Free Republic

A prominent pro-Kremlin propagandist has been unmasked as a 37-year-old Navy veteran and tropical fish seller from New Jersey. Divorcee Sarah Bils is known to her 100,000 devoted fans online as 'Donbas Devushka', or Donbas Girl. She posed as a Russian Jew from the occupied Ukrainian city of Luhansk and a geopolitics expert. -snip- She left the military in November last year with an honorable discharge but only after being demoted. Bils claims she was 'kicked out' of the Navy due to her 'leftist views.'

A social-media account overseen by a former U.S. Navy noncommissioned officer—a prominent online voice supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine—played a key role in the spread of intelligence documents allegedly leaked by Airman First Class Jack Teixeira. A purported Russian blogger known as Donbass Devushka, which translates as Donbas Girl, reposted the files from obscure online chat rooms. The blog is the face of a network of pro-Kremlin social-media, podcasting, merchandise and fundraising accounts. But the person who hosted podcasts as Donbass Devushka and oversees these accounts is a Washington-state-based former U.S. enlisted aviation electronics technician whose real name is Sarah...

WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON — We want to emphasize that there is no definitive proof that the pilot of this plane was “vaccinated.” The company that operated the plane, however, frequently flies into Canada. All flight crews, pilots, truckers, passengers, etc. have been required to be fully vaccinated to travel in and out of Canada since January. Twelve of this particular plane’s final 29 flights went to Canada or originated in Canada (return trips).Based on what’s unfolded so far since the Sunday, September 4 plane crash in the Puget Sound, all anyone, including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), can and...

A float plane with eight adults and one child on board crashed on Sunday in a bay about 30 miles north of Seattle, Washington, according to the Coast Guard. One deceased individual was recovered from the water while eight others were still unaccounted for. The float plane was a 55-year-old de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, according to Flightradar24. It took off from Friday Harbor and was in the air for 19 minutes before crashing.

Brig. Gen. Terryl Schwalier was stunned when he read the account of the June 25, 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that appeared in my recent book, Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran. I was writing many years after the fact, drawing on sources from inside Iranian intelligence but also on published U.S. government reports. It was those U.S. reports that prompted General Schwalier to contact me a few months ago. “You paint a picture of significant government awareness that “Iran was up to something” in the months prior to the Khobar Towers attack,” he wrote...

...Considered by some to be a Holy Grail of Puget Sound archaeology, three men — a commercial diver, an amateur historian and an attorney — believe they have found the fabled lost anchor of Captain George Vancouver’s exploration of the Pacific Northwest more than 200 years ago. Lying in shallow water along the west side of Whidbey Island, the historic artifact could be recovered by the three-man team that makes up Anchor Ventures LLC within the month... In 1791, British Navy Captain George Vancouver set out on a four-year exploration of the West Coast aboard the 99-foot HMS Discovery. Accompanying...

A landslide on Whidbey Island in Washington state pushed one home 200 feet out into the water and forced the evacuation of about 20 people, officials said. Early Wednesday morning a 1,000-foot-wide section of a cliff on the island fell away, blocking the beach-side road below, The Seattle Times reported. Police evacuated about a dozen people from homes below the cliff by boat because of the road blockage, KOMO-TV, Seattle, reported.

When Hornets Growl The new, supersonic face of e-warfare. By D.C. Agle Air & Space Magazine, March 01, 2011 No soft underbelly here: The EA-18G Growler hauls missiles, fuel tanks, and electronic warfare pods. Ted Carlson/Fotodynamics Two hours north of Seattle, Washington, at the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the entrance to Puget Sound is guarded by a citadel dedicated to the aerial mastery and manipulation of one of the universe’s fundamental particles—the electron. The site, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, was originally envisioned as little more than a waypoint for patrol aircraft scanning the Sound...

NOTE The following text is a quote: FORMER MEMBER OF U.S. NAVY SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR STEALING AND SELLING EQUIPMENT David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that WILFRED J. BOUTON, 31, of Bremerton, Washington, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for stealing and selling sensitive military equipment. Judge Thompson also ordered BOUTON to pay restitution in the amount of $62,311.42. According to court documents and statements made in court, BOUTON...

The Navy’s new EA-18G Growler arrives at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island on June 3. A large ceremony is planned.U.S. Navy photo South Whidbey Record Navy’s new Growler is almost homeBy Spencer Webster | May 24, 2008 OAK HARBOR — The Navy’s latest jet, the EA-18G Growler, will arrive in skies over Whidbey Island in little more than a week.But the new aircraft is more than just a piece of $60 million flying hardware that can hit a top speed of near Mach 1.6.Many say the Growler not only represents the future of the Navy, but the future of...

US reveals new Iran 'incidents' Iran has described the incident as an "ordinary occurrence" Iranian speedboats approached US warships in two previously undisclosed incidents in the Strait of Hormuz in December, a US Navy official has said.The USS Whidbey Island fired warning shots during one of the encounters on 19 December, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He also described a third stand-off on 6 January - that sparked US protests - as the most serious incident. Iran has accused the US of faking its video of the most recent encounter. 'Radio threat' The US official...

Commander, Naval Forces Europe/Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet has announced that Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron TWO (VQ-2) will relocate from NAS Rota, Spain, to NAS Whidbey Island, WA, effective Sept. 1. The relocation of VQ-2's six aircraft and 450 Sailors to the United States "is in keeping with the Navy's ongoing transformation of forces in Europe, and will help reduce costs and eliminate redundancies throughout its force structure worldwide." The move will co-locate the squadron with VQ-1, already based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The stated reasons are for increased efficiency of operation of the aging aircraft, economy of...

Anyone feel the quake that happened this morn at 6:08? I am working in Everett and felt nothing, my girlfriend at home on Camano felt it though.

We arrived in Oak Harbor today and I wasn't disappointed in what I have been hearing. They have been flying low over my daughter's house on Oak Harbor. They are the Prowlers, and it is the awesome sound of freedom It is almost 11 pm and I just heard another. When they fly low enough to almost split your eardrums, it gives you a small sense of what the enemy must feel and hear when American firepower is bearing down on them. May they pee their pants in fear. I'll be here until Tuesday and would love to join some...

Everett _ Another armed forces festival has been canceled in Washington state because of security concerns and cost. Last year the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station dropped a popular air show. On Monday, Navy officials announced the cancellation of the Fourth of July Freedom Festival in Everett. Attendance for the fifth annual event dropped from about 10,000 to 5,000 last year after those wishing to attend were made to pass through metal detectors and submit to bag checks.

  Newspaper reports 'suspicious activity' on Whidbey Island Thursday, October 18, 2001 By SCOTT SUNDESEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Newspaper readers in Washington, D.C., were left with an overwhelming impression yesterday that Whidbey Island -- home of a naval air station -- was crawling with suspected terrorists just before Sept. 11. But Island County Sheriff Michael Hawley debunked part of those reports, saying they were based on "raw data." "We report every tip we get. But nine out of 10 turn out to be bogus," Hawley said. That holds true for most of what The Washington Times reported yesterday. The newspaper said ...

Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical London imam, is at the centre of an FBI investigation into an alleged plot to recruit young American Muslims into an al-Qa'eda cell in the United States. Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Masri is at the centre of the FBI's investigation. The US authorities have arrested two Muslim activists from Seattle with links to Hamza or his mosque in Finsbury Park, north London. They claim the men were involved with Hamza in organising a "jihad training camp". US sources confirmed to The Telegraph yesterday that Hamza's activities were at the core of their investigation. Agents were...