While they are doing that, this ground security zone is a 5-kilometer-wide ribbon, if you will, that goes around Kosovo.

You can use that one, if they can see the green on it. The red probably shows up. The red area there is the ground security zone that goes around Kosovo, and as I say, this was instituted back in June 1999 as part of an agreement with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO, and what it is, it was for the force protection of the KFOR forces.

We did not want the then-FRY army bringing their tanks and their artillery and putting it right up on the border where they could threaten the KFOR forces with no warning, so we said, you cannot have heavy weapons, tanks, artillery, VJ army forces in that 5-kilometer-wide zone.

Now, as we have gone through the democratic changes in Belgrade, starting last September and then again in December, with the parliamentary elections, and as the FRY and Serbia try to reenter the international community, the chances of the VJ army attacking KFOR have declined tremendously.

The unintended consequence of this ground security zone, since we were not in there and the FRY military was not in there, was that the extremist elements set up camp in this free zone, if you will, and that was causing its own instability and its own threats.

So the North Atlantic Council has made the decision, as you mentioned, that we will do a phased and conditioned return of this ground security zone back to the FRY. Phased means a piece at a time, and we started with the first piece, which is the piece just north of the Macedonian border. That was done on the 13th of this month, 13 March.

There were certain conditions that were agreed to by the FRY before they did that, and I will not take you through all of them, but

basically it said, they will not bring tanks in there. They do not really need tanks in there to do that. They do not need self-propelled artillery and that kind of thing.

That_reentry went very smoothly. They cooperated very well. They showed us their plans. There were phase lines as they came across. They reported in. The very last one, right up against the border, we have checkpoints, where our soldiers and their soldiers meet so that we are not shooting across the border inadvertently, so all those procedures are in place.

The North Atlantic Council is looking at the next phase of this, which will be most of the northern part of that, all the way around to the east border. That should happen, I would think, here in the next few days, and once again, if that goes well, then we will look at the more contentious area, which is over on the eastern border. There is still some work to do, because once again this is not just a military problem, this is a political and economic problem as well, and in those areas in blue on that map, where the ethnic Albanian majority have been denied political access and economic access for a number of years, that needs to be addressed by the Serbian authorities.

But to summarize, I think the conditions in the so-called Covic Plan, which was the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, said that the Serbian authorities would, in fact, give political access and some economic opportunities to the Albanian citizens, and we would give the Serbs access back to the ground security zone. I think that is working well. I think that is the proper approach. We need to keep working through this.

Chairman WARNER. Senator Inhofe, we have some people who have traveled a long distance, and their message is directly germane to the line of questioning that you raised with our witnesses earlier, so at this point in time I recognize you to proceed as you desire.

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. General Franks, earlier in this hearing I brought up the fact that you are responsible for the quality of training of those individuals who serve in the Persian Gulf many times in a combat environment, and from the East Coast deployments where our battle groups go, we have learned sometime ago that there is only one place where you can get the integrated live training to give them that degree of competency to carry out those missions.

That is the island of Vieques and, because of the problems that have come up, starting about a year ago, we have been inhibited from having the freedom to carry on the live fire training on this island, on this land that is owned by the United States Navy.

In fear that we would lose this, I took the time to go around the world, look at every possible alternative source, including Capa del Lata and Cape Rath and all the rest of them, and there is none. In fact, they are becoming fewer and fewer as each month goes by. For that reason, I have spent quite a bit of time in Puerto Rico, and then actually on the island of Vieques. A lot of people do not realize, Mr. Chairman, that Vieques is a municipality of Puerto Rico. It is not a separate system, it is a town, but it is an island. I had the occasion to go over to the island and actually visit with the citizens, and I did this, Mr. Chairman, for one very significant

reason, and that is that I had heard all the opposition from the politicians on Puerto Rico, but I had not heard it from the citizens who were directly affected, who live on the island of Vieques.

Let us keep in mind there are 9,300 residents in Vieques. Of that, there would be something less than 4,000 registered voters in Vieques. The way the law is currently structured, it is very likely that there could be a referendum as to whether or not they want the Navy to continue live fire. Obviously, if it turned out the wrong way, our presence and our activity on the whole island of Puerto Rico would be diminished.

But I think it is very significant, Mr. Chairman, as I introduced you to the group out in the hall, to recognize that in my trips to Vieques, I have met with these citizens, only to find that the majority of the citizens on the island of Vieques that would be directly affected-not the politicians in Puerto Rico, but the citizens-like the Navy, by and large.

They recognize that the Navy needed some improvement, they have improved the relationships, and they are satisfied with it. They recognize the economic benefit to the people of Vieques, and I invited them to come here to the United States, to Washington, so that we would be able to see what the real people on Vieques want.

The leader of the delegation, Mr. Chairman, is Luis Sanchez. I met with these people on the island of Vieques.

Chairman WARNER. Senator, I think it would be important if they came forward.

Senator INHOFE. Would you come forward at this point. You have all of your petitions with you. If you would come forward to this side of the table so we can see you, as I saw you in Vieques. The second gentleman there is Luis Sanchez, who is the leader of the group, and these are all citizens.

