Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll has a vision for soldiers in the Pacific, and part of it centers on renegotiating leases for Hawaii lands the service has trained on for decades that expire in 2029.
Driscoll recently embarked on a tour of the Pacific that took him to Hawaii and Guam, as well as a stop in Australia to watch the multinational exercise Talisman Sabre.
While in Hawaii late last month, he met with soldiers and observed training. He also met twice with Gov. Josh Green to talk about the Army’s land negotiations for leases that it obtained in 1964 for a mere $1.
Now back at the Pentagon, Driscoll said it’s “too much risk ” for the Army to wait until the leases end in 2029.
“It’s hard to overstate how important Hawaii and that training area are for us … . We are talking about needing to bring clarity and conclusion to this topic in the coming, let’s say, 60 days, ” Driscoll said in an Aug. 6 phone interview. “What we are seeing from the threats in the Indo-Pacific, and what we are seeing with how and where we need our soldiers to be positioned for that threat, has made the United States Army absolutely convinced that this is one of our very top priorities.”
The Army has said that on Oahu, it prefers to renew only 450 acres at Kahuku and not pursue lease renewals on any state land in Makua Valley or the Kawailoa-Poamoho Training Area–a roughly 93 % reduction. But the Army maintains large swaths of federal land on Oahu and also seeks to continue using a state-owned parcel on Hawaii island that connects the federal lands making up its massive Pohakuloa Training Area.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources recently voted to reject the Army’s environmental impact statements for its proposals on both Oahu and at Pohakuloa, citing data gaps and a desire to see ongoing studies the Army is currently conducting included.
Driscoll said his office has had “near daily discussions with the governor’s team ” to “figure out how can we, with the constraints that we all have–whether it’s a swap, land exchange or through a much more aggressive model–how can we push through these changes in a way that both respects the Hawaiian people, who have been incredible partners and an incredible community for so many generations of soldiers … (and ) shows them the love and admiration that we have for them, while also acknowledging the battlefield reality that we must have this training land because it is so critically important to us. “
‘A Holistic Solution’
Green’s office said in a statement that he “believes there is a shared commitment to finding solutions that both honor Hawaii’s communities and support the operational needs of our Armed Forces. The Governor also shares the Secretary’s optimism about an expedited timeline and is moving forward in that spirit. At the same time, both the Governor and the Secretary are committed to following the lawful process and ensuring that the community has an opportunity to provide input.”
But former BLNR Chair William Aila Jr. said that concluding negotiations within 60 days is “impossible.”
“I don’t think this guy understands what the history and what the current feeling is in Hawaii with regards to military lands, ” he said, adding “it doesn’t work that fast.”
Aila explained that only BLNR–and not the governor–has the authority to sign any agreement for a land swap or trade. And based on its experiences with the previous cases involving environmental impact statements, the board “is not ready to even consider something like that … . There will need to be a lot of community engagement.”
During his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, Driscoll told Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, that he would work with her office on the leases and would listen to community groups.
“I have been emphasizing how important it is that these negotiations occur in a way that is very respectful to the Native Hawaiian community, so they are very apprised of the fact that we can’t have another situation like Red Hill … . So they are aware of the need to be very sensitive and respectful, ” said Hirono, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The main thing is it’s got to get done, and I think it needs to get done in a way that is respectful to our community and that will restore their faith in how the military operates.”
Under President Donald Trump, the federal government has made moves to gut environmental and cultural programs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to eliminate “woke ” military programs and personnel that don’t “directly contribute to lethality.”
In Hawaii, there has been concern that this stance might hamper environmental cleanups and protection of Hawaiian cultural sites.
But Driscoll insisted that respect for both culture and environment are critical in Hawaii. He said that soldiers and local leaders stressed that to him when he visited.
“A lot of the environmental issues that are so acute to a place like Hawaii, it’s easy if you don’t live there to not appreciate how important and impactful those kinds of topics can be, ” he said. “We realize that we can have a disproportionate toll on that community if we’re not thoughtful. And so what we are trying to do, and what we’re trying to work with the governor on, is a holistic solution that will … try to mitigate a lot of the negative externalities that can come from hosting that many soldiers and our training.”
Driscoll added, “We will try to make things whole with a lot of our spending, whether that’s helping improve roadways or whether that’s drainage or looking out for environmental kind of protection issues. We are very acutely aware of how important that is, and are not trying to sidestep them.”
Healani Sonoda-Pale of the group Ka Lahui Hawai ‘i said she’s concerned about a rushed process and “backroom deals, ” advising “it would not be in the best interest of the Army to do this.”
“There’s so much at stake here : Hawaiian cultural artifacts, iwi kupuna, very important ecosystems for endangered and threatened species (and ) the water, ” Sonoda-Pale said. “They need to just do the work and do their due diligence. We have the time, the money and the ability to do it.”
