Lexington council made the right call on Hisle Park and UK ROTC | Opinion
Something that makes political discourse so frustrating these days is our inability to admit that two things can be true at the same time.
This came up around the discussion and eventual vote by Lexington Urban County Council to end a memorandum of understanding for University of Kentucky ROTC cadets to do doing military training in Hisle Farm Park in North Lexington. It was a relatively minor matter on the docket, but judging from the story comments, you’d have thought the council was voting to shut down the entire military.
So. The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a leadership training program at roughly 1,700 colleges and universities that trains students for all four military branches. (JROTC is the program at high schools.)
At both levels, ROTC offers scholarships that helps more than 4,000 students a year attend college. Program graduates can attain officer status in whichever military branch you choose.
It’s a great program that helps many young people complete college and start a military career.
Hisle Farm Park is a not so hidden jewel in Lexington, roughly 280 acres of rolling grassland with mowed paths that allow runners, walkers and horseback riders to wander through meadows of milkweed, goldenrod and many young trees planted by Reforest the Bluegrass. It’s a place of quiet contemplation that allows city dwellers to experience the peace of the countryside.
It’s a great park that helps many people find peace in nature.
UK ROTC and Hisle Farm Park are both great, but council members rightly judged they don’t make a great combination. People walking their dogs or riding their horses don’t really want to be surprised by people carrying guns (even if they’re rubber) and doing military exercises.
Now it sounds as though a better solution is at hand, as the Herald-Leader’s Kendall Staton reported: “Lexington’s Commissioner of General Services Chris Ford said UK ROTC is in contact with the Bluegrass Station and is in negotiations to train on their property. Bluegrass Station is a military-industrial-business park managed by the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs located between Lexington and Winchester.”
The Urban County Council made the right call, and a better solution is at hand for the UK ROTC program. It doesn’t mean Lexington is anti-military as several keyboard warriors have suggested. Those folks need to get offline, and touch some grass.
Which they can do in the rural peace and quiet of Hisle Park.
