Vieques Airport

Military Conversion and Base Closure. The airport was a military airfield, part of the U.S. Naval Ammunition Support Detachment on the western side of Vieques. Its closure was a direct result of the complete withdrawal of the U.S. Navy from Vieques Island. Following years of protests, which intensified after the accidental death of a civilian guard in 1999, President Clinton ordered the cessation of all military training. The Navy officially ceased all operations and transferred the land on May 1, 2003. The airfield was no longer needed as its sole purpose was to support naval operations, and the island was already served by a public civilian airport (Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport, VQS/TJVQ).

The site is now part of the Vieques National Wildlife Refuge, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The former runways, taxiways, and aprons are abandoned, unmaintained, and are slowly being reclaimed by nature. The area is largely closed to the public and is part of a massive, ongoing environmental investigation and cleanup effort supervised by the EPA. This remediation is necessary to address decades of contamination and the potential for unexploded ordnance (UXO) from its time as a naval ammunition facility.

The airfield was a critical military logistics hub for the U.S. Navy in Vieques. Officially known as the Naval Station Roosevelt Roads Vieques Site, it was not a public airport and did not handle commercial passenger traffic. Its primary function was to support the Naval Ammunition Support Detachment (NASD) located on the western third of the island, as well as the larger Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF) which included the live-fire range on the eastern end. The airfield handled military transport aircraft (such as the C-130 Hercules) that moved personnel, equipment, and supplies between Vieques and the mainland Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, PR. It was an integral part of the Navy's strategic presence in the Caribbean for over 60 years.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening this airport. Reopening is considered extremely unlikely for several key reasons:
1. **Redundancy:** The island is adequately served by the existing Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (VQS).
2. **Land Use Designation:** The land is now a designated National Wildlife Refuge, and converting it back to an airport would contradict its conservation mission.
3. **Environmental Contamination:** The extensive and long-term environmental cleanup required on the former Navy lands makes the site unsuitable for major public infrastructure development for the foreseeable future.