Army flexible
on Stryker planA spokesman says the Army
will adjust after finding at least
two significant cultural sites
Army officials say they have identified at least 500 historic cultural sites on Big Island and Oahu land intended for use by a Stryker combat brigade, but believe none would be affected by plans to convert a 25th Infantry Division unit to the new highly mobile team.
4 public hearings on Stryker plans
The Army has scheduled four public meetings on Oahu and two on the Big Island to take testimony on the proposed Stryker Brigade Combat Team.All the meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the formal portion to be held from 7 to 10 p.m. The environmental impact statement can be seen at www.SBCTEIS.com.
On Oahu, the meetings will be held:
>> Oct. 28 at the Honolulu Country Club in Salt Lake.
>> Oct. 29 at Helemano Plantation.
>> Oct. 30 at Makaha Resort.
>> Nov. 4 at Turtle Bay Resort.On the Big Island meetings will be held:
>> Nov. 5 at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort.
>> Nov. 6 at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel.
Ron Borne, Schofield Barracks' transformation manager, told reporters yesterday that the Army's draft environmental impact statement lists two of the sites as being significant. The two sites, listed in the National Registry of Historic Places, are the Bobcat Habitation Cave at Pohakuloa and a heiau at Kahuku.
Borne said the Pohakuloa cave is actually lava tubes in the 108,792-acre Big Island training range "which could have been inhabited at one time." Hawaiians could have lived in the tubes while digging for adze or gathering birds, he said.
Col. David Anderson, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said a few of the 500 sites are in 23,000 acres the Army hopes to acquire from Parker Ranch to give the 607 eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles room to maneuver when it trains at Pohakuloa.
Anderson said the Army will modify its plans to avoid the cultural sites.
Borne said that besides the 23,000 acres on the Big Island, the Army wants to acquire 1,400 acres adjacent to the 27,000 acres Schofield now occupies in Wahiawa to build new facilities, including three live-fire ranges.
Borne said Congress is deliberating a $20 million appropriation request to acquire the land as well as another $1 million to purchase the easement for a proposed road from Schofield Barracks to Helemano.
Anderson said some projects are planned to lessen the impact of the Stryker brigades on the civilian population.
For instance, the Army wants to build private roads from Schofield to Dillingham Air Field and the Kahuku training areas on Oahu, and another road from Kawaihae Harbor to Pohakuloa on the Big Island, he said.
A total of 28 projects are proposed on Oahu and the Big island, with the Army estimating that it will spend $693 million by the time the first of 810 new soldiers could arrive at Schofield in the summer of 2005. It would be six months later before the first of the 19-ton, armored vehicles arrives.
The Army has proposed six Stryker brigades, with the first of these new 3,600-man fighting units to undergo its first combat test in Iraq next month. However, only four of the units -- designed to bridge the gap between the Army's heavy tank forces and lighter units like the 25th Division -- have been funded. The Pentagon still hasn't said whether the last two in Hawaii and Pennsylvania will be approved.
Following a 45-day public comment period, which includes meetings on Oahu and the Big island next month, the Army hopes to release the final environmental impact statement in March and decide on the future of the Stryker brigade by summer.
