The day before, about 200 had turned out to see the Army's new eight-wheeled troop carriers at Waimea-Kohala Airport.

There were a few Stryker opponents, who were allowed to display and hand out materials critical of the vehicles, but Army officials said most of those who crawled in and around the vehicles had positive things to say.

Many commented on the low-decibel hum of the Stryker's 350 horsepower JP-8 diesel engine, said Lt. Col. Gerald Schmitz, transformation officer for the 25th Infantry Division (Light).

"We'd start them up, and folks would say, 'Wow, that's it?' " Schmitz said.

Indeed, the 20-ton Strykers are quiet — no louder than a Humvee at idle — and tales have spread of soldiers being able to sneak up on enemy positions with the vehicles in Iraq.

Also notable is their speed: soldiers found they could drive Strykers at 70 mph on the highway.

In Hawai'i, some of the 291 Strykers will be sharing the roads with less formidable vehicles — but not necessarily falling behind.

"I was following a Mustang (on the Big Island)," said Pvt. Matt Borgens, a Stryker driver. "He was going 70, and I was able to keep up."

The Army is starting on 28 projects worth $693 million on O'ahu and the Big Island to remake the 2nd Brigade at Schofield Barracks into a fast-attack unit built around the Stryker.

Three Strykers are on O'ahu for demonstration, including one from Fort Lewis, Wash., which has a Stryker brigade deployed to Iraq and another planning to take its place.

Among opponents to the plan is Ikaika Hussey with DMZ Hawai'i/Aloha Aina, who called the week of demonstrations on the Big Island and O'ahu "Stryker spin week."

"The people are calling for the clean up and restoration of (military) toxic sites — the sites that are littered with UXO (unexploded ordnance)," Hussey said. "First, let's address the issue of lands consumed by the military and not take any more land."

Schmitz said $11 million will be spent at Schofield Barracks for unexploded ordnance cleanup as part of a reorganization of training ranges, and $7 million will be spent on ordnance cleanup on the Big Island.

"That's a start," Hussey said. "But I think we're all aware that's not enough money being put into cleanup."

"You can't really tell unless you are in a real combat situation," Garcia said.

"But I'm glad to see that we have something like this that's made available to our soldiers, and if they find themselves in a combat situation, can get there quickly."

The Stryker plan calls for the acquisition of 1,400 acres on O'ahu and 23,000 acres on the Big Island, networks of private trails for the vehicles and significant effects on the environment and biological and cultural resources.

Vehicles are expected to arrive in 2006 in Hawai'i, the fifth of seven locations planned for Stryker brigades, with initial operating capability in 2007.

Garcia, pointing to the Army's history "and trying to be good stewards of the land ... will do what is possible and make sure its presence in Hawai'i is going to be not too destructive."

He added that Hawai'i needs to "co-exist with the rest of the world."

"So something like this is necessary, especially when you consider the possible combat theater out in Asia and the Pacific, so you need something like this as a forward deployment opportunity for our military."

City council member Charles Djou also spoke positively of the Stryker.

"It was much quieter than I thought it would be, and I think it fits exactly what the Army needs — which is a mobile utility vehicle to protect the soldier," he said.

It also makes the 25th Division more relevant, said Djou, an Army reservist with the 1101st garrison support unit. He said he does not think he'll be called up for active duty.

Formal approval of the Stryker plan was announced by the Army earlier this month following completion of an environmental review.

About 800 soldiers will be added to round out the 3,500-soldier Stryker Brigade, which will operate 10 variants of the armored vehicle from infantry carrier and mobile gun system to medical evacuation and engineering configurations.

Two of the Alaska Strykers with the 172nd Infantry Brigade arrived on O'ahu from the Big Island Sunday night aboard the HSV-X1 Joint Venture — itself a historic pairing for Hawai'i.

The 313-foot "wave-piercing" catamaran, which can carry 20 to 25 Strykers and 250 soldiers, is capable of speeds of more than 45 miles per hour.

Army officials hope to use something similar to the Joint Venture, leased by the Army for testing, to quickly transport Strykers — which will be based on O'ahu — to the Big Island for training or other parts of the Pacific for missions.

The trip from the Big Island took five hours — compared with the 18 it takes on an LSV, or Logistics Support Vessel.

The Joint Venture was to take part in an exercise with the Indian navy off the Big Island. Although the big catamaran technically is part of the 545th Transportation Company Detachment based at Ford Island, the transport doesn't spend much time in Hawai'i.

"It's one thing to have a very powerful Stryker Brigade Combat Team, but that doesn't get the mission accomplished if we can't move it," Lt. Gen. James Campbell, commander of U.S. Army Pacific based at Fort Shafter, said yesterday.

Campbell said the Army will work in concert with the Air Force to deliver Strykers by C-17 cargo carrier and by high-speed vessel like the Joint Venture. Eight C-17s will be based at Hickam Air Force Base.

Sgt. Benjamin Herman, 27, a Stryker soldier from Fort Lewis who served in Iraq, said with the addition of birdcage-like slat armor around the exterior of the Strykers, the vehicles have taken 15 hits from rocket-propelled grenades without fatalities.

"Reactive" armor that deflects the force of RPGs will be added to Hawai'i-based Strykers, officials said.

Herman added that the criticism of the Stryker is unfounded.

"All the people that are saying it's a deathtrap and the Joes (soldiers) hate it, as far as I know, and the guys I've talked to, we love it," Herman said. "It gets us where we need to go ... This is definitely not a fighting vehicle. It's a transport vehicle. It was designed to transport troops from point A to point B. It gives you protection from small-arms fire, but it's not something you would take into the heart of a fight."