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Stryker brigade likely will remain in Hawaii

Jul-27-2007 » Filed Under: 2/25 SBCT

By William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser

Even though the Army has identified two possible alternative locations for Hawai'i's Stryker brigade, some members of the state's congressional delegation and a leading national defense expert say the fast-strike unit of 328 armored vehicles likely will remain here.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommitee on Readiness and Management Support, said he has encouraged the Defense Department to be good stewards of the land.

He said he is pleased the Army has completed a draft environmental impact statement examining alternative locations capable of supporting the Stryker brigade.

A federal appeals court in October ordered the study, which was released last week.

But Akaka also said he remains optimistic that after a thorough review, the Army "will confirm its initial assessment that Hawai'i is the optimal location to meet our nation's future security needs."

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, also a Hawai'i Democrat, said he didn't see anything in the draft report indicating why the Stryker brigade shouldn't come back to Hawai'i after an upcoming deployment to Iraq.

"I'm not sure the environmental challenges are all that great in the sense of precluding (the brigade returning) to Hawai'i," Abercrombie said.

The Army released a 595-page draft report last week that considers moving the 4,000-soldier unit to Fort Carson, Colo., or Fort Richardson, Alaska, or keeping it in Hawai'i when it gets back from a deployment to Iraq in late 2008 or early 2009.

Stryker soldiers are expected to begin leaving for Iraq in November.

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