Navy Report on Vieques Accident/US Army South Moves in

[forlatam@igc.org (Fellowship of Reconciliation)]

US NAVY CALLS PUERTO RICO BOMBING "TERRIBLE MISTAKE"

A US Navy study released on Aug. 2 said that the Apr. 19 death of
civilian security guard David Sanes Rodriguez on the Puerto Rican
island of Vieques was due to human error on the part of a Navy
pilot and a Navy ground control officer. Sanes was killed and
four others were wounded when an unnamed Navy pilot on a practice
bombing run dropped two live 500-pound bombs near an observation
tower rather than on the intended target at a nearby bombing
range. The incident set off a series of militant protests against
the US Navy's presence in Puerto Rico [see Updates #482, 484,
487, 489, 491-493, 495].

According to the report, two Navy F-18 jets from the aircraft
carrier "John F. Kennedy" started on a practice bombing run at
about 6 pm on Apr. 19. The two pilots were disoriented because of
clouds and the twilight. The first succeeded in hitting his
target after three tries, but the second, on his third attempt,
mistook the observation tower for the target. A ground control
officer gave him the go-ahead without first making visual contact
with the plane, as is required by Navy regulations.

"Two people made terrible mistakes," said Capt. James Stark, the
commander of Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. "There was no willful
misconduct on the part of either of those individuals." But Lt.
Col. David Wunder, staff judge advocate for the Marine Corps air
station in Cherry Point, North Carolina, said the pilot could
face a court martial. The ground control officer has received a
letter of reprimand and could possibly face further discipline.
Both he and the pilot have been transferred from Vieques.

Associated Press reports that Sanes died instantly when the two
bombs exploded about 50 feet from him. But the Spanish news
service EFE says that the guard was hit by bomb fragments that
broke an arm and cut an artery in one of his legs, causing him to
bleed to death. According to the Navy report, the emergency
medical team at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Hospital received a
call about the bombing at 6:50 pm, one minute after it occurred.
But a helicopter ambulance did not leave the hospital until
nearly an hour later, at 7:45 pm, arriving at the scene at 8:05
pm. The report says that the helicopter returned to the hospital
with Sanes at 9 pm, but that Sanes was pronounced dead on arrival
at the hospital 40 minutes earlier, at 8:20 pm. Capt. Stark
admitted that the report had to be wrong on the timing, but could
not explain the discrepancies. He justified the delay in sending
an ambulance by saying it can take as much as an hour to pull
together an emergency crew once a call has been received. [New
York Times from AP, 8/3/99; Hoy (NY) 8/4/99 from EFE; El Nuevo
Herald (Miami) 8/3/99 from AP, 8/4/99 from AP]

*16. PUERTO RICO: US SOUTHERN COMMAND MOVES IN

While protesters demand that US Navy leave Vieques, the number of
US troops in Puerto Rico is increasing as the US Southern Command
(SOUTHCOMM) moves troops out of Panama; the US military presence
in Panama is to end this year under the terms of the 1977
Torrijos-Carter Treaty. About 1,000 SOUTHCOMM troops and some 300
civilian employees will be stationed in Guaynabo at Fort
Buchanan, which is in the process of being remodeled.

The annual budget for Fort Buchanan is $18 million; $125 million
will be spent on remodeling the base, and another $25 million
will go to remodeling homes inside the fort. The Agencia
Informativa Pulsar radio news service reports that the US has six
large military bases and more than 20 Army Reserve and National
Guard centers and armories in Puerto Rico. SOUTHCOMM spokesperson
Raul Duany says the island will have 25,000 US Defense Department
employees when the move from Panama is completed. [ENH 8/2/99
from El Nuevo Dia (Puerto Rico); Pulsar 8/4/99]

Fellowship of Reconciliation
Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean/ Panama Campaign
995 Market St. Ste. 1414
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 495 6334
(415) 495 5628 (fax)

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