Briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
NAVY
Hawai'i-based sub to support war
The Pearl Harbor-based attack submarine USS Los Angeles deployed Feb. 11 for the Western Pacific. The Navy said it will be used to support the war on terrorism or for other contingencies.
The six-month deployment is the first for the submarine since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"As we all know, the world has changed significantly since 9/11," said Cmdr. Christopher Thomas, the sub's commanding officer. "The crew has dedicated themselves to the mission in light of the war on terrorism."
Submarines such as the Los Angeles carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, which would likely be used extensively in the opening rounds of an attack on Iraq.
ARMY
Stryker plans being reviewed
Hawai'i is in the running for a Stryker brigade, a fast-strike Army unit of 330 or more armored vehicles that ride on eight wheels instead of tank treads.
A total of $3 billion is in the Defense Department's 2004-09 spending plan for the fifth Stryker brigade in Hawai'i, and the sixth unit in Pennsylvania, although the Pentagon continues to review the two basing proposals.
The first two Stryker brigades are being stood up at Fort Lewis, Wash.; the third is designated for Alaska, the fourth for Louisiana.
But last week in Honolulu, Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benjamin Griffin said one of the planned six brigades is being redirected to Europe.
Of the two brigades in Washington state, one is part of the Schofield Barracks-based 25th Infantry Division (Light).
"Europe is very much in the picture," Griffin said during a meeting with reporters here. "The plan that we built in the program has one of the Stryker brigades going to Europe."
Griffin ruled out the fifth brigade planned for Hawai'i, and only would say one of the "early-on" Stryker brigades will be making the trip overseas.
Sen. Inouye film premieres April 5
The USS Missouri Memorial Association will host the premiere of "Daniel K. Inouye: An American Story," a biographical film of Hawai'i's senior U.S. senator. The premiere is scheduled for April 5 at the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Ford Island.
The film by Heather H. Giugni, the co-owner of Honolulu production company Juniroa Productions, chronicles Inouye's battlefield heroism to his rise as one of the nation's most powerful statesmen.
In March 1943, an 18-year-old Inouye enlisted in the U.S. Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the "Go For Broke" unit. In Italy, Inouye advanced alone against a machine-gun nest that had pinned down his platoon, throwing grenades and firing his weapon, even though a German rifle grenade had shattered his right arm.
The premiere will be on "Foxtrot 5," the pier used by the battleship Missouri, now a museum. For tickets, call 423-0012.
MARINES
Honolulu firm wins housing contract
Hawai'i Congressman Neil Abercrombie said a Honolulu firm has been awarded a $5.4 million contract modification to replace 24 family housing units at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.
The modification is in addition to the original Navy contract with Metcalf Construction Co. Inc., which calls for the replacement of 188 family housing units for $42.2 million.
The original contract was awarded Oct. 22. Work is expected to be done by April 2005.
