From the beginning, the underlying terms of Hawai'i's relationship with the U.S. military have been clear: a strategically vital base of operations for the United States; economic prosperity for Hawai'i.
Never was this more evident than in the first half of the 20th century.
Hawai'i's complicated relationship with the U.S. military effectively began with the renewal of the 1876 Reciprocity Treaty, which allowed for the tax-free import of sugar and other agricultural products from Hawai'i to the United States.
That agreement, crucial for the survival of the territory's rising sugar industry, gave the United States control of Pearl Harbor, considered a key strategic location for the U.S. presence in the Pacific.
Schofield Barracks was built in 1908 to provide mobile defense for Pearl Harbor. The installation was named after Lt. Gen. John Schofield, who, with Brig. Gen B.S. Alexander, first recommended the use of Pearl Harbor for military purposes.
The Army Air Corps opened Hickam Field in 1938, and it was Hawai'i's main airfield through World War II.
In 1939, the Navy established Naval Air Station Kane'ohe in what would eventually become Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kane'ohe Bay.
In the months preceding the U.S. entry into World War II, the number of soldiers in Hawai'i reached 48,000, largely in response to growing Japanese aggression in the Pacific. At the height of World War II, that number had exploded to 378,000, requiring a huge increase in construction and a significant, if temporary, local economic boom.
The advent of the Cold War and the United States' involvement in the Korean War resulted in large-scale military investment in Hawai'i and, accordingly, a significant boost to the local economy.
Military interests also played a role in the development of Hawai'i's roads. The Mauka Arterial, which ran through Honolulu, was completed in 1953. Expanded over the next six years, this roadway became an Interstate highway (deemed necessary for military transport) after statehood.
As George Cooper and Gavan Daws wrote in "Land and Power in Hawai'i": "In the late 1950s, military spending became the heaviest input into the economy of Hawai'i, and in the 1960s, tourism became No. 2, both far outstripping the old mainstays of sugar and pineapple. And the total economy grew by leaps and bounds."
