Posted on: Friday, September 17, 2004

EDITORIAL
New military arrivals demand advance plans

Considering the amount of publicity that has surrounded the arrival of the Army's new Stryker brigade in Hawai'i, it is somewhat surprising that we are not better prepared for this big influx of troops and their families.

Education writer Derrick DePledge reports that public school officials are "scrambling" to find ways of dealing with the flood of new students expected at schools around Army bases.

The cost of dealing with these new students will be something like $16.4 million up front plus another $3.5 million a year in annual costs.

While the arrival of the Stryker brigade will be an economic boost for the state, it also brings with it new costs and new environmental and social impacts.

We have argued in the past that inviting new military operations into the Islands makes sense as an economic development opportunity. But we are equally clear that any significant addition to the military presence here should come with careful and coordinated planning.

In the case of the schools, the task of dealing with these new families and new students must not be left to the Department of Education alone. The responsibility also involves the military, state and local government and the business community.

And the Stryker brigade is only the tip of the spear on this issue. Serious talks continue about basing an aircraft carrier group at Pearl Harbor.

If that happens, the impact on the surrounding community will make the Stryker brigade look like a small blip.

The time for planning is now.