Critics fight Army's Makua plans
Military attorneys say live-fire training is required to ready troops for Iraq duty
HAWAII environmentalists and a native Hawaiian group are opposing an Army move to amend their agreement that prohibits live-fire training in Makua Valley.
Attorneys for the 25th Infantry Division filed a motion in federal court yesterday to amend a 2001 settlement so that soldiers can resume live-fire training. The motion is scheduled to be heard Jan. 9.
Army officials say the division needs to train 7,000 Iraq-bound soldiers belonging to its 3rd Brigade Combat Team and supporting units.
David Henkin, attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, wants the court to dismiss the motion, saying the Army could use sites on the mainland that are vacant in part because so many soldiers are in Iraq.
Lt. Col. Mike Donnelly, 25th Division spokesman, rejected the idea, noting that using Makua Valley "would ultimately save lives. It's the right thing to do, and it's our responsibility."
The Army wants to hold at least 30 separate training sessions next year to prepare its soldiers for a combat rotation in Iraq next summer.
Under the 2001 settlement with Earthjustice and native Hawaiian group Malama Makua, no weapons can be fired at the 4,190-acre Leeward Oahu valley until the Army completes a comprehensive environmental impact statement. The final EIS document was supposed to have been done in October 2004.
In the draft EIS, the Army says it wants to conduct 50 training missions a year in Makua, using tracer ammunition, inert missiles and rockets. It rejects the alternative places, such the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area and mainland sites, because they are too far from Schofield Barracks.
Col. Howard Killian, who has commanded U.S. Army Hawaii Garrison for the past 18 months, said the Army hopes to complete the EIS next spring.
Killian said there are "many newly assigned soldiers to the division, since the division recently returned from Afghanistan and Iraq, who have to go through the Army training program. ... We are concerned that we have adequate resources to make sure our soldiers have all the training opportunities we can provide before they go into combat."
Henkin questioned why it has taken nearly five years for the Army to justify continual use of Makua Valley for live-fire operations when it took only two years to do a more complex environmental study on the establishment of a new Stryker brigade at Schofield Barracks.
Killian said a requirement of the settlement agreement between the Army and Malama Makua that calls for more archeological surveys has been one of the reasons for the delay. Malama Makua considers the valley to be sacred.
The archeological surveys involved clearing the area of unexploded ordnance by burning the foliage in parts of the valley, Killian said.
"In July 2003 we attempted to do that, and what was a prescribed (controlled) burn got out of control and essentially burned the valley," he said.
About 2,100 acres were scorched in that incident instead of the planned 500 acres. The fire destroyed at least 71 endangered plants and 150 acres of designated critical habitat.
Killian acknowledged that in addition to the 7,000 soldiers of the 25th Division, Kaneohe-based Marines also might need to train at Makua. Early next year, nearly 2,000 Kaneohe Marines will deploy overseas, with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, headed for Iraq and the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, bound for Afghanistan.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of the 25th Division, said, "Makua provides the only training area on Oahu where we can conduct combined arms live-fire exercises and convoy live-fire exercises. Our troops' first exposure to live fire must not come as they land in a hostile combat area."
However, Henkin said the Army knew that Makua Valley was off limits until the EIS was completed, and still chose to place the 3rd Brigade Combat Team on the summer Iraq rotation.
"Why can't the Army move the brigade temporarily to a post like Fort Hood in Texas, which will be empty since its brigades will be going to Iraq in January?" he asked.
"Mere inconvenience and expense is not a reason to violate the law," he said.
The public had until September to comment on the draft EIS, which was released in June.
In December 2003, with the 25th Division facing its first combat deployment since the Vietnam War, the Army and Malama Makua drafted an agreement to allow convoy ambush training in the valley in preparation for the Iraq and Afghanistan missions.
Killian said the Army would like a similar agreement to allow the use of rifles, mortars, machine guns and some artillery in training. Weapons that could cause brush fires, such as rockets and tracer bullets, would still be banned.
Moving out
More than 500 Schofield Barracks soldiers will deploy to Iraq -- some for the second time.
The soldiers are assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 84th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) and will leave the Wahiawa Army post during the next two months.
The unit will be honored this morning at a deployment ceremony at Schofield Barracks' Sills Field.