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Navy picks mainland alternatives to ViequesLive-fire exercises moving to sites in Florida, North Carolina
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Navy has selected four sites within the continental United States as live-fire bombing and artillery ranges to replace Vieques Island in Puerto Rico, Pentagon officials said Friday. The alternative sites are on federal property in Florida and North Carolina. Navy Secretary Gordon England is to sign a certification letter later Friday and send it to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The letter declares May 1 the official closing of Vieques to U.S. military training and certifies that the replacement sites are its equal for quality of training. Many Puerto Rican residents and supporters from the mainland United States have staged protests during exercises at Vieques in recent years. Residents have long complained that the live ammunition exercises disrupt their communities, and harm the island and marine environments. Protests intensified after a bombing accident in April 1999 killed a civilian security guard on the island. The replacement sites are Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle; the Navy's Pinecastle Impact Range, in a national forest in the west-central Florida town of Ocala; and two sites in North Carolina: Camp Lejeune Marine Base and Cherry Point Marine Air Station. Some of the locations are already used for live-fire drills, and that activity would be expanded to cover for the loss of Vieques. Officials told CNN that two training exercises remain scheduled for Vieques. The Navy has used the island off the Puerto Rican coast as its primary Atlantic Coast training range for more than five decades. In January 2000, the Clinton administration said Navy training exercises must stop by May 2003. Congress stipulated that the Navy first deem alternate sites comparable to Vieques. The Navy has said using live ammunition in training is necessary to maintain combat readiness among its forces. Vieques was considered ideal because its mild, semitropical climate meant exercises were rarely cancelled because of weather. CNN producer Mike Mount contributed to this article.
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