In the Military
For and about Hawaii's servicemen and womenBy Gregg K. Kakesako
See also: For Your Benefit
Schofield, Pennsylvania
Stryker teams up in airThe Army has been asked to develop alternate fielding plans for the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams slated for Schofield Barracks and Pennsylvania, with the possibility of locating one in South Korea.
Of the six brigades promised, funding has been assured for only four -- two units located at Fort Lewis, Wash.; the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) at Fort Wainwright and Fort Richardson in Alaska; and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light) at Fort Polk, La. The future of the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks and the 56th Brigade of the 28th Infantry Division (mechanized) of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard are still being debated.
The Army reports that the Pentagon on Dec. 12 asked the Army to examine new locations for those two brigades, including locating one South Korea and another in Europe.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in November said he wasn't inclined to approve funding for the fifth and sixth Stryker teams and suggested he "might be persuaded otherwise" if the Army could demonstrate a plan for augmenting the Stryker teams.
Rumsfeld wants the last two Stryker teams to be "distinctly different" from the first four. The Army should consider adding aviation, air defense, sensors, enhanced command and control, and, "as an element of a fully combined arms team, armor when appropriate," Rumsfeld has said.
The USS San Francisco, the second nuclear-powered submarine to make Guam its home port, arrived 10 days after a typhoon slammed through the Pacific island Dec. 8. The Los Angeles-class San Francisco is the second of at least three submarines to comprise Submarine Squadron 15. The third submarine has not been named and is expected in Guam in spring 2004. The USS City of Corpus Christi was the first nuclear sub to be based in Guam.
The move to Guam could double the mission days for the submarines without the need to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Two of the Navy's newest members of its "surge fleet" -- cargo ships designed to deliver equipment rapidly in a crisis and named after two Medal of Honor recipients from Hawaii -- are on their way to a Southwest Asian port carrying combat helicopters and other supplies needed for a war against Iraq.
The Yano, named after Vietnam War hero Rodney Yano, left Charleston, S.C., Tuesday carrying a Black Hawk helicopter and three OH-58 helicopters, the Pentagon said. Also leaving last week was the Pililaau, named after Korean War hero Herbert Pililaau. It steamed out of Beaumont, Texas, with a cargo of combat support equipment. The voyage to the Gulf region is expected to take 21 to 25 days.
The Yano is normally berthed in Baltimore and the Pililaau in New Orleans.
"In the Military" was compiled from wire reports and other
sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for
the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. He can be reached can be reached by phone
at 294-4075 or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
