This is headquarters for the Boeing EA-18Gs, called Growlers, which take the lead in electromagnetic warfare campaigns to disable a wide range of enemy communications. Currently, 82 Growlers are based at Whidbey, with the Navy proposing as many as 118. Pilot training requires frequent takeoffs and landings on the base and at Navy Outlying Landing Field near Coupeville.

New tests could include up to 13 annual training exercises in anti-surface and anti- submarine warfare involving as many as 21 non-explosive practice torpedoes at a range in Hood Canal.

The Navy has a five-year permit from NOAA Fisheries for annual use of hundreds of buoys that send out sonar signals during anti-submarine tracking tests. Additional exercises could include testing of up to 163 non-explosive practice torpedoes during as many as 22 annual training exercises.

Washington State Parks has issued permits for occasional nighttime SEAL training at five locations. An internal Navy document says the Navy may seek permission to conduct SEAL training at 68 other sites.

This proposal is being revised, but Army officials say North Cascades training would prepare pilots for high-altitude missions where decreased aircraft performance can occur. JBLM’s high-altitude training is currently done in Colorado, the Army says. Three new Southwest Washington areas would offer low-elevation training.

The Navy has long conducted training in these areas and proposes to expand air exercises there to include detection of electromagnetic signals from ground emitters on Forest Service land. The vast majority of this training would be over the Olympic Peninsula, where exercises could last up to 16 hours a day for up to 260 days a year.