Bosnia-bound soldiers Bosnia-bound Schofield Barracks soldiers trained in Makua Valley today, sharpening infantry skills they may have to call on next year.
hone their skills
in Makua training
The live-fire exercises were the
second to be held there since Oct. 4By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe live-fire training in Makua Valley was only the second time that soldiers were allowed to fire their weapons in the Waianae Coast training facility since 1998. The soldiers were from the Army's 2nd Brigade, which is to begin a peace-keeping mission in Bosnia in March.
Among those observing the training this morning was a small group of veterans who live in Waianae and support the military's effort to train in Makua.
Henry Ahlo, a Korea and Vietnam war veteran, said he came to Makua because "what I read in the newspaper was too critical of Army training. Training is essential to get the job done and survive. Our freedom is not free, it's expensive."
However, this second round of training -- approved under an Oct. 4 court settlement -- was not without controversy.
Yesterday, representatives of Malama Makua said the 25th Infantry Division violated the court-approved settlement by failing to adhere to its own fire-management plan.
Maj. Nancy Makowski, 25th Division spokeswoman, disagreed: "There were no violations of the agreements in the SEA (supplemental environmental assessment) or in the settlement agreement during today's training."
David Henkin, attorney with Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, said three representatives of Malama Makua witnessed what they believed to be a violation of the Army's fire-management plan and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biological opinion.
Henkin, who helped bring about the settlement earlier this month that allows the Army to resume live-fire training in Makua for three years, said the Army allowed artillery canons to be fired before a fire-fighting bucket was operational.
"The Army fired two artillery rounds," Henkin said, "while it was still fiddling with the bucket."
But Makowski said: "The bucket was mission-capable and fulfilled every requirement of the wild-land fire-fighting plan in our supplemental environmental assessment."
She said artillery rounds were not fired until after the fire equipment was tested and approved.
In addition, because Army officials were focusing on the problem with the fire bucket, Henkin said Malama representatives believe the 20 soldiers who were supposed to be standby firefighters were not adequately equipped.
Makowski again disagreed, saying the soldiers had received the proper training on Monday and "were fully prepared to answer the call for fire-fighting assistance if the need arose."
This is the second group of 100 soldiers to be allowed to fire their weapons in Makua. The first group was dogged by poor weather conditions, which postponed one day of training, and problems with sighting mortar rounds.
There were accusations by Malama Makua that machine gun fire from a helicopter gunship on Oct. 19 strayed from the impact area. But those accusations were later shown to be inaccurate.
Under an agreement reached between the Army and Malama Makua on Oct. 4, a limited amount of training can be held in the valley each year so long as the Army completes an environmental impact statement within three years.
