Lakenheath prepares for Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty inspection exercise
“Royal Air Force” Lakenheath
by Larry Walker
48th Fighter Wing Treaty Compliance Office
February 27, 2012
The 48th Fighter Wing and tenant units on base are currently preparing for the upcoming Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty inspection exercise scheduled for March 1, 2012.
“The CFE treaty contains a very demanding and intrusive verification regime that allows foreign inspection teams to conduct on-site inspections of U. S. forces located in Europe,” said Tim Jachowski, U.S. Air Forces in Europe Arms Control Threat Reduction branch chief. “Each inspectable base must annually test their ability to host one of these inspections.”
There are 30 state parties (nations) that participate in the CFE treaty, and each of these parties can send a nine-person inspection team to the other 29 state parties’ declared sites to conduct on-site inspections. Each year the treaty members report the number of military personnel and the numbers and types of Treaty Limited Equipment (TLE) assigned by location during the Annual Exchange of Information.
There are five major categories of TLE that are inspectable under the treaty:
- Battle Tanks
- Armored Combat Vehicles
- Artillery
- Combat Aircraft
- Attack Helicopters
“It is the base’s responsibility to properly prepare all assigned TLE, CFE treaty inspectable facilities and containers to allow ‘immediate access’ to the foreign inspection teams,” said Jachowski.
This is one of the most critical aspects of the CFE inspection, because providing immediate access to inspectable locations clearly demonstrates the U.S. government’s compliance with international laws and mandatory treaty requirements.
“A CFE inspection is a huge and [intensive] challenge to the 48 FW and all base organizations must use this exercise as a chance to prepare,” said Col. William Lewis, 48th FW vice commander. “Any unit on base with a facility that has an external door measuring greater than two meters could be inspected and must be ready.”
In accordance with the CFE treaty, these facilities are considered inspectable locations because they could store TLE items. Additionally, all containers greater than two meters in all dimensions are inspectable.
CFE inspection teams are not allowed to enter facility locations that contain doorways that are less than two meters in width. Even if they can initially enter a facility door measuring two meters or greater in width, once they reach a section in the facility that doesn’t have a two meter or greater entrance, they must stop.
Units that control facilities or own containers that meet the inspectable CFE treaty criteria must be able provide immediate access during the inspection window. If possible doors and containers should be left open on inspection day.
If this is not possible, personnel must be standing by with the keys or combinations in-hand. Inspection teams are authorized to return to the same inspectable location multiple times, so these locations must be accessible until the inspection has been terminated by the 48th FW Command Post. The inspection window for the exercise on March 1 will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The 48th FW has appointed group and squadron-level CFE points of contact who have received specific CFE training and will work with facility managers to prepare for CFE inspections. The 48th FW Treaty Compliance Office will work directly with the other RAF Lakenheath tenant units concerning their CFE inspection support responsibilities. CFE inspections of RAF Lakenheath only affect those organizations that are physically located within RAF Lakenheath.
“Treaty compliance inspections are no-fail missions with Defense and State Department strategic importance and I expect all 48th FW personnel to approach this exercise with that mindset,” said Col. John Quintas, 48th FW commander. “My measure of our success is accurate accounting of our aircraft and immediate inspector access to all inspectable facilities.”
Units are encouraged to contact the 48th FW Treaty Compliance office at 226-6121, with any questions concerning CFE inspections in general or specifically about the exercise.
