As military communities around the nation fret about defense cuts, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said Hawaii expects to receive about 1,000 more Marines from Okinawa, have the same number or more ships based at Pearl Harbor and see a slight increase in shipyard work here.
HIS MAIN POINTS
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye says:
MARINES
The Pentagon is looking at shifting about 1,000 Marines from Okinawa to Hawaii. The move could be as part of permanent stations or rotational duty through Hawaii. About 500 could be accommodated at the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps base. Schofield Barracks and the Kona side of Hawaii island are being looked at as possibilities.
SHIPYARD
Pearl Harbor shipyard work will increase slightly.
PEARL HARBOR
The specific surface ships stationed at Pearl Harbor will change, but the base will retain 11 — the number it now has — or even more. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye made a point Monday during his visit to the Star-Advertiser.
|
Inouye confirmed Monday that with continuing problems with a 2006 agreement to relocate some Marines on Okinawa and move about 8,000 to Guam, the plan has changed.
About half the total, or 4,000 Marines, will now go to Guam, he said.
"Instead of all (8,000) going to Guam, they’ll go elsewhere — Australia, Hawaii and Guam," Inouye said.
The Democrat made the comments Monday during a meeting with the Star-Advertiser.
The decision by the Obama administration to make the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions its priorities led Marine Corps officials to look at a combination of Australia, Guam and Hawaii for the 8,000 Marines because those locations are "closer to trouble zones."
Inouye, chairman of the Senate appropriations committee, said housing at Kaneohe Bay can accommodate about 500 more Marines.
"But the question now arises, Will those troops be rotating-type troops, or will they be stationed here with dependents, which would require schools, etc.? We have not reached that stage (of decision) yet."
From a logistics and transportation standpoint, the Army’s Schofield Barracks on Oahu or the Kona side of Hawaii island could be looked at to house more Marines, he said.
About 11,000 Marines are based at Kaneohe Bay, and about 700 others are part of Marine Forces Pacific headquarters at Camp Smith, the Marine Corps has said.
President Barack Obama announced in November that the U.S. was expanding its military relationship with Australia. The Pentagon said that beginning in mid-2012, 200 to 250 Marines would begin deploying near Darwin in northern Australia on six-month rotations. The Marine presence there will expand to a force of 2,500 over the next several years.
Inouye said, "It’s serious business — the fact that we will be adding vessels in Singapore, we’ll be setting up a rotating-type of base in Australia, and I don’t know if the people of Hawaii have caught it, but we have now restored discussions with the Filipinos."
The news agency Reuters reported that the United States is seeking more access to ports and airfields in the Philippines to refuel and service ships and planes.
Pearl Harbor "shipyard activities will increase a little," Inouye said, and the number of surface ships home-ported here, currently 11, will remain the same or increase. Twenty attack submarines also are based here.
"You will have certain ships that are now being put to rest — taken out of (active-duty service), but they are going to be replaced," Inouye said. "The numbers I have seen would show that you either keep it the same (as now) or above. I can’t go beyond that."
Inouye also said he couldn’t disclose the nature of the weapons systems or ships to be involved in a Pearl Harbor reshuffling, "but I feel assured that the shipyard will not suffer."
Hawaii’s senior senator said he was briefed on the subject by the secretary of defense, secretary of the Navy and chief of naval operations.
The Navy said last week that it plans to retire two of three cruisers at Pearl Harbor.
Pentagon officials said the USS Port Royal is expected to be decommissioned next year, while the USS Chosin would be retired in 2014. Business and ship repair officials in Hawaii also expect one or both of Pearl Harbor’s frigates to be retired.
Officials have said another cruiser and a Navy high-speed vessel — possibly one of the former Hawaii Superferries — could be moved to Hawaii as part of future ship moves.
David Carey, president and chief executive officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s Military Affairs Council, said Gov. Neil Abercrombie "has gone on record as saying he would support additional Marines here, and he also has an idea of improving facilities over on the Big Island and creating a little more economic activity on the east part of the island."
Iain Wood, president of the Ship Repair Association of Hawaii and chief operations officer with Pacific Shipyards International, which does contract work for the Navy, said Inouye’s ship and work outlook for Hawaii "sounds like very encouraging news."
