Marine Takeover of Johnson Valley exposed as Boondoggle

[kim]

I copied this from my facebook page. Thanks to Helen Baker and Amy Granat for posting the info.

Now is the time to make calls and write letters to our representatives. We must inundate them.


Marine Takeover of Johnson Valley exposed as Boondoggle by Associated Press Article

In an article published today in newspapers around the country, writer Robert Burns of the Associated Press quotes Marine Corp Commandant General James F. Amos stating that the future of the Marine Corps lies in a smaller, versatile sea-based fighting force based primarily around the Pacific, including bases in Okinawa and Australia; "....but not in Iraq or Afghanistan."

Since Marine representatives have repeatedly stated that the sole reason for the very expensive and widely criticized takeover of the Johnson Valley area is to prepare Marines for land-based battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, General Amos has confirmed that this proposed expansion is no longer necessary or even critical to the future of the Marine Corps.

Local residents and communities, including the thousands of yearly visitors to Johnson Valley, have been braced for severe financial hardships due to the proposed takeover. Now the Marines are called upon to withdraw their plans for Johnson Valley, following the lead of General Amos while saving the American taxpayer millions of dollars.

We call on everyone concerned by the proposed Marine expansion in Johnson Valley to let their local, state and federal politicians know that we support the Marines, and we support Marine Commandant John F. Amos' vision for a strong fighting force trained to protect our country. Distribute the Associated Press article to all your networks.http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

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Amy Granat
Managing Director, CORVA
916-710-1950 [email protected]

California Off-Road Vehicle Association
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[racer_dude]

Thank you kim! A step in our direction for sure!

[pcecracing]

Thanks Kim. Hopefully we can keep all the OHV land at Johnson Valley.

[Shoyrtt]

Thank you Kim, Helen and Harry Baker for all of your hard work and countless hours spent on keeping Johnson Valley open.

[Tom_Willis]

Thank you Kim, Helen and Harry Baker for all of your hard work and countless hours spent on keeping Johnson Valley open.

Absolutely.

[JaysinDesignz]

They need to move all training & exercises on the border in San Diego & Imperial County. Not only is the terrain exactly like where they have been fighting. It will be killing three birds with one TANK!!!!!!!!!!!!

1.)Training in same type of terrain with movement of unskilled & unorganized enemies.
2.)Protecting the border against drug smuggling the right way. (What cartel is going to go against Marines!!!!!!!)
3.)Just the new presence & word that Marines are on the border now. Will bring illegals crossing the border ILLEGALLY
to an almost immediate halt.

Most important it wouldn't involve any more extra spending, new fences or anything. And be the end all in problem solving the issue of our border.

[Flat Iron]

Thanks for the hard work and the heads up! letters will be sent and phone calls made.

[Lord Green]

Thanks for the update

[Bryan J]

so great to hear this!!!!

[Zambo]

I hate to see everybody get all up in a lather, but I gotta tell you I just read that and laughed. Not laughing at the prospect of losing offroad areas but just at the insinuation that anybody other than those opposing the move thinks its a boondoggle.

The first paragraph talks about writer Burns quoting a very generic and often used statement from the Commandant about what the future of the Marines looks like. That vision of the Marine Corps has been policy for decades, and if you read it, its not even a quote at all. It is a synopsis or a retelling at best. There is nothing in the Commandant's statement that insinuates even a tiny bit that they aren't interested in expanding 29 Palms.

The entire rest of that letter or post or whatever it was is simply the writer's interpretation of what the Commandant's non-statement means. Nothing more. From my perspective, Amos is simply talking about what the near future holds for the Marines as they withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan. Nowhere in there did I read anything about them putting any sort of limit or moratorium on training to fight in the desert. Most of the wars the Marines have fought recently have obviously occurred in the desert and I would be shocked if they were to announce any plans to draw down their efforts to train for such desert battles. 29 Palms is the only place that they have to train for this type of mission. Basing Marines in and around the Pacific doesn't mean they aren't going to be ready to fight in a desert, that is just where they are forward deployed to as part of our readiness posture. Rest assured that they will train in desert warfare, primarily at 29 Palms, before heading out to their posts.

Unfortunately I guess, advances in equipment and weaponry mean that Marines can cover a lot of ground faster than they ever could before (off-roaders aren't the only ones building faster vehicles). That makes it difficult to conduct realistic training in a small area and the Marines are outgrowing their ability to do realistic training within the current boundaries of the base. Now I don't mean to argue here that taking over Johnson valley is the right thing for the Marines to do, but just that inferring that the Johnson Valley initiative is "exposed as a boondoggle" is a mighty big stretch just from reading that article. Personally I'd rather see them expand the base in another direction but the base is already butted up against Amboy Road to the east and the 40 up north. I don't know what the right answer is but again, exposed as a boondoggle? That's a stretch.