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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 11 a.m., Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Army resumes training in Makua Valley exercises

By William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writer

With two Kiowa Warrior OH-58D helicopters hovering above green and gold hills, Schofield Barracks soldiers trained for the first time in more than three years today in Makua Valley.

Army Spc. Thomas Golden of 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Division, aims his M-249 rifle at targets simulating the enemy during field exercises in Makua Valley today. Members of Malama Makua, a community group that opposes Army training in the valley, watch in the background.

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

It was not the blank-fire exercises that had been planned because winds were blowing at 10 mph, increasing the risk of fire.

If conditions allow, the Army will conduct blank-fire exercises tomorrow and live-fire exercises tomorrow or Friday.

At about 6:45 a.m., roughly 100 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade at Schofield maneuvered up a gulch in the valley, taking the first of several enemy objectives.

The exercises concluded at about 10:30 a.m.

Once live-fire resumes in the valley, the Army plans to use105 mm howitzers and 81 mm and 60 mm mortars as well as Kiowa Warrior helicopters firing .50-calibre guns.

The return to Makua follows an Oct. 4 settlement of a lawsuit brought by community group Malama Makua that asked for a comprehensive environmental impact statement analysis of more than 50 years of live-fire exercises in the valley that many Hawaiians hold sacred.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Army can conduct 16 company-size live-fire exercises over the next year, followed by nine the following year and 12 in the third year of the agreement.