LTE – Duntley After reading the latest on the Navy's Fallon Range Training Complex I found my thoughts heading back 70 some years when my family's ranch and range were bought out by Edwards Air Force Base's expansion down on the Mojave Desert of California. I was in my teens at the time so I'm an old guy now, but I remember it well because I lived on the ranch. Ranch life, with the hard work, the care for the livestock, the everyday responsibilities, was integral to my development then and my later years. My maternal grandparents had a successful cow/calf desert grazing operation when they were notified that the Air Force needed all that land because of the increased aircraft testing which would be taking place to compete with the Soviets. Obviously, there was no alternative for them but to agree to the monetary compensation and move off the land. They had a few years from the original notice to the finalization to sell livestock, or to find somewhere to place them until they resettled. After they jumped thru all the hoops required and the final day came, I remember well my grandfather's tears. It was a sad day for the family.
Now, the rest of the story. From the ranch headquarters to Edwards AFB was some 15 miles and unless one knew there was an AFB to the east you would never suspect it because all of the base's operations were to the east of the base's facilities and there was a range of hills/low mountains between us and the base. And, other than posting signs at the boundaries one would never know there was a base over there. They never used the thousands of acres for a darn thing but every time a neighboring rancher's cows grazed onto that land the Air Force sent their security police to inform them to get those cattle off that land. Obviously, the threat of cattle to military security was lost on the rancher. After 9-11 they did fence the entire area. Some of the area near a public highway had high security fencing and the more remote areas had simply barbed wire fencing. But still the land was not used by the military until about two to three years ago when large solar panel fields were built. Those fields required hundreds, if not thousands, of beautiful, majestic Joshua trees to be eliminated. So much for the concern for the environment and the wildlife. Remember when the tree huggers were wailing about the cows damaging the desert tortoise's habitat? Did the Air Force really need all those thousands of acres at that time? From my perspective; no they did not. Why did they take it? Who knows? So some 65-70 years later huge solar panel fields could be built there? I doubt many even knew about solar panels in the 1950's if they even existed.
Does the Navy really need to extend their range some 600,000 acres? I certainly don't know the answer. I sincerely hope it is necessary but the skeptic in me does question it. I truly feel for the ranchers, miners, hunters and outdoors folks who will be kept off of the land. I often hunted and went boondocking out that way with my family when I was a bit younger. And, before I am thought to be anti-military or anti-national defense, I am a Navy veteran who proudly served on the carrier USS Shangri-La, CVA38, in the 1950's. Also, I'm not naive to the fact that America has serious foes elsewhere in the world who would do us harm. Thanks for letting me share some thoughts.
Ron Duntley, Sr., Fallon
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