Hungarians inspect wing for treaty compliance

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nathanael Callon
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  The 52nd Fighter Wing was the subject of two treaty compliance exercises inspected by Hungarian arms control service members here May 3.

"This is the first time any base in the U.S. Air Forces in Europe [command] has underwent two of these exercises in the same day," David Ehnis, 52nd FW treaty compliance officer, said.
The first exercise, the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, identified the wing's treaty limited equipment and deficiencies.

"Treaty limited equipment is considered any conventional weapons, from combat aircraft to tanks and artillery," Mr. Ehnis said. "According to the treaty, we are limited in the amount of conventional weapons our base can have as part of a larger NATO quantity."

The treaty was signed between NATO and the Warsaw Pact Nov. 19, 1990, and set equal limits on the amount of conventional weapons each side could have and deploy. According to the Arms Control Association, this system of checks and balances endured even after the fall of the Soviet Union as a common means of preventing mass military offensives in Europe.

Part of the inspection included the physical accountability of each fighter aircraft on the base.

"Our goal is to ensure you don't have more aircraft than you are allowed and that the [physical] quantity matches what you report," Hungarian Defence Force Maj. Peter Benei, a member of the inspection team, said.

The accountability ensures members are in compliance with the treaty and that excess weaponry is not being used.

"The problem is that it actually does happen," Major Benei said. "There have been CFE inspections where there were aircraft found that were never once reported by the base. This creates a huge problem that must be immediately dealt with."

With the high demand of the 52nd FW's fighter aircraft, not every plane was present on base for the inspection. Lt. Col. Shane Louis, Defense Threat Reduction Agency lead escort for the treaty inspections, explained the difficulties the wing faces.

"With operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world, it is natural that aircraft will not be present for inspections like this," Colonel Louis said.

After the CFE compliance inspection, the inspectors began the second treaty exercise of the day: the Vienna Document 1999 evaluation.

The V-Doc is an exchange of information that concerns military organization, manpower and major weapon and equipment systems, and it is designed to promote mutual trust between the members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The evaluation included a tour of the base, a look at Airmen's living quarters and a weapons load demonstration.

"The V-Doc is all about transparency," Mr. Ehnis said. "This openness allows our partner nations to see how we live, how we take care of our people and that we function as an integrity-based organization."