About $250 million worth of construction projects are expected to resume on O'ahu and the Big Island with the Army's decision to permanently station a Stryker brigade in Hawai'i, military officials said.

The Army yesterday announced the decision on the $1.5 billion fast-strike unit, whose 4,000 soldiers and 325 Stryker vehicles are deployed to Iraq and are expected to remain there until early 2009.

In February, Army officials said that Hawai'i was the "preferred" location.

The Army in 2001 decided to base a Stryker unit in Hawai'i, and started more than $700 million in construction projects, but in 2006 a federal appeals court ruled that the service had not adequately examined alternative locations, and ordered the Army to do so.

The decision largely halted one of the biggest Army projects in the Isles since World War II.

Bases in Alaska and Colorado were considered before the Army in February said Hawai'i was the "preferred" location; yesterday's announcement made the decision permanent.

The Army said Hawai'i was selected primarily because it is best able to meet strategic defense and national security needs in the Pacific.

"Stationing the (Stryker brigade) in Hawai'i sends a powerful signal to our friends and our enemies that we are committed to U.S. interests in this vital region," said Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, which has its headquarters at Fort Shafter.

Mixon added: "We know that Hawai'i has limited space and beautiful natural resources. We will continue to protect them."

OPPONENTS' RESPONSE

David Henkin, an Earthjustice attorney who represents three Native Hawaiian groups that filed a 2004 lawsuit against the Stryker brigade that claims it would harm the environment, said he is reviewing the 28-page "Record of Decision" that details the Army's choice of Hawai'i.

"We're taking a look at it. We're talking with our clients about it and trying to figure out what the appropriate course of action is," Henkin said.

But Henkin also says the Army decision contains an "extraordinarily significant" declaration about Makua Military Reservation, where live-fire infantry training has been prohibited by a separate environmental lawsuit since 2004.

Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, deputy chief of staff of the Army and the person who made the final decision on the Stryker brigade, raises in the Record of Decision the possibility of moving training from Makua to Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.

Henkin said it's a turnabout in policy.

"Literally, for decades, the community has been urging the Army to look at more appropriate locations elsewhere where training could be accomplished, and for decades, the Army has been saying there is no substitute for Makua," Henkin said. "Frankly, the Army should be commended for re-examining the issue."

Thurman said he made the Stryker basing decision in part because the U.S. has vital interests in the Pacific Rim and Southeast Asia, and defense directives call for a reorientation of forces to the region.

LAWMAKERS' REACTIONS

The 19-ton, eight-wheeled Stryker armored vehicles are the most advanced weapon system used by any country in the southeastern Pacific Rim, the Army said, and as such, it can "provide a dominant force for contingency deployments such as our commitment to the defense of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea" and deter sanctuary for terrorist organizations in Southeast Asia.

Stationing Stryker brigades in Alaska and Hawai'i provides "strategic flexibility" to deploy two Stryker brigades simultaneously, if necessary, the Army said.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said he was pleased that the Army's primary rationale for selecting Hawai'i agreed with what he has always said: that Hawai'i's strategic location best serves national security needs and allows soldiers to "properly train" nearby prior to deployment.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka said, "I am confident that in making this decision, the Army has carefully evaluated and weighed our national security needs with concerns for our unique environment."

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said, "I look forward to reading the decision in detail and understanding the Army's rationale."

When a federal court imposed an injunction in 2006, some of the Stryker construction projects already had been completed, but others were halted by the court order.

A Battle Area Complex at Schofield Barracks for the Stryker brigade vehicles was among the projects that were halted. Unexploded ordnance was being removed from decades of range use when the injunction was put in place.

An upgrade at Wheeler Army Airfield for Air Force C-130 cargo aircraft was never started; neither was the construction of an access road from Schofield Barracks to Dillingham Military Reservation.

NEW PROJECTS IN WORKS

The Army plans to build 71 miles of private trails on O'ahu and the Big Island for Stryker vehicles, as well as six new firing ranges.

Land purchases included $15.9 million for 1,400 acres south of Schofield for a firing range and motor pool and $31.5 million for 24,000 acres of Parker Ranch land next to the 109,000-acre Pohakuloa Training Area for Stryker maneuvers.

The Army plans to also conduct Stryker training at Kahuku and Kawailoa Training Areas on O'ahu.

Col. Wayne Shanks, a spokesman for U.S. Army Pacific, said U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Honolulu, who oversaw the environmental lawsuit, was notified yesterday of the Army's decision to base the Stryker brigade in Hawai'i.

"It's going to take a few days or weeks, but shortly, as soon as the engineers and the construction firms can start moving ahead, it's our intent to go ahead and complete those (Stryker) projects," Shanks said.

Earthjustice's Henkin said the Army would be "well advised to make sure that's what Judge Ezra intended, because he's never entered a judgment in this case — it's still before him."

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

If and when the Stryker projects go forward, previous contracts would be continued, and could run for years, the Army said.

"Obviously, with other recent newsworthy happenings here on the island, an infusion of a lot of construction projects would not be a bad thing," Shanks said, referring to job losses like those at Aloha Airlines. "And the stability of forces, soldiers and their families living (here) contributing economically to the Islands has got to be a positive influence here."

When the court in 2006 ordered the Army to re-examine the original decision to base the Strykers here, the Army said that if Hawai'i didn't keep the Stryker brigade, it would receive another, non-Stryker brigade in a swap-out from either Fort Richardson, in Alaska, or Fort Carson, in Colorado.

As a result, O'ahu would not have seen a significant change in the number of soldiers with or without the Stryker brigade.