Policy Brief
Eastern Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Exploration and Military Readiness
Military experts conclude that expanded oil production in the Eastern Gulf would have no major impact on military training.
This paper, produced in collaboration with Commonwealth Consulting Corporation, led by Col. Martin Sullivan, USMC (Ret.), examines claims that expanded oil and natural gas exploration and development in the Eastern Gulf would adversely affect military missions in that area. It assesses rates of usage by the United States military in the affected areas, explains current methods of controlling airspace and surface actions in the Gulf, and analyzes encroachment factors.
The authors show that, despite earlier claims of potential impact, the Pentagon until very recently had no systematic tools for measuring the effect outside factors had on training and testing. Now that those tools are being put into place, they are clearly showing that oil and natural gas production will not encroach on the military missions in the Gulf.
