SUBHEAD: The Army has admitted to using the area in the past to testing rounds made from depleted uranium where Strykers will be training.
By Kyle Kalahiro on 27 October 2012 for DMZ Haawaii -
(http://www.dmzhawaii.org/?p=10685)
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Image above: From (http://darkspenthouse.punbb-hosting.com/viewtopic.php?id=608&p=2).
Army spokespeople are adamant that the idea of Stryker armored vehicles being relocated to the Big Island is just that: an idea. It’s a long way from becoming a reality, they insist.
On Wednesday, Honolulu media reported that the U.S. Army seeks to cut costs and is considering repositioning Stryker vehicles at the Pohakuloa Training Area — either from existing stock at Schofield Barracks on Oahu or those remaining at the end of the Iraq War and the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan slated for 2014.
[. . .]
“Right now, it’s just an idea that our headquarters is considering,” he said. “At this point, there’s not even a feasibility study, or a cost analysis study, which are the very earliest beginning stages to doing anything like this. This idea is still in its infancy.”
A total of 4,800 soldiers stationed at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu are supported by 233 Strykers, said Lt. Col. Kate Guttormsen, deputy public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Pacific. A number of those vehicles are occasionally transported to Pohakuloa Training Area, along with their crews and support personnel, for training exercises.
Most recently, she said, a task force of 800 soldiers traveled to Pohakuloa with 25 Stryker vehicles for a 30-day training exercise, costing the Army approximately half a million dollars.
[. . .]
Jim Albertini, a well-known critic of military operations at PTA and president of the Malu Aina Center for Nonviolent Education & Action, said Wednesday he would oppose any plan to station the vehicles on the isle.
“My initial reaction, of course, is to oppose it,” he said.
Albertini said he has long railed against any kind of live-fire exercises at PTA that could create dust and risk spreading radiation from depleted uranium shells.
The Army has admitted to using the area in the past to test rounds made from depleted uranium, a weak radioactive heavy metal. Several years ago, the Army worked to find and remove the rounds at PTA to make the area safe for Stryker training. A number of studies undertaken by the Army about the potential health risks posed by the rounds at PTA have come up showing no risk is apparent.
Albertini and others, however, claim that the Army has misrepresented the dangers. They point to a resolution passed by the Hawaii County Council in 2008 that recommends the Army stop all activity at PTA until further study and clean-up efforts can be completed.
See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Testimony on HSF & Strykers 2/23/09
Island Breath: Army picks Hawaii for Stryker 5/18/08
Island Breath: Army to leave DU in Hawaii 4/24/08
Island Breath: DU Confirmed at Pohakuloa 8/21/07
Island Breath: Superferry & the Strykers 10/6/06
.
By Kyle Kalahiro on 27 October 2012 for DMZ Haawaii -
(http://www.dmzhawaii.org/?p=10685)
Image above: From (http://darkspenthouse.punbb-hosting.com/viewtopic.php?id=608&p=2).
The Hawaii Tribune Herald reports “Stryker brigade isle bound?” (October 25, 2012) that the Army is considering stationing some Stryker combat vehicles on Hawaiʻi island to be closer to training sites at Pōhakuloa:
On Wednesday, Honolulu media reported that the U.S. Army seeks to cut costs and is considering repositioning Stryker vehicles at the Pohakuloa Training Area — either from existing stock at Schofield Barracks on Oahu or those remaining at the end of the Iraq War and the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan slated for 2014.
[. . .]
“Right now, it’s just an idea that our headquarters is considering,” he said. “At this point, there’s not even a feasibility study, or a cost analysis study, which are the very earliest beginning stages to doing anything like this. This idea is still in its infancy.”
A total of 4,800 soldiers stationed at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu are supported by 233 Strykers, said Lt. Col. Kate Guttormsen, deputy public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Pacific. A number of those vehicles are occasionally transported to Pohakuloa Training Area, along with their crews and support personnel, for training exercises.
Most recently, she said, a task force of 800 soldiers traveled to Pohakuloa with 25 Stryker vehicles for a 30-day training exercise, costing the Army approximately half a million dollars.
[. . .]
Jim Albertini, a well-known critic of military operations at PTA and president of the Malu Aina Center for Nonviolent Education & Action, said Wednesday he would oppose any plan to station the vehicles on the isle.
“My initial reaction, of course, is to oppose it,” he said.
Albertini said he has long railed against any kind of live-fire exercises at PTA that could create dust and risk spreading radiation from depleted uranium shells.
The Army has admitted to using the area in the past to test rounds made from depleted uranium, a weak radioactive heavy metal. Several years ago, the Army worked to find and remove the rounds at PTA to make the area safe for Stryker training. A number of studies undertaken by the Army about the potential health risks posed by the rounds at PTA have come up showing no risk is apparent.
Albertini and others, however, claim that the Army has misrepresented the dangers. They point to a resolution passed by the Hawaii County Council in 2008 that recommends the Army stop all activity at PTA until further study and clean-up efforts can be completed.
See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Testimony on HSF & Strykers 2/23/09
Island Breath: Army picks Hawaii for Stryker 5/18/08
Island Breath: Army to leave DU in Hawaii 4/24/08
Island Breath: DU Confirmed at Pohakuloa 8/21/07
Island Breath: Superferry & the Strykers 10/6/06
.
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