Well this seems to address something I have been wondering about : why ANY increase in growlers or operations or trainings for pilots at all is necessary, if (as I have been told by former Navy aviation officers) the Navy has been moving toward UN-manned planes - the pilots operating the "plane" electronically  from a computer station for 20 years and both equipment and pilot skills have changed accordingly. It seems like both the big heavy planes and the skilled pilots are close to becoming obsolete, so I am glad to see the Navy re-evaluating their needs and direction before impacting so drastically the unique central island - if in fact, the original plans have simply become outdated.
My faith in and support of Naval operations on Whidbey will be hugely improved if the original plans are altered to take into account the downsizing of planes, numbers of planes, and pilots due to new technology.