Recent photo from Pōhakuloa Training Area shows U.S. Soldiers assigned to Charlie Troop, 1st Squadron, 299 Cavalry Regiment, 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Hawaii Army National Guard and attached units preparing to load a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during air assault training on June 9, 2024. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Sean Walker)

(BIVN) – The U.S. Army’s effort to retain lands at Pōhakuloa for military training was briefly discussed at a recent Senate Committee hearing in Washington.

U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D, Hawaiʻi) asked President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, about the Pōhakuloa Training Area during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on January 30, 2025.

“Mr. Driscoll, several of the critical training areas that the Army uses in Hawaii are leased from the state, including Pohakuloa, and the leases are set to expire in 2029,” Senator Hirono said. “These leases are vital to ensuring military forces can adequately train in the Pacific. However, the land involved also holds cultural significance to the Native Hawaiian community.”

U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D, Hawaiʻi), image from U.S. Senate video

“How do you plan to approach these important lease renegotiations and will you commit to engaging in good faith with state officials and the community to ensure that the leases are negotiated in a way that is fair to the state, the people of Hawaii, and the military?” Senator Hirono asked.

“Senator, this is an incredibly important issue, not just in Hawaii, but in all the places we engage with the community and sign leases,” Driscoll answered. “I would absolutely commit to wanting to work with your office and then to engage with community members to ensure the Army is being its best neighbor that it can be.”

“And so, I think it is both the right thing to do and the selfish thing to do to be the best community members we can be,” Driscoll added.

Location of Pōhakuloa from US Army maps found in a DLNR submittal

The Army is proposing to retain up to approximately 22,750 acres of State-owned land at Pōhakuloa, in order to continue the ongoing training activities at the facility located in the center of Hawaiʻi island. There has been public opposition to the land retention based on numerous environmental and cultural concerns. A Second Environmental Impact Statement for the proposal is being prepared by the Army.

“I want to particularly emphasize how important these negotiations are,” Hirono said, “and how they are conducted because the military, of late, has been criticized for what happened at Red Hill — basically involving the Navy, but as far as the community is concerned, what happens to one service is something that impacts all of the other services. So it is really critical that you engage with the community.”