Live-fire exercise returns to Makua
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
MAKUA VALLEY — Soldiers in 5-ton trucks practiced convoy ambush training yesterday, firing live rounds at pop-up targets in the first return to training since an Army "controlled burn" in July got out of control and scorched half the valley.
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"It's very beneficial, because me, being a cook, I don't get as much training as everyone else does, and when I do get a chance to live-fire with the unit it's very helpful," said Pfc. Hansel Davis, 19, who is headed to Afghanistan in April.
Soldiers from the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment gather to critique an exercise in which they practiced responding to a simulated attack on a convoy. About 120 soldiers with the unit are headed to Afghanistan in April.
Davis said increasing use of civilian contractors means there's a greater likelihood he'll be assigned to checkpoint or convoy duty.
A carpet of kelly-green grass enriched by recent rains has replaced vegetation blackened by the July 22 fire, returning the remote, 4,190-acre Makua Military Reservation to a stunning natural vista.
But the scars of the fire and past conflict remain: About 10 protesters blared a horn and held signs such as "U.S. Army out of Makua," and an Earthjustice attorney watched through binoculars to make sure small-arms and heavy machine gun rounds landed in prescribed areas.
More than 100 archaeological features and 40 endangered species are found in the valley, and new cultural sites continue to be found.
"The community spoke out after the fire in July: Enough already. Stop your bombing. Stop your bullets. Clean up and return Makua Valley," said Kyle Kajihiro, program director of the American Friends Service Committee, who was protesting outside Makua's front gate.
Maj. Frank Tate, operations officer for the 25th Infantry Division (Light) aviation brigade, said — as Army officials have in the past — that precautions were being taken to protect the environment.
Approximately 120 soldiers with the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment who trained in the valley yesterday are heading to Afghanistan in April.
"The key is obviously finding that compromise between making sure that we're good stewards of the land and the cultural sites, (and training)," Tate said.
"We want to know where all of these (archaeological features) are. We want to make sure we're avoiding those and protecting those. Just like anybody else, we don't want to see history and cultural things destroyed."
Convoy training is conducted at Schofield Barracks, but it requires all other ranges to be closed, Army officials said. Given all the details about where soldiers can and cannot shoot, Makua Valley "offers the potential for the best training, the most opportunities," Tate said.
With 4,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers heading to Iraq in February, and another 3,500 deploying to Afghanistan in April, community group Malama Makua agreed to a modification of a 2001 federal court settlement so the soldiers could get two weeks of convoy ambush training in Makua.
The Army said yesterday that plans for followup exercises were still undetermined.
About 500 to 600 soldiers from the aviation brigade will receive the convoy training this week,
followed by soldiers from Division Support Command next week who are being split into Iraq and Afghanistan duty.
Convoys of three 5-ton trucks loaded with a dozen or more soldiers crept along a firebreak road at 5 mph and fired blanks and then live ammunition out the side at silhouette targets that popped up behind berms hundreds of feet away.
The soldiers used pistols, M-16 rifles, Squad Automatic Weapons and .50-cal. heavy machine guns mounted on truck cab roofs.
OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters looped overhead, firing machine guns at armored vehicle silhouettes down range.
Davis, who has been in the Army about 10 months and took part in convoy life-fire training at Pohakuloa Training Area in July, said it was a challenge hitting a target from a moving truck.
"The bumps in the road, bouncing up and down, rocking back and forth ... it's hard," he said. The training is only partially realistic, because soldiers know the drill. They also know they might encounter a similar, real scenario in Afghanistan. "Over there, you don't know when somebody's going to pop up and shoot at you," Davis said.
The Army reached a compromise last week with Malama Makua allowing it to conduct the convoy training in the valley while prohibiting the mortars and artillery that have started fires and can destroy cultural sites.
Under the 2001 settlement, the Army is allowed 12 company-sized Combined Arms Live-Fire Exercises, or CALFEXES, over the yearlong period that began Oct. 4. But the July fire was so severe it triggered a lengthy habitat-protection review that jeopardized CALFEX training before the two big deployments. As a result, none of the exercises has been held.
The convoy training also falls outside the 2001 agreement and needed to be approved separately, Malama Makua representatives said.
David Henkin, an Earthjustice attorney representing the group, said there were a few snags yesterday, including a delay by the Army in putting up flags demarcating shooting lanes.
But Henkin said at the end of the day there was no apparent damage to cultural or biological resources — "and that's a good day, as far as I'm concerned."
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
