Drills at NWS Earle today: APP

APP.com reports that "emergency drills" at NWS Earle could cause traffic delays along Rt. 34 in Colts Neck this morning. Although a week after the range stated in a Navy press release, this could be part of Exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield '10, which is part of "an anti-terrorism/force protection exercise conducted nationwide."

Approaching the 30-day deadline for expiration of the military-use phase of the Laurelwood housing lease, we wonder whether the drills at NWS Earle incorporate scenarios of potential espionage or an attack from within the base upon rental of 300 Laurelwood housing units to civilians for the next 30 years (remember, anyone capable of cutting a rent check will be able to live in the housing, inside the base); or what would become of the civilian tenants inside a Naval Weapons Station in the event that a terror attack here or elsewhere prompts a base lockdown.

These are just some of the host of intriguing questions the Department of Navy should answer to the public sooner rather than later.