Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 1, 1 January 2004 — Army's expansion plans draw fire [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Army's expansion plans draw fire

By Naomi Sodetani The Army's plans to acquire more land and significantly ramp up its activities in Hawai'i over the next decade have been drawing increasing fire from Hawaiian and environmental activist groups. In October, seven protesters were arrested at puhlie hearings on the Army's draft environmental report for a $1.5 hillion project to equip the U.S. military in Hawai'i with more firepower. All but a few of the 500 who

attended the meetings opposed the plan, whieh includes the acquisition of an additional 24,400 acres of land for training and extensive construction on O ' ahu and Hawai'i island. Even though the Army's environmental

report is not yet finalized, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld last month approved the establishment of a rapid-response Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Hawai'i as part of the Pentagon's goal of "transforming" the Army into a more agile fighting force that ean move quickly to distant battlefields. In addition, the Nov. 11 transfer of Kaho'olawe from federal to state control without a complete eleanup of hazardous ordnance on the island has prompted growing community debate on the military's longstanding use of ceded lands. Kaho'olawe's return highlights "glaring contradictions," said Waimānalo resident Steve Tayama of the Nation of Hawai'i, one of the activists arrested for carrying protest signs onto private property during the Army hearings. (Charges against the seven were later dropped.) "The military is now asking for almost exactly the same amount of lands to bomb and train on as Kaho'olawe," Tayama said. Army officials say increased needs for "national security" justify the expansion. Previously, Hawai'i bases had been slated for downsizing, but then the 9-11 terrorist attacks reinvigorated calls to fortify training here. The Army's environmental study details 28 projects expected to cost $693 million and increase the military's holdings by some 1,400 acres on O'ahu and 23,000 acres on Hawai'i island. Among the projects planned: 49 miles of private trails for Stryker use, six new ranges, a 600-acre "battle area complex," a

six-acre "urban assault course," two airfield upgrades and support facilities including a virtual war-fighting trainer. The 3,438 soldiers now stationed at Schofield would increase by 810, with an additional 1,500 family members. Center for Hawaiian Studies Professor Haunani-Kay Trask calls the expansion "nothing less than the largest military land grab since the Second World War." In her article, "Stealing Hawai'i: The war maehine at work," Trask recounts Hawai'i's occupation as a strategic military outpost for America's

eolomal ambitions in the Pacific - and as its first conquest when U.S. Marines assisted the overthrow of the Hawaiian government in 1893. "The latest military 'transformation' is but a 21stcentury ver-

sion of that domination," she writes. The military currently controls more than 200,000 of Hawai'i's four million acres - an area more than half the size of O'ahu, largely composed of ceded lands. For its use of these vast lands, the military pays almost no rent. For example, the 4,000-acre Mākua Military Reservation cost the Army only $1 for its 65-year state lease ending in 2029. The Army's impact report acknowledges that the Stryker expansion will have wide-ranging impacts on Hawai'i's cultural and natural resources, but also claims it will be a boon for the loeal economy. In November, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie pushed for House approval of $333.38 million to fund military construction projects and infrastructure to support the brigade. "And that's only the beginning," the Congressman said. But activists such as longtime independence advocate Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell, who was among the demonstrators arrested at the October Stryker hearings, exhort Hawaiians and others to resist such plans. Blaisdell urged kanaka maoli to "continue to protest the militarization of our homeland. The struggle goes on." For information on the Stryker and militarization issues, visit DMZ/Aloha 'Āina's website at afschawaii.org. ■

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Ni'i Hnn

Since the 1970s, Hawaiian activists have protested against live-fire training in Mōkua valley as well as against the U.S. bombing Of Kaho'olawe. Photo: Ed Greevy