Roosevelt Roads Operating Area
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There actually is no Roosevelt Roads Operating Area. It is called the "Puerto Rican Operating Area" and is centered around the Virgin Pass and Vieques which, due to Puerto Rican protests is now shut down. Vieques Island was the site of the former Vieques Naval Training Range, which was primarily used to train surface combatants for Naval Surface Fire Support. This training consisted of shooting live rounds at specified targets located inside the Vieques range, which was located between 9-13 miles from the nearest populated zone.
Prompted by the accidental death of a civilian guard (David Sanes)in the firing range the people of Puerto Rico started a movement to close the range. Environmental and health issues fueled the opposition of the people of Puerto Rico to keep the range open. It is important to note that the firing range was close to a civilian area that allegedly was affected by the military operations.The character of the protest was mainly peaceful relying on the use of civil desobedience and massive protests. Although the movement was primarily peaceful some violent incidents occured.A controversial aspect of the protest was the involvement of independentist and nationalist movements who used the process to promote the independence of Puerto Rico. However, with theprotests and subsequent closing of the range, there was no longer any reason for Naval and Marine Corps forces to deploy to the Caribbean and the closing of Vieques' support base, U.S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, occurred on March 31, 2004. As a consequence, thousands of military, federal and contractor jobs were lost on both Vieques Island, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as the U.S. Navy's more than $300 million in yearly economic impact.