Army: Security merits Stryker unit in Hawaii

[unhappycamper]

Army: Security merits Stryker unit in Hawaii
By Audrey McAvoy - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Feb 23, 2008 17:49:31 EST

HONOLULU — Army leaders want to base a Stryker brigade in Hawaii because the state’s Pacific location best serves the military’s national security needs, a report said Friday.

The reasoning is outlined in the final version of a court-ordered environmental study the Army conducted on whether to base the brigade in the islands, Alaska or Colorado. Opponents sued to require the study several years ago, saying the Army didn’t adequately weight alternatives to Hawaii.

The report said Lt. Gen. James Thurman, Army deputy chief of staff, selected Hawaii because keeping the brigade here would give the Army two Pacific outposts from which to deploy the eight-wheeled, heavy-duty vehicles and the soldiers who operate them.

The Army already has one Stryker brigade in Alaska.

The conclusion comes even though the report says the brigade’s maneuver training would cause more soil erosion in Hawaii and Colorado than in Alaska. The maneuvers and the resulting wind-blown dust would also hurt air quality in Hawaii and Colorado more than in Alaska, it said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_hawaiistryker_080223/