Countywide : Marines Open Base to Their Neighbors
Members of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce and area residents Friday toured the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, sitting in the seat of a flight simulator and seeing up close a captured Iraqi helicopter.
“It is a fascinating experience, and we do it just for the fun,” said Linda Benjamin, operations director at the chamber and organizer of the tour. “We are neighbors after all.”
Col. Leonard Fuchs, community liaison officer at the air station, said he hoped the tour generated more support in neighboring communities subject to the constant noise of the plane and helicopter traffic.
“It is basically one community talking to another,” Fuchs said. “We get to show off what we do. People can see that tax dollars are well spent.”
The Marine’s liaison office conducts tours of the facility for the public the first Tuesday and third Saturday of every month.
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