Army cites national security for basing Stryker unit in HawaiiBy AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press, February 29th, 2008PACIFIC: Keeping the brigade in the islands gives US two options.HONOLULU -- Army leaders want to base a Stryker brigade in Hawaii instead of Alaska or Colorado because the state's Pacific location best serves the military's national security needs, a report said recently.The reasoning is outlined in the final version of a court-ordered environmental study the Army conducted on whether to base the brigade in the islands, Alaska or Colorado. Opponents sued to require the study several years ago, claiming the Army didn't adequately weight alternatives to Hawaii.The report said Lt. Gen. James Thurman, Army deputy chief of staff, selected Hawaii because keeping the brigade here would give the Army two Pacific outposts from which to deploy the eight-wheeled, heavy-duty vehicles and the soldiers who operate them.The Army already has one Stryker brigade in Alaska.The conclusion comes even though the report says the brigade's maneuver training would cause more soil erosion in Hawaii and Colorado than in Alaska. The maneuvers and the resulting wind-blown dust would also hurt air quality in Hawaii and Colorado more than in Alaska, it said.Hawaii "is best able to meet the Army's strategic defense and national security needs in the Pacific theater," the report said.Thurman considered the environmental and socio-economic effects the brigade would have on the three proposed host communities when making his recommendation, the report said.The Army still has to make a final decision on where to station the brigade, but many senior commanders -- including Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, head of U.S. Army-Pacific -- have already expressed a preference for Hawaii. The final decision will be announced no earlier than March 24.The military introduced the Stryker in 1999 as the cornerstone of a ground force of the future. It hoped to create faster, more agile armored units than tank-equipped units, but with more firepower and protection than light infantry units. The Army has ordered nearly 2,900 vehicles for its $13 billion Stryker program.The Army chose several years ago to put one Stryker unit -- the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division -- in Hawaii by transforming a light infantry brigade at Schofield Barracks in Central Oahu.But the Army had to re-examine that decision, and to conduct the environmental study, after a federal appeals court ruled in October 2006 the Army failed to adequately consider alternative locations for the brigade outside Hawaii.Native Hawaiian groups that sued the Army demanding a full environmental impact statement charged the brigade's 19-ton Stryker vehicles would damage Hawaii's fragile environment and cultural sites.Each brigade has more than 4,100 soldiers and 310 Stryker vehicles.Overall, the Army's report says the environmental impact of basing a Stryker brigade would be greater in Hawaii than in Alaska or Colorado.But it concludes mitigation efforts would limit the impact to a "less than significant" level for all areas except Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.David Henkin, an Earthjustice lawyer who represented the three Hawaiian groups in their suit, said he was concerned the study didn't consider more mainland locations for the brigade."Based on our initial review, there seem to be some serious questions about the degree to which the Army is being forthcoming about what the alternatives are and where the advantages lie," Henkin said.Henkin said a separate environmental impact statement conducted by the Army last year identified four potential locations for basing Stryker brigades that weren't mentioned in Friday's report.That report examined two bases in Washington state, Fort Lewis and Yakima Training Center, as possible bases. It also considered Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico."The question is, is this particular project a good fit given the vulnerabilities and the sensitivities of Hawaii's cultural and biological landscape?" Henkin said. "The answer is no. It's not a good fit."
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