Implementation plan for Cope North 2015 ‘in the works’

The Pacific Air Forces COPE North 2015 military exercises are expected to begin around mid-February next month, according to Commonwealth Ports Authority executive director Maryann Lizama yesterday.

Last February, the 85th iteration of Pacific Air Forces’ Cope North exercise began at the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Feb 14. The island of Tinian also hosted the exercise that month.

The exercise brought together the United States Air Force, the Republic of Korea Air Force, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the Royal Australian Air Force, for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training, as well as air combat and air-to-ground weapons training, among other things.

Lizama indicated yesterday that because the military exercise would involve use of CPA property, the implementation plan for which the military would have sign off is “still in the works.”

She said the military has “submitted their scope of work” as part of the implementation plan required by CPA, which details the procedures and requirements to be signed off and met by any military branch wishing to conduct operations on CPA grounds.

Lizama could not disclose the kind of military activities to be performed when asked.

The implementation plan includes an acknowledgement form that has yet to be signed off on by the military, according to Lizama. The plan, or the “CNMI (Rota, Saipan, Tinian) Airfields Implementation Plan” was adopted by the CPA board of directors in November.

Lizama said they have always had this procedure in the past but now it is “sanctioned by the board.”

Among other requirements, the plan requires standard operating procedures that detail the type, duration, description of movement, and location of proposed military exercises, to be submitted no later than 60 days before the actual training.

The FAA reviews this standard operating procedure and, when approved, CPA would require ground operation, implementation, and acknowledgement forms to be signed off by the military within a seven-day deadline.

The plan does not apply to foreign military or commercial aircraft contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense, and would allow CPA to charge fees on foreign or commercial units participating or aiding in U.S. military exercises.

The plan also demands a “Military Operation Facilities Impact Report,” to be completed after operations conclude. The report would describe the number, weight and type of military or civilian-contracted take-off and landings during military exercises.

This would enable CPA to monitor the level of use of its facilities, and would allow CPA to seek reimbursement—as authorized by the FAA—once certain usage levels have been met.