Sabers conduct short-notice exercise

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jovante Johnson
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Spangdahlem Air Base participated in a Conventional Armed Force in Europe treaty exercise on Spangdahlem AB, Oct. 4, 2018, in order to display short-notice CFE inspection readiness.

The CFE treaty is in place to track the number of combat aircraft, battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, combat helicopters, and artillery located within each State Party within the European Area of Application. This treaty is set in place to ensure that each State Party does not exceed the maximum number of items within that location, but there is no minimum. The F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft located on Spangdahlem AB are among the inspection items, making the Wing susceptible to treaty reporting requirements.

“The purpose of this CFE exercise is to show that we can host a CFE inspection with short-notice,” said Mike Mench, United States Armed Forces in Europe regional treaty compliance officer. “The minimum amount of time required for notification of the inspection is 43 hours prior to that inspection. This is why it is imperative that our base stays ready for anything because something like this is very important and can touch the entire base.”

During the CFE inspection, the inspection team is authorized to search any facility with an entryway of two meters in width or more, and any container two meters or more along all dimensions, regardless of ownership or purpose, to check for all equipment subject to the treaty. All units on the installation must be prepared to provide this access while protecting operation security concerns.

“One of the most important things during this exercise is remembering compliance without compromise,” said Mench. “This means making sure we provide all of the access that is necessary, but nothing more.”

OPSEC remains a top priority while providing access to the installation for inspection.

The inspection included an exercise inspection team, accompanied by Defense Threat Reduction Agency and 52nd Fighter Wing escorts. Facilities were able to be inspected more than once throughout the day therefore all personnel were required to maintain awareness of the events taking place to ensure the installation met its primary objective of demonstrating “compliance without compromise."