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Friday, January 9, 2004

Otero Canyon Raises Public Safety, KAFB Security Risks

By Col. Henry L. Andrews Jr., commander
Kirtland Air Force Base
    Since terrorists attacked America more than two years ago, military leaders around the globe have continually examined all previous assumptions about security. Responsible officials everywhere seek greater insights into possible threats and effective ways to defeat these threats.
    As commander of Kirtland Air Force Base, I share that responsibility.
    After significantly upgrading fencing along much of the installation boundary, we are now considering similar measures along the base's eastern border. That border includes a popular area for recreation, Otero Canyon, making this a topic on which we have received much feedback.
    Community-minded citizens have been invaluable to us because of their active role in the Otero Canyon environmental process. As a result, we now have a more complete understanding of the public's concerns. Still, there remain some misperceptions that cloud the debate.
    Security was and continues to be the first priority for Kirtland. To leave this vital military installation vulnerable would be irresponsible. However, a second priority— public safety— emerged in great detail as hikers and mountain bikers told us of their use of the Otero Canyon trail network.
    Helicopter operations, firing of live weapons and evaluation of new technologies occur all the time on the government property adjacent to Kirtland's eastern boundary. In fact, this region of the base has been home to various types of munitions testing for more than six decades. One result of this testing is a wide swath of territory made even more hazardous by the presence of unexploded ordnance.
    We highlighted these activities and the associated dangers at the public meeting we hosted last June (you can see the transcript at www.kirtland.af.mil by clicking the "Environmental Assessment" link.)
    Comments from Otero Canyon users and our own high-technology mapping of the trails using the global positioning system provided us a stark wake-up call. The encroachment of the trail network onto this dangerous ground was far more advanced than we previously realized. Hence, we factored in our responsibility to protect the public as a key part of our analysis of how to secure Kirtland's eastern border.
    To our knowledge, no one has yet stumbled upon any unexploded ordnance on the Otero Canyon trails. For that, we all should consider ourselves fortunate. This fact, however, does not demonstrate a lack of danger. Indeed, if one is not trained to recognize unexploded ordnance, distinguishing a half-century-old munitions item from a rusty soup can isn't simple, especially when riding by on a mountain bike.
    As recently as a few weeks ago, we cleaned up a piece of unexploded ordnance we found while re-grading a road southwest of the old fire tower that is a prominent feature of the Otero Canyon trail network. We had been driving government vehicles over this explosive hazard for years. Old munitions are unstable and very susceptible to motion, impact, and stray electrical and radio energy.
    We also must keep people safe from live weapons fire. We recently took action to place warning signs around the surface danger zone that surrounds our M60 firing range. The southernmost mile and a half or so of a popular trail (including the old fire tower) was actually inside this danger zone.
    When hikers and cyclists use this portion of the trail, they expose themselves to weapons with a range of 4,300 meters. If a round misses the target or ricochets, anyone in that danger zone is in grave peril.
    We would not have been responsible stewards of public safety and trust had we failed to tell trail users of this danger. That said, our decision to post these signs has nothing whatsoever to do with our continuing process to decide how best to protect the eastern section of Kirtland's perimeter.
    In the end, my charter as Kirtland's commander is to protect this base and the public, while recognizing that citizens far and wide have enjoyed access to the Otero Canyon trails for many years.
    Our dedicated and professional team of force protection, anti-terrorism, legal, environmental, civil engineering and safety specialists has examined this issue from a fresh perspective. They are now providing me a number of alternatives to fulfill my charter. These considerations do not eliminate the possibility of a fence on the base's eastern border, but we are looking at all the options.
    Please, know that we appreciate the feedback we have received from the community on this issue. We hope to reach our decision soon. When we do, the result will be the product of careful consideration of all views as we improve Kirtland's security posture and better protect the public.