Judge: Army Can Resume Hawaii Training

HONOLULU -- An Army unit that had been barred temporarily from training in Hawaii can resume some exercises as it prepares to deploy to Iraq next year, a federal judge ruled Friday.

A Stryker Brigade, the Army's most modern fighting unit, had been ordered to halt training after a federal appeals court in October found that the Army had acted illegally when it decided to set up the brigade in the islands. The Army already has set up the brigades at bases in Alaska and Washington state.

The environmental group Earthjustice sued the Army on behalf of three Native Hawaiian groups who argued the Stryker vehicles and their training grounds would harm cultural sites and the environment.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra said in his ruling that his court has profound respect for Hawaii's cultural history and its unique environment. But, he said, "In this court's view, there are few things that are more important than the lives of those men and women who serve in the armed forces."

The ruling allows the Army to train with new equipment and exercise both individual Stryker soldiers and units. It must also take extra steps to protect the environment.

The decision does not mean the new unit can stay in the islands indefinitely. The Army must still consider alternate locations outside Hawaii, as ordered in the October decision.

Messages left with the Army and Earthjustice were not immediately returned Friday night.

The Army aims to make the Stryker vehicles the centerpiece of a flexible, 21st century force that can rapidly deploy to distant battlefields. The vehicles are lighter than tanks and can be loaded on to airplanes for quick transportation to a war zone.