The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, November 3, 1995               TAG: 9511030004
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   26 lines

MONITOR GATES

When I read the details of the ``Opening the gate'' at the naval station, my first reaction was: This is the dumbest thing I've seen the Navy do since I retired in 1983.

However, I know a lot of planning and thought go into this type of decision. I'd like to think that our naval commanders are at least planning to monitor the gates, as the civilian community does in sensitive areas such as stores, banks, etc., with TV cameras.

If the farmer wants to open his henhouse to the other members of the farm, he would like to know if a fox comes in - and if it takes a bird out.

DALE R. WORST

Commander, U.S. Navy (ret.)

Virginia Beach, Oct. 28, 1995 by CNB