Schofield Barracks is becoming a busier place on the ground and in the air.
For the first time since 2006, artillery is being fired on the Wahiawa base, and will continue to be fired as active-duty soldiers, Marines and Hawaii Army National Guardsmen train there, officials said.
As a case in point, for the exercise Bronco Rumble, which began Tuesday and will run through May 14, officials said about 1,500 rounds of 105 mm artillery will be fired by the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery from what’s known as Area X into an impact area at the base of the Waianae Range.
At the same time, companies of about 150 soldiers each from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team will assault mock objectives during the combined-arms training.
The return to artillery fire — and other types of training at Schofield — reflects the completion of extensive new firing ranges there, tighter budgets and the end of large-scale deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan that required big preparatory exercises on the mainland, in South Korea or at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island.
Range construction and wartime demands meant less live-fire training at Schofield and more elsewhere.
"Now that construction is complete and all the divisional units are back at Wheeler (Army Airfield) and Schofield after 10 years of deployments, artillery training is expected to revert back to prewar levels," said Lt. Col. Derrick Cheng, a spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division.
In November soldiers with Schofield’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team helped test a new $42 million Battle Area Complex that was begun in 2007.
A Stryker vehicle’s 105 mm gun fired the first live rounds at the complex, the Army said.
"Being able to train in our backyard will save the Army a lot of time, resources and money," Sgt. 1st Class David McClain, a master gunner with the Stryker Brigade, said in an Army news story at the time.
Depleted uranium from a 1960s weapon system known as the Davy Crockett was found years ago in the firing range impact area, and the Army is working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on an agreement that would allow full use of the Battle Area Complex.
Helicopter training at Wheeler and at the adjacent East Range is expected to increase as well, with the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade and its choppers returning from Afghanistan in December and January and other services, including the Marines, using the Army facilities.
Last week a Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter — part of a contingent of 27 Hueys and Cobras expected to arrive on Oahu — flew in circles above East Range.
"The arrival of AH-1 Cobra and UH-1 Huey helicopters to Marine Corps Base Hawaii eight months ago increased the need for training throughout the Hawaiian Islands," said Capt. Pam Marshall, a Marine Corps spokeswoman.
Marshall said Oahu’s various ranges provide unique opportunities close to home for all helicopter pilots to enhance their skills and perform required training.
Marine helicopters based at Kaneohe Bay "will continue using local Oahu ranges as much as possible to refine capabilities and support the Department of Defense’s shift to the Pacific," Marshall said.
The range work from 2006 to 2012, which included new qualification training ranges 1 and 2 and the Battle Area Complex, limited training on Schofield to three days per week, making it impractical to train using combined-arms live fire, the 25th Division’s Cheng said.
During the height of the war years, the 133,000-acre Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island was used extensively.
But prior to all the range construction and deployments, Schofield artillery units regularly fired 155 mm rounds on base, Cheng said.
In 2006, when the work began, the 25th Division started another cycle of deployments, with the 3rd Brigade and division headquarters deploying to Iraq and the 2nd Brigade transitioning to a Stryker unit, he said.
"From then on, divisional units were deploying about every other year, with a much-shortened training cycle" and a rapid train-up to Pohakuloa and the National Training Center in California, Cheng said.
He said the majority of the combined-arms training took place at Pohakuloa.
But with the new ranges, tighter training budgets and a refocus on Asia and the Pacific, some of that practice has returned to Schofield.
The 2nd Brigade resumed artillery fire on Schofield in September, and the 3rd Brigade began early this year. At the time, the units were both preparing for a last expected deployment to Afghanistan, but as of now those missions have been canceled.
CHENG STOPPED short of calling the training full-on combined-arms live-fire exercises of the sort that used to be conducted at Makua Military Reservation prior to a halt of the training in 2004 due to an environmental lawsuit.
The Makua exercises involved a company of soldiers attacking an objective with artillery, plus mortars and helicopters firing.
"So as we were able to start that back up (at Schofield), I think all we’re saying is we’ve been able now to synchronize at least the artillery and infantry working together," he said.
Cheng said the training at Schofield will include the use of mortars and helicopters.
During certification to get the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment’s guns ready for the 3rd Brigade’s Bronco Rumble being held through May 14, the artillery unit lobbed rounds as high as 1,472 feet in the air, with the high explosives landing nearly two miles away out of sight in a ravine 29 seconds later.
With a last-second verification of deflection and quadrant, to which a soldier shouted "Check!" twice, and after a warning of "Stand by!" the 105 mm rounds, which weigh 55 pounds with warhead and shell, blasted into the air and into the impact zone.
Marine Corps 155 mm artillery guns moved to Schofield also are expected to be used during the exercise.
"What we’re doing is we’re kind of preparing to move from the Iraqi- and Afghan-centric missions that we’ve been doing in the past and get more focused on the Pacific theater," said Maj. Joe Katz, the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery’s operations officer. "What we’re kind of doing is thinking about jungle warfare and how do we leverage these guys into the fight of whatever Pacific islands we might need to go to."
The Army sent out a news release Tuesday warning that nearby residents may hear more noise from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily because of training that will involve the 3rd Brigade’s more than 3,500 soldiers.
"The Army in Hawaii appreciates the community’s understanding and continued support of local soldiers and their families," the advisory said. "While sometimes loud, the sounds of training represent how the Army ensures our nation’s soldiers are ready to accomplish the mission and return home safely."
