Navy finds ranges to replace Vieques
The naval station has been the largest employer in Puerto Rico.
"Without Vieques, there is no way I need the Navy facilities at Roosevelt Roads — none," Adm. Robert Natter, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, said. "It's a drain on Defense Department and taxpayer dollars."
Other Navy officials, however, said privately that any decision to close Roosevelt Roads would have to be made by an independent base-closing commission, as required by Congress, in 2005. Once the Navy leaves Vieques, however, all operations at Roosevelt Roads associated with Vieques will be discontinued, the officials said.
Roosevelt Roads is home to the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, a Navy hospital and many other Navy facilities. Roosevelt Roads isn't the homeport of any ships, but hundreds use its facilities each year.
The Navy estimates that Roosevelt Roads contributes about $250 million a year to Puerto Rico's economy.
When the Navy leaves Vieques, the 15,587 acres it used will be transferred to the Interior Department, not to Puerto Rico. A 900-acre section near the eastern tip of the island where live bombs were dropped will be off-limits indefinitely to humans and wildlife because of environmental hazards.
Navy officials yesterday formally notified Congress that they had certified alternatives to Vieques for conducting live-fire and other training. In a brief announcement, Navy Secretary Gordon England said he was satisfied that Navy and Marine Corps training will be adequate without Vieques.
The Navy has used Vieques as its main Atlantic Coast training range for more than 50 years, but it has been hindered by local protests stemming from an April 1999 bombing accident that killed a civilian security guard. In January 2000, the Clinton administration set a May 2003 target date for withdrawing from Vieques, but Congress required the Navy to certify that alternative sites were at least as good as Vieques.
Natter said technological advancements, including the added range of newer air-to-ground missiles such as the Joint Standoff Weapon fired by Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 fighters, have made Vieques less useful.
Among the main alternative sites certified by England:
• Pinecastle naval bombing range in Florida's Ocala National Forest near Jacksonville Naval Air Station.
• Avon Park Air Force range in south-central Florida.
• Eglin Air Force Base, about seven miles from Fort Walton Beach in the Florida Panhandle.
• Tyndall Air Force Base, about 12 miles east of Panama City, Fla.
• At-sea Navy ranges off the coast of Key West and Pensacola, Fla.
• Townsend Bombing Range in McIntosh County, Ga.
• Two Marine Corps bases in North Carolina: Cherry Point air station and Camp Lejeune. Also, the Navy Dare County Range, which encompasses 46,000 acres of marshland, forest and open space in eastern North Carolina.
Natter said he does not expect substantial protests from people in communities near Pinecastle, Eglin or the other ranges where the Navy will be conducting more extensive training.
"This is the beauty of this: We've dispersed our training to various bases and facilities and taken great pains to explain to people in the local areas exactly what we've got in mind," he said.