CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, center, viewed the troops at the Operation Iraqi Freedom Deployment Ceremony for the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks on Friday. Col. Charles Cardinal, left, and Command Sgt. Maj. Franklin Ashe accompanied Olson. A report last month noted that Schofield was among the top recipients of federal funding last year.
Military’s economic
effect toutedThe Pentagon spends $4 billion
in Hawaii yearly, an official says
Top officials in Hawaii paint a rosy future for a continued strong military presence -- with more than $4 billion pumped into the state's economy annually.
Last month, the CongressDaily noted that Schofield Barracks was among the biggest winners in federal funding last year. "As usual, Hawaii was among the top 10 states receiving fiscal 2004 military construction funding, with an appropriation of nearly $333.4 million," said Rick Sia, a former island journalist who wrote part of the article.
In the Dec. 28 report, Sia noted the funding happened "in the scramble for military construction funds a year before the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission is expected to cut as much as 25 percent of excess domestic base infrastructure."
He added, "An analysis by CongressDaily of funding allocations in the military construction bill shows bases with high-priority missions -- for example, Hawaii's Schofield Barracks, home of one of the Army's new Stryker brigades -- among those receiving the most federal funds."
At the annual Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii briefing Thursday for local political and business leaders, Maj. Gen. Ronald Lowe, U.S. Pacific Command chief of staff, said that "despite sham Web sites and press releases, there have been no decisions made" by the commission regarding base closures.
He told chamber members that the Pentagon is now gathering data from the commanders of all U.S. military installations and that the defense secretary will make his recommendation to the commission by May 16, 2005. That will be followed by the commission's recommendations by Sept. 23, 2005, to the president, who can accept or reject the findings only in their entirety.
"There is no line-item veto," Lowe said.
Lowe said Congress then will have 45 days to accept or reject the president's proposal.
Previously, Congress had approved four rounds of base closures -- in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995. A total of 97 major bases were shuttered.
In 1993, the military gave up control of Barbers Point Naval Air Station, consisting of the more than 3,000 acres. However, many of the projects envisioned by planners for a raceway and industrial use for the area have never materialized. A decade later, the state and the Pentagon are talking about the possibility of giving back parts of Barbers Point for use by more than 70 jet combat fighters of an air wing needed to support a nuclear aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor.
In his 10-minute presentation, Lowe pointed out that over the next five years, 14,000 to 15,000 military housing units will be built or remodeled, for a total construction value of $2.2 billion. He noted that the new $77 million command center for Adm. Thomas Fargo's staff at Camp Smith will be dedicated by the middle of this year -- one of the results of military construction projects here that totaled $257 million last year.
The Pentagon spends $4 billion annually here, Lowe added, and is the second major source of revenue for the state, behind tourism.
Both Maj. Gen. Bob Lee, head of the state Department of Defense, and Lt. Gen. Victor Renaurt, Pacific Forces vice commander, reported on the progress of the C-17 jet transport squadron, which will receive the first of eight cargo planes at Hickam Air Force Base at the end of next year. The unit will be a made up of active Air Force and Hawaii Air National Guard personnel, and the C-17 jets will replace propeller-driven C-130 transports.
Renaurt said more than $150 million will be spent at Hickam in preparation for the new squadron, whose mission will include airlifting the new Stryker Combat Brigade from Schofield.
Col. Bernard Champoux, assistant 25th Infantry Division commander, said the conversion of the Tropic Lightning's 2nd Brigade to a Stryker mobile fighting force will mean an increase of 810 soldiers and 607 vehicles.
More than $693 million will be spent on Oahu and the Big Island on 28 projects to accommodate the eight-wheeled, 19-ton combat vehicles.
Champoux said Jan. 3 was the deadline for public comment on the draft environmental impact statement, and that Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, 25th Division commander, should render a decision by June or July.
As for the proposal to home-port a nuclear aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor, Rear Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Pacific Fleet deputy commander, said the Navy is in the "fact-collection stage."
This means the Pacific Fleet is collecting data on the conditions of Navy runways here, the capacity of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, and pier and harbor space and depths at Pearl Harbor. Also under study are the status of Navy housing, areas where jet aircraft could be housed, and other amenities 6,000 sailors and aviators connected to carrier would need.
