State and city officials are asking for the public’s help in fending off a proposal that would reduce Army personnel in Hawaii by 20,000 and cost the state $1.35 billion.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Sunday at a news conference announcing the campaign — called Keep Hawaii’s Heroes — that if the Army reduction were to take place as proposed, 16,000 personnel from Schofield Barracks and 4,000 personnel from Fort Shafter would be eliminated.
"That is really scary because with those cuts, if they were to happen, we could lose an additional 30,000 people — those are the families and others who come out with the military," Caldwell said. "That’s a 5 percent reduction to the population of Oahu."
"It would be devastating" to businesses around the bases and the island, Caldwell said.
Communities from Haleiwa to Aiea would be harmed, as well as farmers who provide fresh produce to military bases, he said.
The Army is looking at reducing its presence as part of a force structure realignment over the next few years.
Keep Hawaii’s Heroes announced two goals Sunday to maintain the number of military members in Hawaii: acquiring 40,000 signatures on a petition to keep troops in Hawaii and encouraging people to sign up and testify at an Army "listening session" on the impact of reducing forces in Hawaii. The listening session will be held Jan. 27 at the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki.
Bill Wilson of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s Military Affairs Council said the military is the second-largest component in Hawaii’s economy, spending about $9 billion in the islands and creating more than 15 percent — or about 100,000 — of Hawaii’s jobs.
"It’s time for all of us across the state to come together and support the military here in Hawaii," he said.
Other communities in the nation are already working to maintain or increase their military populations, Wilson said. For example, 17,000 letters in support of troops at Fort Polk in Louisiana were gathered. Hawaii has sent only 30 letters in support of its Army bases.
Jennifer Sabas, a consultant for the Military Affairs Council, said the Army, which was the largest deployed branch in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, already reduced troops to 490,000 from about 520,000, which didn’t affect Hawaii, and will make further cutbacks to 440,000 or 420,000.
She said the listening sessions, which will take place across the country from November to February, will help Army officials in Washington, D.C., decide where to cut troops. All Army bases are in play for personnel reductions, she said.
Maj. Gen. Darryll Wong, state adjutant general, said the military is downsizing after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is developing a new defense strategy for quick regional conflicts that don’t require large forces. In addition, he said, the national defense budget is the worst he has seen since joining the military in 1972.
"This is just the beginning of probably a greater discussion," he said, adding that all military branches are being affected by the budget. "For us to keep our military here, we need to not become the silent majority. We need the vocal majority to come forward and tell the people in Washington how important this military is."
He said the community must also send Washington a message that it wants the military in Hawaii for the long term.
"Decisions are being made for the future, not only today," he said.
He said the people of Hawaii can no longer rely on the influence of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, who was chairman of the powerful U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee.
Sabas, who was Inouye’s chief of staff, said Hawaii has an advantage because of the military’s interest in a forward-deployed force into Asia, but the community needs to step up.
She said that without Inouye, maintaining the military presence in Hawaii has become a community effort, but called it a "good exercise" and said Inouye worked with many local leaders before he died in 2012.
"With all the people he worked with, he definitely gave us the skills to stand up and move forward," she said. "I think it’s positive."
To sign the petition, visit keephawaiisheroes.org.
