Judge allows Stryker training to resume

Protecting lives is found to outweigh Hawaiian concerns

A federal judge ruled yesterday that the Army can resume Stryker training at Schofield Barracks and at Kahuku Training Area, citing a need to prepare soldiers for their deployment to Iraq next year.

Training to resume U.S. District Judge David Ezra issued a ruling yesterday allowing the Army to continue some Stryker Brigade training and construction, including: » Stryker training in the East Range and at Kahuku Training Area. » Training at Schofield Barracks, including at the Qualification Training Range 1 and Pohakuloa Training Area, using mortars, live-fire exercises and unmanned aerial vehicles. » Non-live-fire exercises at the Dillingham Training Area, limited to existing roads, old airfield taxiways, aircraft parking areas or previously disturbed areas within the old Nike site. » Complete construction of the Urban Assault Course at Schofield Barracks. » Construction of the motor pool at Schofield Barracks. » Complete modification of Range 11T at Pohakuloa Training Area, and training with the mobile gun system.

"The public interest lies on both sides of this dispute," U.S. District Judge David Ezra said in his ruling. "This court has profound respect for the cultural history of Hawaii and its unique environmental resources," he said. "However in this Court's view, there are few things that are more important than the lives of those men and women who serve in the armed forces."

Ezra's ruling comes as a disappointment to three Hawaiian groups that filed a complaint in 2004 challenging the decision to convert the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry into a Stryker Brigade in Hawaii.

"We understand that his leanings toward protecting soldiers' lives, but we feel that he did not give adequate weight to the evidence that we presented that would indicate the harm to the cultural sites in the training areas he's going to allow the Army to proceed in," said William Aila, spokesman for Na Imi Pono, one of the three groups that have alleged the 19-ton armored vehicles will harm cultural sites and the environment.

The ruling also allows the Army to proceed with training and construction in preparation for the Stryker Brigade at other sites.

The Army must continue to look at alternate locations outside of Hawaii for the Stryker Brigade.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary injunction in October stopping all Stryker activities, after finding the Army had violated the National Environmental Protection Act in not looking outside Hawaii for a place to base the Stryker Brigade.

The Army requested that the Ninth Circuit's injunction be narrowed to allow it to proceed with training on a limited basis and to complete six of 28 projects. Lawyers for the government argued the projects were time-sensitive and needed to be completed for the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry to be deployed in Iraq.

The Ninth Circuit sent the issue to the federal court in Hawaii.

Ezra's order allows the Army to proceed immediately, but the three groups will meet after the holidays to discuss their options, including an appeal of the injunction.

The order allows training at Schofield and Pohakuloa Training Area with mortars, live-fire exercises, unmanned aerial vehicles and gunnery exercises.

Non-live-fire maneuver exercises will be limited at the Dillingham Transportation Area to existing roads, old airfield taxiways, aircraft parking areas or previously disturbed areas within the old Nike site.

The judge ordered the Army to use a fire management plan because of concerns that live fire could start a wildfire.

Training is also now allowed at Qualification Training Range 1 at Schofield Barracks, an area that concerns plaintiffs because it has not been completely surveyed for cultural sites, Aila said.

Aila said he is happy the judge required the Army to include best management practices regarding erosion control, citing the construction of a motor pool on Schofield Barracks for 1,000 vehicles, which would affect a nearby stream that drains toward Waialua and could affect cultural sites.

Construction can proceed on other projects, including the Multiple Deployment Field at Wheeler Army Airfield, the Urban Assault Course in Schofield and the modification of Range 11T at Pohakuloa to allow training with the mobile gun system.

Vicky Holt Takamine, president of 'Ilio'ulaokalani, one of the plaintiffs, said the military already has control of "the few cultural sites we have access to, and they keep wanting to take more."

The fate of 23,000 acres of land in Pohakuloa, which the Army has purchased for Stryker activities, is subject to future court decisions.

"That's land that has never been used for military use, and it's the size of Kahoolawe. If this last decision is any indication how Ezra is ruling, then I'm not hopeful," Holt Takamine said.

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo supported Ezra's decision.

"Today's order by Judge Ezra allowing the Army's 25th Infantry Stryker Brigade to conduct its training and related construction is essential towards protecting the lives of our soldiers in this time of war. As such, we are happy with the decision," Kubo said.

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