WASHINGTON — The military would spend $553 million on construction projects in Hawai'i next year under President Bush's 2008 budget proposal now before Congress.

The request for Hawai'i — almost three times the amount Bush proposed for Hawai'i construction in his budget last year — would allow the Navy to build a new $99.9 million facility at Pearl Harbor to help submarines maintain their stealth and the Air Force to add a $16.5 million expansion to its surveillance operations center at Hickam Air Force Base.

Other new projects for this year include $65.4 million for a Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station in Wahiawa and $121 million for barracks at Fort Shafter, Wheeler Army Air Field and the Marine Corps base in Kane'ohe.

Bush's request for the state also was the highest dollar amount among the construction requests for all other states and U.S. military bases worldwide, partly because of proposed funding for ongoing construction at several major projects in Hawai'i.

Those include $136.3 million to continue building a National Security Agency regional operations center and $88 million to continue the 20-year "Whole Barracks Renewal" program revamping all soldier housing at Schofield Barracks.

"In the end, I expect the renewal of the entire barracks will be in excess of $750 million," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Abercrombie also said this year's high dollar amount in the president's request for Hawai'i has more to do with the nature of the construction this time, such as the submarine facility and the communications center, than anything else.

AMOUNTS MAY CHANGE

The president's military construction request is only the first step in the congressional approval process, which can change the dollar amounts and the projects.

"The high level of military construction proposed for Hawai'i during the next fiscal year underscores the strategic importance of the state," said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, chairman of the Senate appropriations defense subcommittee. "It also reflects our military's efforts to be a modern 21st century force that also provides the best for our service men and service women."

Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Alexandria, Va., said Hawai'i is becoming more important to the nation's defense because of potential threats in the Pacific region from North Korea and China.

"It is in the middle of the Pacific rather than on the far side of the world from the key threats we face," Thompson said. "The military has figured out that being halfway to Asia is a much more useful place to have your troops stationed than in the continental United States."

Military construction funding for Hawai'i has varied over the past five years, according to Inouye's staff. In 2003, it was $258 million, and rose to $339 million in 2004 and $368 million in 2005. It fell to $354 million in 2006.

The funding level for this year's military construction in Hawai'i is still unknown because Congress has not yet completed its spending legislation. The president requested $186.1 million for the state while the House passed $192.2 million and the Senate approved $209 million.

SUBMARINE FACILITY

Under the 2008 proposed budget, the Navy would build a new drive-in "magnetic silencing facility" for submarines at Beckoning Point in Pearl Harbor.

The new facility would measure a submarine's magnetic signature and adjust it to help it avoid detection by enemy sensors and underwater mines.

Once completed, it would be the only magnetic silencing facility in the Pacific capable of treating all Navy submarines, including the new USS Hawai'i, and would allow the closing of other, less capable facilities at San Diego, Calif., and Bangor, Wash.

The current magnetic silencing facility at Pearl Harbor handles only Los Angeles-class attack submarines, and none of the current Pacific facilities can handle the new Virginia- and Seawolf- class attack submarines.

In another new project for next year, the Air Force would use $16.5 million to expand its surveillance operation at Hickam. There, intelligence operators analyze video and other information gathered from unmanned aerial vehicles, such as Global Hawks and Predators, and manned reconnaissance aircraft like the U-2, flying in the Pacific area.

Hickam also would receive $15.5 million to continue work on a parking ramp for C-17 transport jets and $11.9 million to replace a fuel system.

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.