The US Defense Department's latest round of base closing recommendations largely spared Hawaii, confirming the importance of the strategically located islands as the military looks to potential threats in Asia.
The Pentagon on Friday recommended shutting down 33 major facilities in 22 states and reconfiguring hundreds of others to achieve savings and promote cooperation among the armed services.
The proposals call for Hawaii to lose some 300 jobs, but no bases will be closed -- a sign of US concern about threats such as North Korea's nuclear weapons and long-range missile development, terrorists in Southeast Asia and China's rapidly modernizing military.
LOCATION IS KEY
"Hawaii is a major base of operations -- one that the US can rely on, that is close to a key theater and a key place of interest in the 21st century," said Brad Glosser-man, director of research at Pacific Forum, a Honolulu-based think tank.
"Clearly, Hawaii is where you want to be," he said.
Closures elsewhere could even shift more military resources to Hawaii, a chain of Pacific Ocean islands 3,850km from the mainland United States and 3,850 6,195km from Japan. The US state currently has more than 80 bases and installations.
State Adjutant General Robert G.F. Lee, head of Hawaii's Army and Air Force National Guard, said four more KC-135 refueling tankers would move to Hickam Air Force Base if North Dakota's Grand Forks Air Force Station is closed as recommended by the Pentagon.
"It's a residual effect," Lee said on Friday. "With the consolidation, we think there will be other assets moving to the state of Hawaii."
NEW ADDITIONS
Other additions were announced before the latest round of base closures.
Some 800 more soldiers are due to move to the state early next year and form a fast-response, mobile brigade centered around the Army's Stryker armored vehicle.
A total of 28 construction projects are planned and the first of 291 Stryker vehicles are to begin arriving in Hawaii next year.
The Air Force, meanwhile, intends to deploy eight C-17 cargo planes to Hickam in support of the Stryker Brigade.
Hawaii is also considered a favorite candidate for an aircraft carrier, along with its dozens of fighter jets and escort ships. The Navy is considering shifting one here or to Guam from the mainland US.
US Republican Neil Abercrombie said the base closing recommendations showed that investments in Hawaii's installations have been worthwhile.
"The Pentagon considered its mission in the Asia-Pacific and considered the infrastructure," he said.
RSS