Regional treaty office ensures compliance

  • Published
  • By Regional Treaty Office
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The treaty compliance office is a two-person, regional office that represents the 48th Fighter Wing and the 100th Air Refueling Wing in the international arms control arena. They interpret and ensure compliance with applicable treaties.

The office is comprised of Andrew Baker (RAF Lakenheath) and Taylor Kunkle (RAF Mildenhall). Their treaty oversight includes all permanent and temporary Air Force installations in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the Baltic States and the Azores.

There are several arms control treaties in effect, and all are intended to foster a more stable environment in post-Cold War Europe. The Conventional Forces in Europe treaty most directly impacts RAF Lakenheath. The treaty limits the number of personnel, tanks, artillery pieces, armored combat vehicles, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters that can be stationed in Europe. The F-15s assigned to the wing are accountable under the treaty.

The U.S. can be inspected four times in the treaty year by the former Soviet Bloc countries. In addition, a training inspection is performed at RAF Lakenheath annually by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The DTRA also inspects other members of the treaty for their compliance.

RAF Lakenheath was last inspected by the Russian Federation in April 2004 and by Azerbaijan in June 2008. The next training inspection is November 2010. This will be a tri-lateral inspection involving arms control officials from Azerbaijan, the UK and the U.S.

In past decades, the CFE was the backbone for all European arms control treaties. However, in December 2007, the Russian Federation suspended its participation in the treaty. This impacted the dynamics of the treaty and shifted the emphasis to other treaties such as the Vienna Document of 1999 and Open Skies.

The VDOC is a flexible arms control agreement, which allows member states to conduct inspections, evaluations, and visits to specific units and observations of large scale military exercises. These visits are less intrusive and conducted by fewer inspectors than CFE. The intent is to promote confidence and security through transparency amongst former adversaries. In February 2009, the 48th FW hosted a five-person, Belarusian VDOC inspection team.

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in Helsinki, Finland, March 24, 1992. The treaty establishes a regime of observation flights to verify member countries' compliance with other arms control treaties, which in turn, fosters trust and confidence. Unarmed observation aircraft, equipped with still and video cameras, infra-red devices, and side-looking radar are used for this mission. Mildenhall serves as the gateway for U.S. Open Skies' missions. They provide aircraft servicing and mission support for the crew. Eighty percent of the U.S. Open Skies missions to the former Eastern Bloc are staged from RAF Mildenhall.

The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. The treaty came into force April 29, 1997, and is the most intrusive arms control treaty to date. Lakenheath and Mildenhall, like all other bases, are subject to inspection. In 2006, Mildenhall hosted a Department of Defense-level CWC exercise inspection.


These are just a few examples of the arms control treaties, which directly impact the two wings daily. Professionalism, with a sense of openness, are the watch words for any treaty inspection and the daily operating practice of the regional treaty office.