Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF)

Before the lands on the eastern end of Vieques were expropriated by the US Navy during the 1940s and 1950s, there were small towns made up primarily of farmers and fishermen in the sections known as Tamarindo del Norte, Icacos, Caño Hondo, La Ballena, Puerto Diablo, Puerto Negro, Punta Brigadier, La Compaña, Embarcadero, Punta Grande and Bastimento.

J. Pastor Ruiz described the north coast of Vieques in his book Vieques, Antigua y Moderna:

La Compaña has a beautiful palm grove. Its bathing beach is clean and flat and one of the best I’ve ever seen. The water is shallow enough for a person to stand for more than 100 feet out. Then there is a sand bar that keeps dangerous fish from entering the bay. At one end of the beach is the Peña Hueca, which is a rock with an opening that looks like it was carved by the hand of man that is large enough for a person to fit through. Once inside the opening, it widens such that six people could easily fit inside. The imagination dictates that this must have been carved by ancient Indians, but in actuality it was made by a whim and curiosity of nature.

The palm grove has thousands of palm trees bearing the biggest coconuts I’ve ever seen and bordering the grove on the inland side is a lagoon surrounded by mangroves where there is an abundance of wild ducks and all kinds of fish.

The sea at Bastimento is lovely and clear. The waves break two or three times before reaching the shore. The beach is white clean sand surrounded by lush full sea grapes. Between the sea and the road there are plantings of potatoes, peanuts and yams and in a nearby quebrada you can find cayules as big as pears.

The Land Under Navy Rule
The former farmlands, lagoons, mangrove forests and beaches including the humble abodes and properties of Viequense campesinos became the Inner Range of the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF).

This was divided into the Eastern Maneuver Area (EMA), the Surface Impact Range (SIA) and the Live Impact Area (LIA).

The EMA was used for such activities as a small arms range, practice minefields, electronic warfare and mock amphibious assaults.

The SIA was used for practice shelling from ground artillery positions and from warships offshore.

The LIA was the target for the really big stuff, bombs dropped from jet aircraft, missiles fired from ships and planes and for the testing of an assortment of both conventional and non conventional weapons. Non conventional usually refers to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Non conventional weapons tested on Vieques that the public knows about include depleted uranium artillery shells, Agent Orange, napalm, chaff (an aluminum coated fiberglass dust that serves to form a cloud impenetrable to radar) and in 1966, a "test bomb with nuclear characteristics" that was meant to be tested on the Vieques range was accidentally dropped in the sea between St. Thomas and Vieques. (The bomb was recovered at great expense by a crack team of divers aided by dolphins from the Navy's then super secret animal research laboratory.)

In addition to the land areas on Vieques, the surrounding waters, which the Navy called the "Outer Range," were used for an assortment of bombing, missile and artillery exercises.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife
On May 1, 2003, the former Navy controlled lands of eastern Vieques were transferred from the US Department of the Navy to the US Department of the Interior to be managed by the US Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Wildlife Preserve, making Vieques the home of the largest Wildlife Preserve in the Caribbean.

The 900 acres in the former Live Impact Area will be managed as a "Wilderness Area" where all public access is prohibited. (Paradoxically, the Wilderness Act defines ‘Wilderness Areas’ as places "where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man.")

Public access is also prohibited to the majority of the Wildlife Refuge as well.

According to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the former Navy bombing range and training facilities on Vieques have been designated as a National Wildlife Refuge because "in ecological terms, parts of the island are very valuable, Vieques has one of the best dry sub-tropical forests in the Caribbean and it is home to at least four endangered plant species and ten endangered animal species."

Oscar Díaz, the manager of the Wildlife Refuge, explains that as long as the Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for these lands, he remains committed to the preservation of the natural environments of Vieques, environments that have all but disappeared through overdevelopment on the Big Island and throughout much of the Caribbean.

Nonetheless, many Viequenses feel that the designation of the former Navy-controlled lands as a Wildlife Refuge, will limit the scope and timeliness of the promised clean up of these lands by the Navy. Many also feel that on Vieques, where the cancer rate is 27% higher than on the Big Island, the continued presence of depleted uranium dust, explosive residues, heavy metals and other possible contaminants not yet revealed is the cause of many of the serious health problems effecting the people of the island.

Until 1999, when a 500-pound bomb exploded in an observation area and killed security guard, David Sanes, most of Camp Garcia was open to the public, including the beaches of the north shore such as Puerto Negro and Playa Violeta. Protest demonstrations following the Sanes incident led the Navy to close all of the camp to the public.

Public Access is now limited to the eastern shore of Bahía Puerto Ferro, Playa Caracas, and Playa de la Chiva.

Within the area where public access is permitted, certain areas, such as the site of the old airport, the former camp area and several other sites, are also off limits to the public.

The restricted areas are those that have not been certified as safe by the US Navy and may contain unexploded ordnance (UXO), munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) or other dangerous substances.

The restricted areas are well marked and roads leading into these prohibited zones are blocked off with gates. The preserve is accessible from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at which time it is mandatory that you leave the area.

Activities such as hunting, catching land crabs, camping and lighting campfires are prohibited.

Accessible Areas
Notwithstanding these limitations, the relatively small area open to the public contains beautiful beaches, miles of dirt roads suitable for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and four-wheel drive exploration.

Activities such as hunting, catching land crabs, camping and lighting campfires are prohibited.

Notwithstanding the severe limitations, the relatively small area open to the public has beautiful beaches, miles of dirt roads suitable for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and four-wheel drive exploration.

There are small secluded bays and rocky shorelines from where you can kayak, snorkel, fish, collect whelks (caracoles) or dive for conch (carrucho). There are also magnificent vistas from the tops of sheer cliffs, caves, blowholes, lagunas, salt ponds, quebradas and mangrove forests excellent for photography, bird watching and quiet contemplation.

Beaches of the former Navy Target Area
The largest and most popular accessible beaches in Camp Garcia are Bahía Corcho (Red Beach), Bahía Chiva (Blue Beach), and Garcia Beach.

If you're looking for secluded beaches in the open zone of the camp, keep in mind that just about any little road you take will lead you either to an overlook with dramatic views or to some beautiful sandy beach, which most likely you'll have all to yourself.

Naming Vieques Beaches
Many of the beaches in Vieques are named after colors, Red Beach and Blue Beach within Camp Garcia on the south, Purple Beach and Black Beach on the northeast and Green Beach on the west.

In the 1940s, the Navy expropriated about two thirds of Viequense lands in order to establish a base for the storage of munitions, weapons testing and firing, practice bombings and amphibious assaults.

It was through the practice of amphibious assaults that the beaches got their new names.
In a simulation of war, Marines would leave their bases on Navy ships headed for Vieques. They would be briefed as to what was expected of them. Never leave the group. Stay with your buddy. Beware of poisonous snakes. Do not make contact with the dangerous natives. They were not told where they were going. They were just to make the landing and establish their position on the beach.

As the ships approaches Vieques reconnaissance teams would disembark and surreptitiously land on the beaches, where, among other activities, they would raise large colored banners on the beaches. These banners would indicate which beach a team would assault. Those assigned to Bahía Corcho would assault the beach with the red flags. Those to Bahía de la Chiva would assault the beach with the blue flags and so on. The name stuck and today most tourists and North American expatriates, as well as many Viequenses, refer to these beaches by their Navy assigned names.

Now with the Navy gone, signs have been changes and it is hoped that the beaches will again be called by their original names and that the color designations of the beaches will fall into the category of historical curiosities.