HONOLULU — The U.S. military has not fired a shot at the Makua Military Reservation in nearly 20 years. A Department of Defense filing in the District Court of Hawaii on Thursday effectively affirms that it never will again.


What You Need To Know

  • Via a statement filed with the court, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of the U.S Army Christine Wormuth affirmed that the military no longer needs to conduct live-fire training at the facility now or in the future

  • The announcement caps a 25-year effort by Malama Makua, represented by Earthjustice, to end live-fire training at the military reservation

  • The military ended live-fire training at the reservation in 2004, under terms set for by a 2001 settlement

Via a statement filed with the court, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of the U.S Army Christine Wormuth affirmed that the military no longer needs to conduct live-fire training at the facility now or in the future.

“We welcome the good news that the Army has decided to end live-fire training at Makua permanently,” said Malama Makua board member Lynette Cruz. “The valley has suffered enough.”

The announcement caps a 25-year effort by Malama Makua, represented by Earthjustice, to end live-fire training at the military reservation.

As Malama Makua noted in a release issued on Friday, the group initially sued the Army in 1998 to force compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, which required consideration of alternatives to training at the site that can accomplish the Army’s mission with fewer impacts on the environment, sacred sites, and the neighboring Waianae Coast community. 

The military ended live-fire training at the reservation in 2004, under terms set for by a 2001 settlement. In a court-ordered environmental impact statement in 2008, the Army acknowledged that it was feasible to move live-fire training away from the site. Yet, according to Malama Makua, “the Army remained committed to resuming live-fire training.

“With yesterday’s announcement, the secretary of defense has removed the threat that Makua will ever again be subjected to live-fire training,” the group stated in its release. 

“Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the military seized Makua for training, evicting Hawaiians with the promise that their lands would be cleaned up and returned six months after the end of World War II,” said Malama Makua board member Sparky Rodrigues. “Almost 80 years later, we’re still waiting. Ending live-fire training is an important first step in undoing the wrongs of the past and restoring Makua — which means ‘parents’ in Hawaiian — as our piko (center) of peace.”

Earthjustice attorney David Henkin, who serves as lead council for Malama Makua, noted that the military has successfully maintained preparedness without live-fire training at Makua for nearly two decades.

“During all that time, which included major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hawaii-based military units have carried out their national security mission without destructive live-fire training at Makua,” Henkin said. “We applaud Secretary of Defense Austin and Secretary of the Army Wormuth for acknowledging that reality and for making the wise decision to spare Makua’s irreplaceable cultural and biological treasures from further use of artillery, mortars, and other live-fire training.”

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.