Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said Hawaii might lose some soldiers as part of a big downsizing across the service, but it could be a "very small" number here.
"But I don’t know yet," he cautioned Thursday on a swing through the state. "We have to constantly go through that assessment."
"Here’s what I would say: Our defense strategy is to re-balance toward the Pacific, so we do take that into consideration as we make our decisions," Odierno said. "So we understand that this (Hawaii) is an important part of our defense strategy."
Odierno said Hawaii is an "incredibly important part of our Army and what we do here in the Pacific," and the soldiers in the region "play a critical role in how we want to move forward and (engage) with our partners out here in the Pacific."
The 22,500 soldiers in Hawaii are valued in part because of the vast distances in the Pacific, which are "daunting," he said.
"We have soldiers on the Korean Peninsula, we have some in Japan, but the soldiers here in Hawaii really significantly reduce that distance," he said. "And so, having a capability here is essential to our success in the future."
Odierno, who will retire after completing a four-year term as Army chief in September, visited Alaska and was on a two-day trip to Oahu, officials said.
He spoke to reporters Thursday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after touring the Army logistic support vessel SSGT Robert T. Kuroda, an Army Reserve cargo ship assigned to the 9th Mission Support Command.
Odierno met with Gen. Vincent Brooks, head of U.S. Army Pacific headquartered at Fort Shafter, and Adm. Samuel Locklear III, who is in charge of U.S. Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith.
The Army chief of staff also was scheduled to have a "town hall" meeting with about 1,100 soldiers at Schofield Barracks.
The Army is considering big troop cuts at 30 installations across the country as part of a drawdown to about 450,000 soldiers by 2018, or 420,000 soldiers if sequestration returns in 2016.
Brooks, the U.S. Army Pacific commander, recently said the active-duty Army stood at about 495,000 soldiers.
The Army is considering a worst-case scenario in which 19,800 soldiers could be removed from Schofield and Fort Shafter as part of the postwar drawdown.
Last year the Army said its presence in the Pacific had grown to 106,000 active-duty soldiers.
"So we have made a significant investment in the re-balance," Odierno said. "So I’m very comfortable with what we’re doing right now."
Odierno said the message he continues to deliver is that sequestration budget cuts — which would drive Army end strength down to 420,000 soldiers — would reduce Army capability, capacity and modernization, and that’s a "grave concern."
"I talk very often about the increasing instability we’re seeing around the world, and so, in my mind, that requires a high readiness level," he said.
Odierno lauded Pacific Pathways, a new training deployment construct enacted by Brooks under which more than 1,000 soldiers rotate from exercise to exercise around Asia and the Pacific, increasing presence, engagement and commitment to the region.
In its second year, Hawaii soldiers with the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and 3rd Brigade Combat Team are heading out on two separate rotations to Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Odierno said the Army continues to invest in training, and Pacific Pathways, which he called a "mobile training package," boosts readiness.
"We want to continue to get the most out of the training areas that are available here (in Hawaii)," he said.
But Odierno also said he was "very pleased" with Pacific Pathways in "opening up more training activity."
With a stated U.S. goal of not becoming enmeshed in coming years in protracted land wars, the Army has set out to become more expeditionary, meaning more agile, quick-reacting and self-sustaining — like the Marines.
Two Army active-duty and the one Reserve logistic support vessels — which can transport lots of equipment close to shore — are based at Hickam.
A ship similar to the one Odierno visited, LSV-2, the CW3 Harold C. Clinger, will sail in April or May for five to six months as part of the Pacific Pathways mission and will operate in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and South Korea, said Maj. Gen. Edward Dorman III, who commands the 8th Theater Sustainment Command in Hawaii.
Dorman said the logistic support vessels demonstrate that expeditionary capability the Army is seeking.
Asked about the fight against the group calling itself Islamic State, Odierno said the United States is using the "right strategy."
"I think our strategy is about what we thought it would be," he said. "I think the air campaign has had great success. I think we’re starting to see some movement in the ability of the ground force, specifically the peshmerga in the north. We have a lot of work to train the Syrian Free Army. We’re just beginning that. And we’re seeing progress in the retraining of the Iraqi army."
Odierno said "it’s hard to stay patient" with the effort, "but you have to, because I think that’s the right solution."