They are carrying with them, Mr. Chairman, over 1,700 petitions, signatures of registered voters on the island of Vieques. On those, they have listed their names, addresses, and social security numbers and registrations of all 1,700. As you can see, this almost constitutes a majority of everyone who lives on the island of Vieques. I thought it was significant that, since I could not get anyone to listen to me back here on what the people of Vieques want, as opposed to the politicians on Puerto Rico, that they come forward and show this.

If you just put those on the table there. I am not sure whether it would be in order or not, Mr. Chairman, I would defer to you on that, but if you would like to hear from any of them, or if you would like to ask questions of these individuals

Chairman WARNER. Well, I think that you and I should first indicate that a copy of one of these petitions will be incorporated into today's record. This clearly indicates that there is a very substantial number of the citizens of Vieques who support the ongoing naval operations that existed when I was Secretary of the Navy, many years ago, 30-plus years ago. This training is so essential, as General Franks has recounted today, to preparing elements of the Navy and the Marine Corps for going into harm's way, that this is a clear manifestation of the desire of those people to work with

the United States Government and particularly our military to resume that training as it was performed for many years.

[The information referred to follows:]

VIEQUENSES

PRO-MARINA

Quiero hacer constar mi respaldo al Movimiento Viequenses Pro-Marina en defensa de la permanencia de la Marina en Vieques.

Firma

Entrevistador

Propuesta

1. Mejorar sistema de transportación Marítima.

2. Servicios médicos de excelencia.

3. Programas especiales para la juventud y niños.

4. No arbitrio a la gasolina en Vieques.

5. Proyectos de vivienda.

6. Pases para entrada a la base.

7. Mejores servicios para los ancianos.

8. Promoción de nuevos empleos.

9. Mejora en las carreteras e infraestructura.

10.Asignación de fondos directamente a Vieques.

11. Promover escuelas bilingües en Vieques.

12.Hogares de rehabilitación para la adicción a drogas, alcoholismo, etc.

Senator INHOFE. Mr. Chairman, I know that when you were Secretary of the Navy you had an appreciation for what was going on over there, but let me clarify. It is much more significant than just these individuals. 1,700-plus are supportive of the Navy. All of

these people are signing a petition saying, if necessary, they would secede from Puerto Rico and become a separate entity and vote themselves out so that they would be able to do what has been taking place since 1950, in terms of supporting the Navy, and offering us the kind of training that gives us the quality that we need in that war-torn region of the Persian Gulf.

I think it would be significant, Mr. Chairman, if each one gave the recorder his name so that we would be able to properly enter them into the record.

Chairman WARNER. We will see that that is done.

[The information referred to follows:]

Mr. Luis E. Sanchez

Mr. Ralph Perez

Now, Senator, I think what we are going to do, unless there are further comments from yourself or our other colleagues, Senator Levin and I are recommending that this committee stop this open portion of the hearing. We will resume a classified session in room 222 Russell immediately.

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman WARNER. Thank you very much.

[Questions for the record with answers supplied follow:]

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY SENATOR RICK SANTORUM

ARMY TRANSFORMATION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIC LIFT

1. Senator SANTORUM. General Ralston and General Franks, the Army has initiated a transformation process that is designed to result in a lighter, more deployable and mobile force. Recognizing the Army will provide you with the bulk of your ground force should military action be required in your theater of operations, what are your views of the Army Transformation goals and objectives? To what extent has the Army initiative addressed concerns you might have about strategic responsiveness? Do we have the strategic lift assets required to execute established deployment goals and objectives?

General RALSTON. There is high probability that, in the USEUCOM AOR, there will be repeated demands at the center of the spectrum of conflict, as well as the possibility of high intensity small-scale contingencies. USEUCOM has been engaged in 25 operations since October 1996. The average number of operations per year has doubled since the years 1991-1995.

Responding to this reality, the Army has articulated a new vision for a strategically responsive and dominant force to effectively meet the full spectrum of future military operations.

A key benefit for USEUCOM is the ability to rapidly move lighter vehicles within the theater. As a potential force provider to other unified commands, most notably U.S. Central Command, future commanders will find that enhanced mobility of the Transformed Army also enhances deployability. The capability to deploy within a matter of hours to trouble spots in Africa and less developed countries of Eastern Europe offers a range of options that are simply unavailable today.

The operations conducted by USEUCOM over the past decade have required the use of ground forces that are not necessarily structured or equipped for small scale contingency operations. The two divisions in Europe must meet this standard of responsiveness and strategic dominance by resourcing the training, exercises and infrastructure that support strategic mobility. Only through proper resourcing of our two divisions will this Objective Force be able to provide the deployability, maneuverability, and lethality necessary to conduct operations throughout the full spectrum of conflict.

The current level of strategic lift assets is not adequate to meet the full range of requirements, primarily due to identified intra-theater lift joint requirements and to the consideration of missions additional to those directly supporting the two major theater war scenario. In accordance with Mobility Requirements Study 2005, DOD should develop a program to provide 54.5 MTM/D (Million Ton Miles per Day), the airlift capacity for a single major theater war while supporting other high priority airlift missions. The program should consider capabilities that could be provided