page_title: Military of Puerto Rico
section_title: Military facilities in Puerto Rico
hierarchical_section_title: Military of Puerto Rico / Military facilities in Puerto Rico
caption_attribution_description: English: Puerto Rico Municipal Maritime Police - U.S. Coast Guard
context_page_description: The military defense of Puerto Rico is the responsibility of the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris. Locally, Puerto Rico has its own National Guard, the Puerto Rico National Guard, and its own state defense force, the Puerto Rico State Guard, which, by local law, is under the authority of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The commander-in-chief of both forces is the governor of Puerto Rico, currently Wanda Vázquez Garced, who delegates her authority to the Puerto Rico Adjutant General, currently Brigadier General Isabelo Rivera The Adjutant General, in turn, delegates the authority over the State Guard to another officer but retains the authority over the Puerto Rico National Guard as a whole. At the national level, the commander-in-chief is the President of the United States, currently Donald Trump.
  A branch of the U.S. Army National Guard is stationed in Puerto Rico —known as the Puerto Rico Army National Guard— which performs missions equivalent to those of the Army National Guards of the different states of the United States, including ground defense, disaster relief, and control of civil unrest. The local National Guard also incorporates a branch of the U.S.
context_section_description: The former Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla has been closed for decades, and no other Air Force Bases or Naval Air Stations remain. The Puerto Rico Air National Guard no longer has any fighter planes within its jurisdiction. On January 12, 1981, a group calling itself Volunteer Organization for the Revolution, aka Los Macheteros, claimed responsibility for blowing up six Vought A-7 Corsair aircraft in what is known as Base Muñiz; a Puerto Rico Air National Guard base at a loss of $40 million. Responsibility for the air defense of Puerto Rico now rests with USAF or US Navy fighters that would be flown in case of a military emergency.
  At different times in the 20th century, the U.S. had about 25 military or naval installations in Puerto Rico, some very small ones, as well as large installations. The largest of these installations were the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, and the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF) on Vieques (all now closed), the National Guard training facility at Camp Santiago in Salinas, Fort Allen in Juana Diaz, the Army's Fort Buchanan in San Juan, the former U.S. Air Force Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla, and the Puerto Rico Air National Guard at Muñiz Air Force base in San Juan.
  The former U.S. Navy facilities at Roosevelt Roads, Vieques, and Sabana Seca have been deactivated and partially turned over to the local government. Other than U.S. Coast Guard and Puerto Rico National Guard facilities, there are only two remaining military installations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Army's small Ft. Buchanan (supporting local veterans and reserve units) and the PRANG(Puerto Rico Air National Guard) Muñiz Air Base (the C-130 Fleet). In recent years, the U.S. Congress has considered their deactivations, but these have been opposed by diverse public and private entities in Puerto Rico - such as retired military who rely on Ft. Buchanan for the services available there.
  The coastal defense of Puerto Rico is the responsibility of the U.S. Navy from ships at sea, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
  The U.S. Coast Guard has a significant presence in Puerto Rico. Located on what was formerly Ramey Air Force Base, the Coast Guard maintains what is now referred to as "Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen". HH-65C helicopters operate out of Borinquen performing search-and-rescue as well as law-enforcement missions. On a continual basis, Coast Guard fixed-wing airplanes, such as the C-130 Hercules search-and-rescue plane, stationed primarily in Florida fly to Puerto Rico to support these missions.
  U.S. Coast Guard cutters visit Puerto Rican waters periodically in their missions of coastal patrol and search-and-rescue. U.S. Navy ships visit Puerto Rican waters on an as-required basis, just like they visit all American waters, international oceans, and foreign ones, too.
  On "La Puntilla" in Old San Juan the Coast Guard base its small, but capable surface fleet of several 110-foot (34 m) long cutters and other patrol boats. These boats and cutters work hand in hand with the air station responding to any mission that they may be called upon to perform.
caption: Puerto Rico Municipal Maritime Police - U.S. Coast Guard
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