For the Army, there's no place like Makua

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Affairs Writer

There has been no training of troops in Makua Valley for more than two years, and the Army insists it has no choice but to return if it is to maintain a ready force.

But questions persist about whether the military is truly without alternatives.

Why not Schofield Barracks? Why not Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island? Why not the Kahuku Training Area?

Some Leeward Coast residents continue to ask why Makua Valley — with 54 archaeological sites and 34 endangered plants and animals — is considered essential by the Amy for live-fire training.

"They haven't addressed the alternatives," said William Aila Jr., whose family owned property in Makua Valley before the military took over.

But the Army insists it has.

Schofield and Kahuku would be prohibitively expensive to transform, while Pohakuloa is not suitable because of its forbidding terrain, the Army says.

Further, any significant change would probably require an environmental impact statement, a comprehensive review that can take up to five years and cost millions of dollars.

The 457 acres of gradually sloping, brushy terrain within Makua are uniquely suited for training of infantry companies of 150 soldiers, Army officials say.

Ideally, as soldiers maneuver on the ground, howitzers thump nearby, helicopters buzz overhead and machine-gun fire rakes the ground.

It's terrain that the Army says doesn't exist at the extensive but barren Pohakuloa Training Area.

And, they argue, it would be too costly and time-consuming to reconfigure Schofield Barracks for that type of training.

Aila insists one of the best alternatives is Schofield Barracks. He maintains the Army could free up enough land on the post to conduct the "combined arms company-level training" it desires.

Since training was suspended at Makua, there have been two company-sized training exercises at Schofield, although without the use of howitzers or helicopters.

However, Army officials say it would cost $20 million to $34 million to build a Makua-type assault course at Schofield, and an additional $32 million to $35 million to tear down and move the existing ranges.

Pohakuloa, meanwhile, has "razor sharp" lava rock unsuitable for the kind of training done at Makua, said Brig. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, who is the 25th Infantry Division (Light) assistant division commander for support.

Although some lava rock has been crushed to enable smaller exercises, Army officials say doing so for a company-size course and creating hills would be costly.

Further, the time troops spend away from their families and at field-training exercises has been a focus for the military because of increasing emphasis on quality of life.

Because troops are based on O'ahu, a typical Monday through Friday exercise at Pohakuloa becomes a two-week outing because of the need to transport artillery, troops and equipment, Eikenberry said.

Other areas at Pohakuloa are off-limits to troops because of endangered and threatened species found there.

The Army has 4,840 acres of land available for maneuvers at Kahuku Training Area on the North Shore.

But the land is leased, and there is an agreement not to conduct live-fire exercises there.

To use land in the Kahuku Training Area would require massive earth-moving of deep ravines and thick jungle, costing "tens of millions of dollars," said Eikenberry.

"Right now, at this moment in time, the way the division is organized, given our training lands, given realistic resource options, given the current present readiness and challenge, Makua is it," Eikenberry said.