Navy’s Baldwin airfield expansion plans draw 200 to Summerdale meeting

A concerned but appreciative crowd of about 200 people gathered Thursday night to find out how the Navy’s new training airplane will impact their property and quality of life.

At a public meeting at the Summerdale Community Center, Naval Air Station Whiting Field’s commanding officer, Capt. Rick Sadsad, explained the reason for expanding some of Baldwin County’s training airfields — an upgrade to the more powerful T-6B training airplane.

“We want to have an open conversation; we’re not hiding anything from anyone. We want to do the right thing,” Sadsad said

Navy’s Baldwin airfield expansion plans draw 200 to Summerdale meeting