SEATTLE (AP) — This week the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is expected to decide the fate of a Navy proposal to use up to 28 state coastal parks to help train special operations SEALs on how to be undetectable.
The Navy held a five-year permit to use five state parks that expired in 2020, and the state commission is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to approve a five-year permit for the expanded access.
The Seattle Times reports the SEALs training for the special operations forces in state parks is controversial, as these exercises put the elite Special Operations forces in some of the state’s most special outdoor places. Some people are opposed to what they view as a kind of militarization of state parks and are uneasy about the surveillance that is part of the exercise.
Navy officials say their request reflects the imperatives of finding more diverse and challenging areas to conduct important training that is not intended to be visible to visitors and will not interfere with the public’s use of the parks.
The training involves submersible vessels that will navigate through offshore waters, and unarmed SEAL team trainees — in groups of six to eight — who will then make their way to shore, typically under the cover of darkness. Once on land, they will conceal themselves for 24 to 48 hours to conduct surveillance, then depart by water.
Navy SEALs have been training in state parks for years, and in 2015 formalized that use with a permit that gave permission for SEALs to train at Blake Island, Fort Flagler, Illahee, Mystery Bay and Scenic Beach state parks.