Remembering the Armory’s Strength

This letter concerns Lanny Ebenstein and Todd Capps’ mischaracterization of the Major General Charles A. Ott Armory. (Beating Swords Into Plowshares, Oct. 28, 2018).

It seems rooted in certain elitist attitudes that the military is something “other people” do on behalf of something they’d rather wash their hands of. It’s the attitude that shut down the Santa Barbara High School JROTC. It also stripped the local National Guard of recruits to keep the Armory functional in the first place.

The article portrays the Armory as never having a point except for their plans. Plans I hope to show didn’t beat a sword into a plowshare as much as beat a plowshare into another type of plowshare.