I would add as one prolific commentator in David Dickerson even said in 2017 comments

to the US Navy and the Washington State Department of Ecology 3, The reasons why so many

people chose to live near OLFC [OLF Coupeville] relate more to a failing of both the Navy

and local government officials to apprise people of the full extent and intensity of noise

levels inherent upon living close to OLFC. That is to say, the "warnings" and disclosures

provided were not adequate, accurate, or clear. In any situation, it is apparent that the

Navy, the county government and the real estate brokers/agents all had a hand in diluting

the disclosures made to Civilians who bought homes near OLFC in the last 15-20 years. 4

1
I dont like advertising this website and group as their agenda seems a bit disingenuous: Get out from under the
jets but send the jets somewhere else. Its an agenda by a group I no longer can support.
2
Source: https://disclosuredeception.wordpress.com/trapped-not-told-2/trapped-not-told/
3
For the record, the State Department of Ecology permit comments Mr. Dickerson sent are where I got his name.
4
Source: Page 127 of https://www.scribd.com/document/362003864/David-Dickerson-Comments-to-the-US-
Navy-Washington-State-Department-of-Ecology

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 10

 I am sharing these vignettes so folks understand how these proposed new shrubs around

OLF Coupeville are going to amplify not reduce a real source of community tragedies. What

tragedies? OK, here are some examples:

Ask me about Lt. Christina not being able to use OLF so her boyfriend Lt. Jim can

watch with me my special Wizard friend fly so until resolution I will be very bitter at

Ebeys NHR and Town of Coupeville leadership demanding detachment training;

Ask those property owners fighting in court against members of the real estate

industry unwilling to accept culpability for their starring role in all this hell;

Ask all those great Coupeville residents who consider themselves Citizens of America

and dont get media coverage for supporting OLF flight operations while their

community dodges economic sanctions and worse due to COER antics;

Ask all those economically dependent on NAS Whidbey Island and their political

leaders about the last five years and fear of losing the primary source of income they

have to folks who oppose any economic development on Whidbey Island;

But most of all ask Wyatt and Brittany whose dad and husband Scott with VAQ-129

Vikings the training squadron is away so often all three are my friends, by the way.

I hope now readers get it what I mean by tragedies and underlying issues. If you wonder why

Im very uncomfortable with any request for new vegetation around OLF, there you go. Context!

Regarding Commemorating the Efforts to Hold OLF

I think a few things modest and low impact as part of an ongoing conversation well beyond the

MOA could and should be done to commemorate the efforts to hold OLF and educate folks.

Granted, I am now aware in October of 2017 having interpretive displays creates immense

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 11

 financial demands and does increase the risk of vandalism while having minimal lasting educational

impact. But as I wrote in my response to the draft of the Navys EA-18G Airfield EIS, You folks

on the Navy EIS Staff please honor yourselves on the Navy EIS Staff with a plaque or something

with your names. You better honor one U.S. Attorney Rachel K. Roberts who stopped the 2015

COER Injunction Attempt maybe a bench at a OLF viewing site? Please consider honoring the

US Navy sailors who have served at OLF as well. As far as me goes, just name a bus stop at OLF

that complies with AICUZ the Joe A. Kunzler Bus Stop with a plaque that says, Yeah you can

have autism, you can have a bad back, you can have bad left eye and you can have PTSD but

you can still serve and give back to the greatest nation on the planet. America is GREAT because

Americans give back and make America GREATER.

I would also add maybe we could have a flag-raising ceremony just before the first Field

Carrier Landing Practice of the day like the Seahawks do with the 12th Man Flag 5. I certainly

have a list in mind that includes Dr. Books and Kendall Campbell and Jill Johnson, for starters. Itd

be a community-building exercise that wouldnt cost that much money and be low impact.

Finally, Id like to see a circumference trail around OLF outside of the barriers not just

for aviation photography purposes but also for cross-country running training when the OLF is

not in use. OK, I admit: a) I would like better photographic angles of OLF flight ops and b) I want

to see C-17s, C-130s, V-22s, and helicopters at OLF on a regular basis practice short-field take-

offs and landings. I recognize there are very legitimate concerns around security and land use

around a potential circumference trail; that said anything we on the outside looking in can help

squeeze maximum taxpayer value out of OLF especially when the OLF sits fallow (fallow being

when OLF has no EA-18Gs doing Field Carrier Landing Practice) we should. Thanks.

