This story from Hawaii perfectly illustrates the issues for the military when it comes to training and the power that environmentalist are using to deny training areas. To sum it up, Hawaii plays hardball ..and the US Army plays nice even though the state is doing its best to screw them.
The Army is shifting at least some high-altitude
helicopter training from Hawaii to Colorado — at a taxpayer cost of up
to $11 million — following an additional environmental review
imposed by the state.
The regulatory process has already delayed
training by four months, creating a tight deadline for Wheeler Army
Airfield pilots preparing for a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan
in January.
Now Gov. Neil Abercrombie has informed the Army it
must conduct a state environmental assessment in addition to a federal
environmental assessment to use six existing landing zones high on
the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Read the entire article but if this doesn't highlight the issues with liberal states and military training then nothing will.
Sol, its not fair that just because politicians say things you equate everyone that lives there as having the same views. Yes Hawaii may want an environmental study done, probably not good considering they need the training but doesnt mean the people on the west coast or all their leaders are like that. i live in seattle, near one of the largest military installations in the country and i haven't heard complaints here about the ships being here, and they are deploying a CVN and its battle group in the coming years.
ReplyDeletehey joe.
ReplyDeleteyou're probably right but lets not lose sight of whats really at stake here.
i'm not deploying to afghanistan, so i don't have to depend on one of these pilots to be proficient enough to get me onto a LZ at the top of a mountain so i can start a patrol or worry about them being trained up enough to evac someone that got hit.
and thats the real shame here. this govenor and his enviromental tree hugging buddies are going to literally get people killed because they have interuppted a tight training schedule.
so you're going to have to forgive me if i have no sympathy for the state of hawaii, its government or its sick twisted govenor.
well i agree, its a dumb ass move, its wrong, and i think the federal government should write a law saying when matters of national security are involved the federal study is sufficient, but i just wanted to point out a government doesnt reflect its people. Mark twain said :patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."!
ReplyDeleteagreed. but i've checked and there aren't any protests, letters to the editor saying how idiotic the govenor is being...nothing.
ReplyDeletethe govenor of that state represents his people well. i'm cool with that. just understand that the US military isn't welcome in certain US states. and those states are mostly on the west coast, upper northeast coast and certain states like illinois.
i wouldnt equate people not writing letters to the editor and stuff as agreeing with it. there will be those that agree iwth it, but most people are focused on survival today given the economy, and i dont know how much of this is an issue in hawaii with regards to the news in general. we like to read about mlitary issues alot and from the comments there are mixed feelings but only those who are strong on one side or the other will make an issue of it.
ReplyDeleteMy memories of the Pohakuloa Training Area are that there is nothing there you could hurt by crashing a chinook into it and then driving over it with an M1, then setting it on fire let alone by landing a Chinook on it.
ReplyDeleteIn any "progressive" area, the environment is primarily a means to enforcing political ends with the environment per se being a second or third level concern.