$1.8 million study set on aircraft carrier for Islands

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The U.S. Pacific Fleet is spending $1.8 million over the next year to look at basing an aircraft carrier and air wing in Hawai'i in yet another sign that the Navy could move one of the battle groups here.

The money recently was set aside from the Pearl Harbor-based command's current fiscal 2003 budget to evaluate issues like the condition of piers and facilities and what utility upgrades would be needed.

The Navy cautioned, however, that it is always re-examining where its forces are distributed, and it said that no decision has been made to place a carrier strike group in Hawai'i.

Officials said the study, conducted by in-house Navy engineering experts and contractors, is a data-gathering, "informational" look at basing a carrier at Pearl Harbor, and is not a formal environmental impact statement study.

Having a carrier and its half-dozen escort ships in Hawai'i would reorient some of the U.S. military's greatest firepower to the middle of the Pacific and mean jobs and millions in military spending for the state.

Guam is positioned as possible competition for a carrier, but the Pacific Fleet study is examining Hawai'i only, officials said.

U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, in August said any announcement of an aircraft carrier for Hawai'i likely would not be made until 2004 at the earliest, as the Navy worked out the logistics of basing an air wing here. The Navy study should be completed within a year.

A key issue is where to base an air wing of 70 to 80 aircraft.

Inouye said he would like to see the aircraft stationed at Kalaeloa, which was closed as a naval air station in 1999.

A lack of facilities and training area for an air wing were key factors in the Navy deciding against Hawai'i as a possible base for a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier in a 1999 study.