El Toro Marines Riding High

Many, if not most, residents think Orange County is the best place in the nation to live and work. Marines at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station know it. El Toro was cited as such in the award it received last Monday from President Reagan when it was selected as the best Marine base in the service.

Singled out for recognition among other things was the station’s new programs to combat domestic violence, its child care services and the renovation of base housing units.

Even stronger proof of the quality of life at the base is the high re-enlistment rate at El Toro. Marines there have what Gen. Paul X. Kelley, the corps commandant, called “a center of professionalism, pride and productivity.” That gives Marines in Orange County the best of both worlds because we think the general’s analysis applies not only to El Toro but the community that surrounds it.