Army seeks to train with live fire in Makua Valley

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The Army said yesterday it will conduct live-fire convoy training at Makua Military Reservation beginning Dec. 8, a return that follows a massive July brush fire and a move that community group Malama Makua says is outside a 2001 court settlement.

Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who is representing the group, said negotiations are under way over a possible agreement, but called the Army announcement premature.

"I think both sides would prefer to see if they can find agreement, and both sides are trying to do that," Henkin said. "At the end of the day, though, we may agree to disagree. It's just too soon to say."

Maj. Stacy Bathrick, a spokeswoman for the 25th Infantry Division (Light), said the soldiers getting the training would be among 3,500 deploying to Afghanistan in April.

With 4,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers also deploying to Iraq in February, Bathrick said "we must use all of our available training areas to train our soldiers. Makua Valley is essential to conduct the convoy live-fire training that will save our soldiers' lives in combat."

"Our position is not 'nothing, no how,' " Henkin said. "It is whatever happens there (in Makua) has to provide appropriate protection not only for the cultural sites, but for the biological resources. We don't want a repeat of July."

On July 22, an Army "controlled burn" got out of control and scorched 2,100 acres of the 4,190-acre Wai'anae Coast valley many Hawaiians consider sacred.

With Earthjustice threatening a lawsuit, the Army agreed in September to formally consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a new habitat protection plan — a necessity that put in doubt any company-sized Combined Arms Live-Fire Exercises (CALFEX) before the deployments. The exercises use helicopters, mortars and artillery to simulate combat.

Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, both sides may be back in federal court next week — either with an agreement to present to a judge, or a disagreement to present.

A October 2001 court settlement provided for a set number of combined arms exercises over three years with the stipulation the Army would produce an environmental impact statement.

The agreement allowed 16 exercises the first year, nine the second year and 12 over the final yearlong period that began in October.

Henkin said the only live-fire training the Army is authorized to do in Makua Valley is the combined arms live-fire, "and what they are proposing is not a CALFEX," he said. "What they are proposing has never been analyzed in an environmental assessment, and there are a lot of cultural sites that the July fire revealed right around the impact area and the trench system on the other side of the firebreak road."

Neither side would disclose the details of what's being proposed, but William Aila, a Wai'anae resident who has family members buried in Makua Valley, said discussions were held with Malama Makua regarding training without mortars and artillery.

Aila said the training could involve convoys traveling the firebreak road and practicing for ambushes from the series of trenches at Makua.

The Army is proposing the convoy training Dec. 8 through 19.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.