Top Marine, Sailor Make Case for Vieques

(Washington, D.C.): President Clinton is expected shortly to approve an insidious
recommendation from a hand-picked commission calling for an end to all use by the Navy and
Marine
Corps of the only U.S. live-fire training range in the Atlantic — on Vieques Island, off Puerto
Rico. Mr. Clinton has already advised National Security Advisor Samuel “Sandy” Berger that
he thinks such exercises are “wrong” and that he wants the Navy to find a way to “work
around” its present requirement to conduct them on Vieques. Should he so decide, the President
will once again be subordinating the recommendations of the government’s officials charged
with providing for the security and/or the enforcement of the laws of this country to an unclear
but potentially ominous political agenda.

On the eve of this decision — which the armed forces oppose no less vigorously than
they did the
President’s earlier, outrageous decisions to integrate gays into the military and to ban
landmines, the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps on 30
September took the extraordinary and courageous step of publicly declaring their belief that the
Nation cannot afford to suspend live-fire exercises on Vieques. General Jones and Admiral
Johnston are to be commended for their forthright depiction of the dangers associated with Mr.
Clinton’s planned initiative and, in the event he ignores them, his shut-down of the live-fire
range on Vieques should be overturned by the Congress.

Vieques Must Not Close

Admiral Jay L. Johnson and General James L. Jones

Washington Times, 20 September 1999

On April 19th of this year, a Marine Corps F/A-18C “Hornet” was involved in a tragic
accident
at the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Flying in cloudy
weather, the pilot mistook an observation building located within the range for a ground target.
He dropped two 500-pound bombs on what he thought was the correct target, and the explosion
of these bombs resulted in the death of David Sanes-Rodriguez, a civilian security guard at the
facility, and injured four other military and civilian employees. We are deeply sorry for the
death of Mr. Sanes-Rodriguez and the injuries suffered by the other victims of this accident.

This tragic accident has prompted many on Puerto Rico to demand the closure of the Vieques
facility. Some around the United States have recently voiced their support for its closure as well.
However, it is important to understand the vital contribution that Vieques Island has made, and
continues to make, to our national security. Opened in 1941 as World War II unfolded, Vieques,
along with nearby Culebra Island, served as the primary training ground for Marine and Army
amphibious forces formed at the outset of the war. Both facilities enabled soldiers and Marines
to train realistically for large amphibious operations with integrated live air and naval gunfire
support from the U.S. fleet. The men who sharpened their war-fighting skills on Vieques and
Culebra went on to win the vital first victories of the war, conducting the successful amphibious
landings in North Africa, Italy, France, and in the South and Central Pacific. Just about every
senior wartime leader in the Navy and Marines, as well as many in the Army, participated in
significant training operations in this area.

The unique training environment afforded by Vieques and Culebra featured prominently in
preparing for our nation’s subsequent wars and the long periods of violent peace that separated
them. Combat actions in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the interventions in Lebanon in 1958
and 1982, the Dominican Republic in 1965, Grenada in 1982, and the Gulf War in 1991 were
conducted by sailors and Marines trained to a realistic, demanding live-fire standard on Vieques.
In 1975 Culebra Island was returned to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This left Vieques as
the only place on the East Coast where aircraft, naval surface ships, and ground forces could
employ combined arms training with live ammunition under realistic conditions.

Vieques is unique because of its hydrography, geography, and surrounding airspace. It lies
outside heavily used commercial air corridors and sea routes, providing sea and air space for
live-fire training. A world-class training facility of this type comes at a significant price.
Americans have invested more than $ 3 billion in land, facilities, and equipment to support our
training in the Puerto Rican Operating Area.

The fundamental value of the Vieques facility is proven every day by our forward deployed
naval
forces. The aircraft carrier battle groups and the Amphibious Ready Group that trained at
Vieques within the last year ended up flying combat operations over Iraq and Kosovo within
days of their arrival overseas.

The future of Vieques Island as a training facility must transcend the emotion of the April
19th
tragedy. The accident should not override the fact that the range on Vieques has an enviable
safety record over the course of its more than half-century of use. This was the first loss of life
from the release of ordnance and no bomb or round has ever fallen on Vieques outside the
confines of the range. Ordnance impact areas are at the opposite end of the island from its
population center.

This issue is not limited to the interests of one region or locale. Communities throughout the
United States and its territories share both the burden and benefits associated with nearby bases
and ranges that support our national military capabilities. On the East Coast, only Vieques
provides a site to practice combined land, sea, and air maneuver and live-fire skills. This burden
of hosting defense facilities is not limited to American citizens alone. Around the world, every
day, our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines train with live ammunition on the territory of our
allies and friends. Some of our overseas bases have integrated live fire and maneuver ranges,
and they too are critical to the maintenance of essential war-fighting skills. The “not in my
backyard” movement is a phenomenon that, if it succeeds at home, could greatly undermine
training opportunities abroad for our men and women in uniform.

Within the limits of current technology, many skills and techniques of weapons and aircraft
training are still learned and perfected with the use of live ordnance under realistic conditions.
The success of our military forces around the world depends on regular access to our national
training facilities at Vieques Island and other sites that provide these experiences.

Decreasing, restricting, or eliminating access to such facilities will result in reduced combat
skills proficiency of our service members and could cause loss of American lives. We must
carefully weigh the short-term benefits of such decisions against the likely long-term
consequences.