New tactics, weapons Hawaii offers what military leaders say is a unique training and testing ground closer to the realities of what soldiers would actually face during a potential conflict in the Pacific, where tensions are boiling.
China has been locked in a series of disputes over territorial and navigation rights with neighboring countries, including the Philippines. Chinese vessels have regularly shot water cannons at Filipino boats and occasionally rammed them, raising concerns of clashes turning deadly. The U.S. and the Philippines have a mutual defense treaty.
The Chinese military has also stepped up maneuvers around Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy that Beijing regards as a rogue province. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has reportedly instructed his military commanders to have their forces capable of invading Taiwan by 2027, though some analysts believe that order is more symbolic, as 2027 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Accordingly, Driscoll said, “what we are doing as an Army is we are focused on creating an Army that is using China as our pacing threat and a conflict in (the Pacific ) theater as the pacing conflict to build toward, but with an acute awareness that any human being that has thought that they would with a crystal ball know where the next conflict was going to unfold has, throughout history, typically been proven wrong. And so we want an Army that stands by, and stands ready, to deploy anywhere in the world.”
While in Hawaii, Driscoll, a former infantry officer, joined soldiers in training at the 25th Infantry Division’s jungle warfare school near Wahiawa. He said “my core takeaway was, as far as I know, we just don’t have any other land that looks like what our Hawaiian training facilities look like.”
Army leaders are working to quickly overhaul their forces as they watch how conflicts around the globe are unfolding. They want to train and test new tactics and weapons in Hawaii.
“The Army exists within a Pentagon and a bureaucracy that for 30 or 40 years hasn’t really optimized outcomes for soldiers, ” Driscoll said. “What that practically means is a lot of the equipment we are buying, a lot of the training we are forced to do, and a lot of the tools that we have, are not preparing us for this kind of inflection point that we’re at with modern warfare.
“If you look at Ukraine and Russia and what’s going on in Israel, I think this speed with which you can make decisions, the speed with which you can update your equipment, your ability to survive in these kinds of very complicated electromagnetic areas requires nimbleness. And our current structure is exactly the opposite of that.”
‘Building out That Force’
In Hawaii, the Army has made the lands it currently occupies part of its Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, a series of training ranges and exercises aimed at bringing together American troops and their allies from around the world.
“I think what we are learning as a nation is that the strongest defense for us, particularly in a place like the Indo-Pacific, is through strong allies and partners who we have developed meaningful, lasting relationships built on trust and shared experience, ” Driscoll said. “Having shared systematic agreements to the exchange of information requires a lot of work on the front end, and requires that we are prepared for things like island-hopping in the Pacific. The battle scenarios out there require coordination that you just don’t need in other parts of the world.”
When foreign diplomats and military leaders have come to Hawaii, U.S. officials hosting them have often highlighted Hawaii’s cultural diversity as a demonstration of America’s connection to the Pacific and Asia. U.S. leaders have often tapped American troops and personnel from immigrant family backgrounds who speak languages from the region to help out during visits and when they go to other countries in the region.
However, soon after taking on leadership of the Pentagon, Hegseth told troops in an address that “the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength.’ I think our strength is our unity, our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our background.”
Hegseth ordered a “digital refresh ” of content on military websites that included removing any content deemed “woke ” or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
His order initially encompassed pages related to Asian American and Pacific Islander veterans, including one devoted to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a highly decorated World War II unit made up of nisei troops, about two thirds of them from Hawaii. Content related to Japanese American intelligence troops that helped U.S. forces translate enemy communications and interrogate prisoners also initially was scrubbed.
Those deletions prompted a major backlash in Hawaii from residents, local leaders and veterans groups. The Army has since restored some of the content.
“I’ve tried to take away as many things as I possibly can that separate us and our soldiers from each other, ” Driscoll said.
He said his views on diversity were shaped in part by experiences attending college, where he encountered language around diversity that he described as “some pretty Orwellian speak, and much of it seemed to be this performative human exercise in avoiding substantive interactions.”
But Driscoll also said that “undoubtedly, as we have attempted to return to a model of what I would call more transparent, rational, clear conversation and empowering people to have a shared experience, I think there were some instances where–in that reset–we took down things that we did not, in hindsight, intend to.”
He said that having an Army that has people with grounded knowledge of the world’s languages and cultures is still critical, especially in the Pacific and Asia.
“You want a variety of experiences, you want a variety of backgrounds, you want a variety of talents to be mixed together, ” Driscoll said. “That balance will come from the actual people who are building out that force, helping us innovate, manning the lines and making up our platoons around the world. And so I think that never before has it been more important to have (that ) kind of talent.”
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