The Nation - News from March 19, 1989

Two teams of Soviet officials concluded their short-notice or “quota” inspections of two U.S. missile facilities, bringing the number of such Soviet tours of facilities cited in the INF Treaty to nine. On-Site Inspection Agency Cmdr. Kendell Pease said one team toured the Martin Marietta facility in Middle River, Md., and a second was dispatched to Ft. Sill at Lawton, Okla. Both teams were accompanied by U.S. escorts. The inspection program was one of the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in December, 1987, by the Soviet Union and the United States. In the first three years of the treaty, inspectors are allowed 20 quota visits a year.