-Caveat Lector-
Urban Squeeze Threatens Military
by CAROLYN SKORNECK
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Restrictions on military training imposed by
development and environmental concerns could put the lives of soldiers at
greater risk when they face combat, military leaders and lawmakers say.
''A high state of readiness is critical to our ability to perform the
missions assigned to us and to do so efficiently and with minimum
casualties,'' Army Lt. Gen. Larry R. Ellis told the House Government
Reform Committee on Wednesday. ''When we lose sight of our critical
mission ... we risk tragic consequences that place in jeopardy those who
have elected to serve.''
Once remote bases have seen urbanization and other development stretch to
their borders, bringing with them citizens' demands for safety, less
noise, good air quality and preservation of endangered and other species.
That very buildup has made it difficult to separate civilians from the
noise, dust and danger they want to avoid, Ellis said, because the Army
cannot buy adjacent land to use as an undeveloped buffer around training
areas. Instead, it must restrict the area it uses for training.
''Without realistic combat training, particularly training with live
ordnance, we are unable to train our people'' adequately, said Adm.
William J. Fallon, vice chief of naval operations.
Even some Navy pilots learning the delicate, exacting skill of carrier
landings have been forced to take aerial paths different from those they
would use in combat because of citizen demands for noise reduction, said
Rep. Ed Schrock, R-Va., citing two facilities in his state.
Those demands prompted officials to raise the flight pattern height from
the normal 600 feet to 800 feet at one station and to 1,000 feet at the
other, and to change the normal direction at the latter to avoid two new
housing subdivisions, he said.
As a result, the pilots ''do not practice in a realistic training
environment in what many say is the most critical phase of flight for a
naval aviator -- landing on an aircraft carrier,'' said Schrock, a retired
Navy captain.
The committee chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., said Defense Department
ranges in the United States and overseas are under siege from the land,
the water and the air. And there is even encroachment on the radio
spectrum, he said.
''The explosion of wireless technologies threatens to push military
equipment off prime radio frequencies just as we're spending billions to
link our forces on the digital battlefield,'' he said.
Much of Wednesday's testimony focused on environmental laws and lawsuits
stemming from them. Fallon cited complaints over sea turtles in Vieques,
Puerto Rico, where live fire bombing recently resumed after a two-year
stop following the death of a civilian.
The Navy, which brought in thousands of the turtles, was allowed just one
turtle fatality per military exercise under an agreement, Fallon said.
''It's hard to argue this stuff with a straight face because it's just so
ludicrous,'' said Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga.
Fallon said a Navy exercise in the Atlantic in July was allowed to perform
only 30 percent of its ordnance operations at night because they might
disturb some animals.
''It might wake them up?'' said Barr.
Commanders sometimes agree ''to what I consider onerous restrictions
because they're out of time and need to get training done,'' Fallon said.
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Edward Hanlon Jr., the commander at Camp Pendleton,
Calif., said breeding by numerous bird species along the 2 miles of
Pacific Ocean beach available for training means that stretch is
off-limits for half the year.
So, like all of the services, they ''work around'' the problem, he said.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., declined to focus blame on environmental
concerns, saying even if those ''could be resolved tomorrow, training
space would still be shrinking under the accumulated weight of other
challenges.''
05/10/2001
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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