Chapter 4 - INF Baseline Inspections

During the baseline inspection period (July - August 1988), the media observed the first eliminations of missiles. On August 1, 1988, dozens of Soviet and international media were at the Saryozek Elimination Facility where they were briefed by a Soviet officer on the SS-12 missile elimination process.

The first Soviet INF missile eliminations began on July 22 at Kapustin Yar. An American inspection team monitored this elimination, as they did all subsequent scheduled eliminations. The treaty also granted the inspecting party the right to conduct closeout inspections of INF missile bases and facilities that had been declared to no longer have any INF missile systems or INF related activities. During the eight-week baseline period, American inspection teams conducted 16 closeout inspections.* By the end of July 1988, four of the five types of on-site inspections were under way: baseline, continuous portal monitoring, elimination, and closeout. In July and August, there were so many U.S. inspections of Soviet INF sites that the U.S. Air Force had flights into and out of Moscow every day and flights every other day to and from Ulan-Ude. It was an intense, exciting time; it set the tone for all subsequent treaty on-site inspections.

In the summer of 1988, the international media contributed to the excitement. In the United States, Soviet Union, and Europe, journalists and television reporters focused on the INF Treaty and the men and women involved in the new on-site inspections. They interviewed team chiefs, inspectors, and senior escorts at the airports, in the cities, and, on occasion, at the sites. Colonel Kelley, for instance, was approached by a TASS reporter and asked about his experience in leading the first American on-site inspection. Speaking in fluent Russian, Kelley remarked, "It is clear to us that the Soviet side is interested in facilitating our inspections. Excellent conditions were created for our work and we are quite satisfied. "¹³This interview was conducted on July 7 at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.

* The treaty stipulated that during the baseline period, that baseline inspections would constitute closeout inspections.

Kelley's team had just arrived from Frankfurt for another inspection. Reflecting on the first inspection a week earlier, he said, "Your officers have produced a positive impression on me--they are capable commanding officers who have good knowledge of the provisions of the treaty. They are also very hospitable."¹⁴

During the 60-day baseline period, the pace of inspecting and escorting was brisk, intense, and continuous. Twenty American on-site inspection teams had been organized and trained; these teams conducted the INF inspections in the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. The following U.S. military officers served as team chiefs:

U.S. INF On-Site Inspection Team Leaders July 1-August 29, 1988
Lt. Colonel Thomas S. Brock	U.S. Army
Colonel Edward H. Cabaniss	U.S. Army
Lt. Colonel Terry C. Corneil	U.S. Army
Colonel Andrew F. Gothreau	U.S. Army
Lt. Colonel Douglas C. Guiler	U.S. Army
Lt. Colonel Michael J. Hritsik	U.S. Air Force
Lt. Colonel Lawrence G. Kelley	U.S. Marine Corps
Lt. Colonel Lyman B. Kirkpatrick	U.S. Army
Lt. Colonel John R. Lohmann	U.S. Army
Colonel Robert B. McConnell	U.S. Air Force
Lt. Colonel Paul H. Nelson	U.S. Army
Captain David E. Olson	U.S. Navy
Colonel Arthur J. Parr	U.S. Army
Colonel Carl W. Reddel	U.S. Air Force
Lt. Colonel Kenneth A. Rogers	U.S. Air Force
Major Bruce D. Slawter	U.S. Air Force
Lt. Colonel Nicholas Troyan	U.S. Army
Commander John C. Williams	U.S. Navy
Colonel Nils L. Wurzburger	U.S. Air Force
Lt. Colonel Thomas G. Wyckoff	U.S. Army

Soviet Baseline Inspections

On July 1, 1988, the first day of the baseline inspections, 72 Soviet inspectors (6 teams) arrived at Travis Air Force Base, California. This base was the western point of entry for all Soviet INF inspectors entering the United States. All inspection team members wore civilian clothes and distinctive badges upon arrival.

At 7 P.M. on July 1, 1988, a Soviet IL-62 Aeroflot jet arrived at Travis Air Force Base, California, with 72 Soviet on-site inspectors and 10 aircrew members on board.¹⁵ Colonel Vyacheslav Lebedev, the senior Soviet inspector, spoke with American reporters: The Treaty creates a relatively new atmosphere of trust between our two nations."¹⁶Colonel Thomas E. Smalls, U.S. Army, head of OSIA's San Francisco field office, led the American escort teams that met and accompanied the Soviet inspectors throughout these initial baseline inspections. Also on hand to meet the Soviet inspectors was Boris Vasev, an official from the Soviet consulate general in San Francisco.

The 72 Soviets included a 22-person inspection team that would be establishing the Soviet Union's continuous portal monitoring inspection activity at Magna, Utah, site of the Hercules Plant No. 1.¹⁷The other 50 Soviet inspectors were divided into five 10-man inspection teams. They would conduct baseline inspections of U.S. INF missile sites and facilities in the western United States.

For their initial baseline inspections, the Soviets selected a former INF launcher production facility, two INF training sites, a missile storage depot, and a testing ground. They inspected Air Force Plant 19 in San Diego; a training site at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona; another at Fort Huachuca, Arizona; a missile storage depot at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; and the testing ground at Pueblo Army Depot in Colorado.¹⁸The Soviets followed the notification procedures and timelines outlined in the treaty. At the conclusion of each inspection, the Soviet team chief prepared the required report. Signed by the senior Soviet inspector and American escort, the factual treaty report detailed the results of the inspection. Two copies were made; each team retained a copy for the record. Twenty-four hours after the inspections began, the five Soviet inspection teams had returned to Travis Air Force Base and were preparing to depart for the Soviet Union.¹⁹ On July 4,1988, Soviet inspectors made their first baseline inspections in Europe, at a ground-launched cruise missile site at Wueschheim, West Germany, and a Pershing II missile installation at Schwaebisch Gmuend, West Germany.²⁰