Fred Warchol: Why are we training potential enemies at Castle?

The United States is being challenged over the waters of the South China Sea by an increase in Chinese naval and air patrols. Numerous encounters have occurred between U.S. and Chinese military aircraft.

It began in 2001, when an U.S. EP-3 Navy plane was forced into a crash landing by a Chinese interceptor, near the Chinese island of Hainan. The 24 American crew members were interrogated and released.

Then last month, a collision was narrowly averted when a Navy Poseidon aircraft was accosted by two Chinese Flounder interceptors over international waters and ordered to “go away.”

Recently, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell said, “These confrontations indicate an absolute risk of China and the U.S. going to war in the future.”

Now the U.S. is trying to trying to eliminate the language barrier in a foolish way. Hundreds of Chinese students are receiving initial and advanced flight training here in Merced at the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics. This means if Chinese and American pilots ever engage in combat, both may able to say: We received our training in America at the former Castle Air Force Base.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Fred Warchol: Why are we training potential enemies at Castle?."