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Judge allows Stryker training to resume

Dec-30-2006 » Filed Under: 2/25 SBCT

By Leila Fujimori, Honolulu Star Bulletin

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.

"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. [...]


Comments For "Judge allows Stryker training to resume":

Finaly, some common sense from a Judge! Thank you, honorable Erza, for considering the safety of our troops and for "preserving" the USA! Remember the addage of the country that does not learn from the past...
Sincerely,
A Stryker Mom

Posted by: Linda, Stryker Momj [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 31, 2006 11:19 PM

Stryker Mom,

The readiness and safety of your son and all other Stryker sons would be better served by the Army relocating the Strykers completely out of Hawaii, back to the mainland. The Kahuku Training Area mentioned in the article is completely inadequate for Stryker training purposes; moreover, the terrain and vegetation profile is nothing like that of the conditions your son will encounter in Iraq or Afghanistan.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/kahuku.htm

Posted by: currahee [TypeKey Profile Page] | January 1, 2007 1:55 PM

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