Stryker plans include
Big Isle upgrade
HILO >> The Army plans to spend $239 million to upgrade the 108,793-acre Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island to accommodate new Stryker combat vehicles, which are expected to be assigned to Schofield Barracks.
Army representatives told Big Island community leaders last night that the expenditures would be made between 2004 and 2008 and represent one-third of the $693 million to be spent in the state on "transformation" of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) to use the Stryker.
None of the money is now available, but it is "programmed," meaning that there is a good probability that Congress will provide it when needed, said Col. Dave Anderson, garrison commander of the Army in Hawaii, during an afternoon press conference.
The same presentation to the press was to be made to a closed-door session with community leaders in the evening. A series of closed-door meetings are being held to learn community concerns and to help the Army prepare for later public hearings on a draft environmental impact statement, which may be released next month, Anderson said.
About 30 people carried signs outside the evening meeting, protesting the closed-door nature of the briefing.
Peace activist Jim Albertini said in a statement that the Big Island still has areas where unexploded ammunition is left over from World War II training. He called for "cleanup, not buildup."
The Stryker is an eight-wheeled, rubber-tire vehicle that comes in 10 variations and can carry up to 11 soldiers.
Expenditure of the money and introduction of the Stryker are not a "done deal," Anderson noted.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld must still decide if brigades will be equipped with the Stryker in Hawaii and Pennsylvania, Anderson said.
But U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, has said that he expects the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks to get a Stryker brigade.
Four other brigades in Washington, Alaska and Louisiana have undergone transformation to use the Stryker, Anderson said.
The environmental study could result in changes or cancellation of one or more of the nine projects planned at Pohakuloa, he said.
The plans call for an existing airfield to be realigned and lengthened to 5,600 feet to handle C-17 cargo jets that carry the Strykers. Also, a rough former tank route from Kawaihae harbor through Parker Ranch would be upgraded and in some places paved. The Army still hopes to buy or obtain a long-term lease on 23,000 acres of the ranch through which the route runs.