5
Go here for the details on the 12th Man Flag: http://www.seahawks.com/spirit-of-12/12-flag-raisers

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 12

 Regarding Future Outlying Field Coupeville Visual Impact Issues
To close out this section, I really want to encourage the non-COER consulting parties and

concurring to please openly discuss and collaborate on efforts to educate visually the public why

Naval Outlying Field Coupeville, commemorate the efforts to hold the OLF, and to build a lasting

peace in a post-COER world for a community that accepts the role of OLF Coupeville in both

the community and the national defense. Thank you.

PROCESS TO AN MOA
Those thoughts seem to flow into my thoughts about the process to the MOA. I feel my

comments regarding the MOA would be counterproductive if I interwove my concerns about

the process into my thoughts on the Memorandum of Agreement. The two are distinctly

separate issues. Ultimately, these observations are to influence when not if another similar

process will be necessary.

COER at the Table

I do not think it is helpful nor productive to have sitting at a table as an equal determining

the future of a vital NAS Whidbey Island campus in any shape, way or form a representative from

a group of sovereign citizens who make statements on their social media like equating Field Carrier

Landing Practice to a terrorist action or call our troops pay pork grease or openly attack

military families or shut down an Island County Board of Health meeting or worst of the worst

demand an injunction to sacrifice the lives of our troops. For starters.

Lack of Updates
I think it was also unhelpful most of the updates on this process came through low level

public records requests. Maybe future occasional updates from official channels would be best.

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 13

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JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 14

 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
First, I want to thank Kendall Campbell and her staff as well as Dr. Allyson Brooks and

her staff for steering this process to this point. I think any fair observer can recognize this is a

final product four years in which had so much process and hopefully improved lines of

communication, but addressed the most minimal of genuine OLF issues. At least we now have a

draft MOA with something substantive for every concerned party.

I dont think more shrubs around OLF is an equal gain to the sacrifices made by the fine

consulting parties and concurring parties in the MOA process and yes COER too; but thats me

and I ask each consulting party and concurring party to please do their own arithmetic on that

one. Perhaps this situation could end in another Pyrrhic Victory for COER or a victory at so

costly a price, tactical victory is a strategic defeat. Sort of like with that trail crisis last spring

where COER won, but COER members and friends applying and testifying for a grant to place a

trail directly under the Field Carrier Landing Practice paths for Naval Outlying Field Coupeville

which by COER members calling blackmail demanding a statement from the Island County

Public Health Officer is helping push COER back as the hypocrites they are starting with the State

Board of Health, although me invoking my friendship with a certain VAQ Wing Lieutenant and

saying, My Friends Life Matters was also a big help pushing it up.

I do submit having a historical report into Naval Outlying Field Coupeville is vital to the

big picture. We need to consider the fact there are multiple factions of Central Whidbey history

in clear conflict. One of the causes of the COER crisis seems to be unresolved and reignited

business from the 1967 restart of Outlying Field Coupeville with jets 6, 1970s creation of Ebeys

6
I would refer you to the 1967-01-26 Whidbey News-Times Navy Works on Coupeville Strip on my Scribd at
https://www.scribd.com/doc/305896998/1967-01-26-WNT-Navy-Works-on-Coupeville-Strip

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 15

 NHR, the 1980s attempt to create an interpretive display at Outlying Field Coupeville with

hopes, To install a viewing platform and exhibits near the OLF that discussed naval aviation 7,

and the 1987-1992 Whidbey Islanders for a Sound Environment (WISE) crisis. This time, lets

work to expose and resolve these underlying historic issues plus root causes.

We need good data to plant roots into resolving these historical factions. For as Martin

Luther King, Jr once said, We are not makers of history. We are made by history. So it is

beyond time to see what created today before we plot what a post-COER World looks like.

Because in the end, this is what we OLFers want a post-COER world where the last

bounces of every squadron before going out to the carrier at OLF Coupeville controversy-free

and in afterburner! You can start with the VAQ-133 Wizards if you would please

Figure 3: VAQ-139 Cougars' EA-18G final bounce before 2014-2015 deployment

7
SOURCE: Chapter 8 of An Unbroken Historical Record: Ebeys Landing National Historical Reserve,
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ebla/adhi/chap8.htm

JOE A. KUNZLER BARRIERGATE COMMENT LETTER V FINAL 16