The state granted the Army a short-term "right-of-entry" permit to conduct high-altitude helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Hawaii island next month, but said if the service wants to do the training in the future, it needs to do a full state environmental impact statement, officials said.
If the Army decides to do an EIS, it would be the fourth environmental review for the helicopter training on Hawaii island.
Two federal and one state environmental assessments — which are less comprehensive than an EIS — have been conducted by the Army as the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade prepares for a January deployment to southern Afghanistan.
Delays caused by the environmental requirements cut short the Army’s ability to do all of its required high-altitude training on Hawaii island.
As a result, the Army said it had to spend $8 million to send Hawaii-based helicopters, pilots and crews to Fort Carson in Colorado to make up the training.
About 3,000 soldiers with the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade recently wrapped up a "Culminating Training Event" exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island, Wheeler Army Airfield on Oahu, in Colorado and at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., officials said.
The varied training simulated the "operational environment in Afghanistan," the Army said.
During the training, brigade task forces conducted gunnery, air assault, aerial quick reaction forces, emergency resupply, downed aircraft recovery, medical evacuation and personnel recovery operations.
The Army had wanted to conduct all the required high-altitude training on six pre-existing landing zones on the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on state conservation land.
The Army said it had shipped 15 UH-60 Black Hawk and three CH-47 Chinook helicopters to Fort Carson for training for 140 pilots.
A remaining 90 pilots will receive high-altitude training on Hawaii island — most of them during the October window recently granted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources board, officials said.
After that the aviation brigade needs to ship all its helicopters to Afghanistan, it said.
Eleven pilots out of that group were able to train and meet the requirements in March on Hawaii island as part of flights to study noise and ground effects.
The Army originally wanted to conduct the high-altitude training on Hawaii island from February to August and conducted a federal environmental assessment to look at impacts.
Community groups complained that the Army’s first assessment, released in December, was inadequate.
The Army acknowledged the study was flawed, revised it and hoped to get a permit for training from the state Land Board in June.
The assessment addressed impacts such as noise, disturbance to the land and effects on hunters and hikers caused by the Army helicopters flying over and landing on state conservation land.
In a June letter, however, Gov. Neil Abercrombie notified Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, head of the Army in the Pacific, that the Army needed to complete a state environmental assessment for the training in addition to the federal studies it already conducted.
The Army completed the state assessment, which was approved by the Land Board along with the short-term "right-of-entry" permit earlier this month.
Asked whether it would do a full EIS for future high-altitude helicopter training on Hawaii island, U.S. Army Pacific, headquartered at Fort Shafter, said in an email, "It is premature to determine what level of environmental planning may be required because future training requirements are undetermined."
Army officials previously said there are about 2,600 helicopter brigade soldiers in Hawaii and about 400 based in Colorado. The unit has about 95 helicopters in Hawaii.
