RAF Lakenheath prepares for inspection

  • Published
  • By Andy Baker
  • 48th Fighter Wing
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  RAF Lakenheath conducts its annual Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty Inspection Exercise June 19.

The CFE Treaty limits the number of forces and equipment a signatory nation may have in the "area of application." The Treaty's area of application extends between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains.

The Treaty limits five categories of equipment: tanks, artillery, armored combat vehicles, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters. To the 48th Fighter Wing, this means Airmen and F-15's.

At the start of each calendar year, all Treaty signatories declare their personnel strength, equipment numbers, and installations to each other. During the inspection year - March 16 of one year to March 15 of the next - each declared site is subject to a short-notice (as little as six hours) compliance inspection from former Warsaw Pact member states. RAF Lakenheath is the only U.S. declared site under the CFE Treaty in the United Kingdom subject to declared site inspections.

During a compliance inspection or exercise, "inspectors are authorized immediate access to all facilities and containers that meet the two-meter rule," said Brig. Gen. John Hesterman, 48th Fighter Wing commander.

Doors two meters or wider and containers two meters or larger on three sides must be open and ready. Inspectors can continue into a facility until a door, or hallway, less than two meters is encountered; there, the inspection team must stop. All combat aircraft assigned, deployed and in transient status must also be accounted for.

The inspectors for the June exercise are from the Republic of Azerbaijan Arms Control and Verification Agency.

"The exercise is an excellent opportunity for the wing to evaluate the COMUSAFE CFE Compliance Plan, improve its ability to conduct a CFE inspection, and a unique chance to strengthen cooperation with a foreign nation," General Hesterman said.

An Arms Control Inspection is a highly visible event intended to establish and maintain trust between nations and success requires a base-wide effort.