Training Commanders Tout Guff Coast Ranges.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

Gulf area promoted for standoff munitions testing, joint training exercises

The uncertainty surrounding the availability of live-fire training and testing ranges has fueled a lobbying effort to convince the military services that they should take advantage of the large span of water, land and airspace along the Florida Panhandle and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The growing needs for joint training make the Gulf range complex a valuable resource, which currently is underused, said range officials.

The commanders of the Air Force Air Armaments Center, the Naval Surface Warfare Center and the Army Aviation and Missile Command recently put together a so-called "Joint Gulf Range Complex Strategic Plan," which explains why they view the area as an ideal venue for modern military training.

The Joint Gulf Coast Ranges initiative started three years ago, to "tie together the assets of the services on the Gulf Coast," said Donald F. Roswell, program engineer at the 46th Test Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

The Army, Navy and Air Force all are having difficulties getting enough live-fire training, as a result of "encroachment," said Roswell during a conference on testing and training, sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association. Encroachment is a term used frequently by Defense Department officials to describe restrictive measures that limit the scope of military live-fire training.

Encroachment refers to, for example, environmental regulations, airspace restrictions, radio-frequency spectrum, urban growth and airborne noise, said Michael Parmentier, director of defense readiness and training policy.

A case in point is the Navy's live-fire target range on Vieques Island, in Puerto Rico. The local population wants the range closed, arguing that firing exercises pose safety risks to the residents and cause harm to the environment. The Bush administration agreed to cease training operations at Vieques by 2003.

The Marine Corps could perform amphibious landings on the Gulf Coast ranges, like they do at Vieques, even though it would be on a "very limited basis," with no live fire, said Roswell. "'We have conducted live-fire operations, across barrier islands. We can fire south, into the Gulf of Mexico."

The Gulf Coast ranges include the Pensacola Naval Air Station, the Navy's Coastal Systems Station, Eglin and Tyndall Air Force bases and the Army's Fort Rucker.

"We are trying to make our capability for testing and training more attractive to...