Roosevelt Roads Naval Station
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18°14′17″N 65°37′40″W / 18.23806°N 65.62778°W
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is a former United States military air base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico.
History
In 1919, future U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, toured Puerto Rico, visiting Ceiba. When he returned to Washington, D.C., he expressed a liking for the terrain where the base now is. This was during the World War I era, and the United States could benefit from an air field in Ceiba. While Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, its territorial rights belong to the United States, which made it perfectly feasible, and ideal, for the American government to build an airplane base in Ceiba.
It took many years for the United States Government to become convinced of the need for an air base in Ceiba. When Adolf Hitler and Nazi-led Germany began to invade other European countries, the US, led by then President Roosevelt, entertained the idea of a Naval air station in Ceiba. With war in the European and Pacific theatres, they saw an airbase in the Caribbean as necessary.
The base had been inaugurated, but scaled down to maintenance status with a public works office in 1944. From then until 1957, the base went through many shifts, being opened seven times and closed eight times. Meanwhile, it continued as a source of employment for the citizens of Ceiba.
In 1957, it was upgraded to Naval Station status. Fort Bundy was located there, but it crossed over to parts of Vieques, a fact which would become important in the future. An American military mission, the M3, was located there. It was part of the "Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station, Puerto Rico Base Communication Department". M3 had a fleet center, a technical control facility and a Tactical support communications department, among other things. The M3 was designated to help Puerto Rico, the United States and other Caribbean and Latin American countries that were members of NATO to deal with drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other problems.
For the next 47 years the base was utilized for flight practice, as well as other missions and control of the area's air space. In August 2002, a C-130 Hercules airplane carrying seven Puerto Rican National Guard soldiers, including a Mexican-American woman, crashed in the town of Caguas, while en route from Roosevelt Roads to Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla. All seven soldiers perished, in the largest air tragedy in Caguas history.
Life on Roosevelt Roads
Over the years, Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, or Roosey (pronounced "Rosy") as it was frequently called, was home to hundreds of military personnel and dependents. Initially most of the school teachers were DOD contractors from the US. Later, more local teachers were hired. In the mid-1970's there was no cable TV on base. Families could tune into the American Forces Caribbean Network (AFCN), the on-base AFRTS radio and television station's family-oriented shows or rig up an antenna for signals from St. Thomas or San Juan. At one time, AFCN operated repeater transmitters broadcasting radio and TV to San Juan and to Ramey Air Force Base on the west coast of Puerto Rico. The AFCN studios were staffed by Navy personnel, most of whom were journalist/broadcasters. At the El Coqui Theater, in the Bundy area of the base, movie goers watched films as bats flitted across the screen.
The base equestrian stables was across from the golf course. Most of the 'horses' were technically ponies, although several thoroughbreds, washouts from race tracks, found a home on base occasionally.
The base flying club had many members, and met weekly to plan trips and activities. Flight instruction was available to all members.
The Vieques effect
In 1999, David Sanes died as consequence of a bomb that landed near him. It was apparently dropped from an American military airplane. As a consequence of this and the high rate of cancer among residents of Vieques many Vieques citizens and Puerto Rican activists from other towns (Ruben Berrios, Tito Kayak, etc.) began activism against the military presence in Vieques, which included illegally entering military bases. Other important activists included Jesse Jackson, Robert Kennedy Jr., Rigoberta Menchú and Edward James Olmos (the latter was jailed in Puerto Rico for trespassing on federal property).
Ft. Bundy was affected by the protests, because part of it was in Vieques. After Sanes' death, there was a struggle between the autonomous Government of Puerto Rico and the American Government. This was over after President George W. Bush granted Puerto Rico the rights to operate the former military possessions in Vieques, including Ft. Bundy, a portion of which was aboard Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. As a consequence of President Bush's decision, the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station became NAPR (naval activity Puerto Rico), where DOD Police provides security, but still is considered a military installation. On March 31, 2004, the station again became inoperative.
The future
After the military left the station, Puerto Rican Governor Sila Maria Calderon announced that her party, the PPD, had plans to turn the base into an international airport. This was backed in 2005 by the then-new Governor, Anibal Acevedo Vila, who established that the area would be converted to an airport. He also established that Ceiba as a town would serve as an economic and tourist center for eastern Puerto Rico, and that converting the former military base into a civil airport would be part of a plan to open seven or eight large airports in Puerto Rico.
Currently, approximately 2,900 acres (12 km2) of the former Naval Station is being marketed to the public by the Los Angeles group of Colliers International, on behalf of the Navy's Base Realignment and Closure Program Management Office, as a public auction to commence in early 2009. The remaining portions is also in the process of being conveyed to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and other Federal agencies in various stages.