Marine who fell and died “did not like the Marines”

The parents of Luke Monahan, a 19-year-old Marine who fell from a Waikiki hotel and died shortly afterward, spoke to the Honolulu Star Advertiser about the incident:

“He was quiet,” his mother said. “He wasn’t a bad kid. He just didn’t like to do homework. He said that if he went into the Marines he would get an education for free and get anything he wanted.”

[…]

“He did not like the Marines, but he seemed to be OK with Hawaii,” Eileen said.

But his mother refuses to come to Hawai’i to claim her son’s body:

“I hate that place. That place killed my son,” Eileen said. “I’m never going back there, ever. The Marines will ship his body to us.”

May 29, 2011

19-year-old Marine dead after fall from Waikiki hotel

A 19-year-old Marine stationed at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneʻohe Bay fell from a Waikiki hotel Saturday morning and died from his injuries. The Honolulu Star Advertiser identified the man as Private 1st Class Luke Monahan, 19, of Palos Verdes, California. The newspaper reports “Monahan joined the Marines at the age of 18 and was sent to Marine Corps Base Hawaii in January.”

Police said there were no signs of foul play.

But could this have been a suicide?

May 25, 2011July 19, 2011

Pågat ‘sweeteners’ leave a bitter taste

The Navy has displayed its arrogance and hostility towards the people Guahan (Guam) once again with a leaked email that basically calls for bribing the local residents in order to “isolate” opponents of military expansion plans in the Pågat cultural area. See the article below from the Marianas Variety and the incriminating email.

Here’s a copy of the email:

In March, I wrote about contract anthropologists JKA Group who wrote several op ed pieces in favor of the military build up in Guam and the Pacific. This same outfit was hired by the Marines in 1997 to counter community opposition to Marine Corps training in Makua valley in Hawai’i.

At the time they described their assignment on their website:

Prior to JKA’s involvement, the NEPA process was being “captured” by organized militants from the urban zones of Hawaii. The strategy of the militants was to disrupt NEPA by advocating for the importance of Makua as a sacred beach. As community workers identified elders in the local communities, the elders did not support the notion of a sacred beach-”What, you think we didn’t walk on our beaches?” They pointed to specific sites on the beach that were culturally important and could not be disturbed by any civilian or military activity. As this level of detail was injected into the EA process, the militants were less able to dominate the process and to bring forward their ideological agenda. They had to be more responsible or lose standing in the informal community because the latter understood: “how the training activity, through enhancements to the culture, can directly benefit community members. Therefore, the training becomes a mutual benefit, with the community networks standing between the military and the activists.

Now compare that passage to this excerpt from the Navy email regarding Guam:

Groups opposing Marine relocation are successfully seizing on Pågat as a means to gain legitimacy with the public – need to take the issue off the table to isolate them. “Sweeteners” will be needed to garner GovGuam/Legislature support to remove firing range restrictions on Rt. 15 properties and to obtain Legislature approval of Chamorro Land Trust lease of properties below the cliff-line. Some members of the Legislature will attempt to block all land acquisition until other issues with Fed Govt are resolved – need to give Legislature a deal they can’t refuse.

These disclosures come on the heels of the derogatory statements about Okinawans by State Department official Kevin Maher. Maher’s statements caused an uproar in Japan and Okinawa and forced his resignation.

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http://mvguam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18256:pagat-sweeteners-discussed&catid=59:frontpagenews

Pågat ‘sweeteners’ discussed

Thursday, 26 May 2011 04:16 by Therese Hart | Variety News Staff

LOCAL activists and many island residents continue to question the sincerity of military and federal officials who speak of the buildup, even after officials assured them that discussions and plans on the Pågat issue are aboveboard and transparent.

A September 2010 email correspondence obtained by Variety among former Joint Guam Program Office Executive Director David Bice, Joe Ludovici, who has since taken over Bice’s position, and Capt. John Scorby, executive assistant to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Energy Installations & Environment, gives a glimpse of the strategies and mindset of the military with regard to the Pågat issue.

Scorby emailed Ludovici on Sept. 27, requesting that Ludovici provide a brief of Pågat to include “sweeteners” the Undersecretary needed for a briefing.

“At the DON staff meeting today with the Under, he asked that JGPO develop a brief on possible ‘sweeteners’ to get us over the Pågat issue. He indicated that this was going to be briefed at the next GOC, currently scheduled for Oct. 21. I don’t have a due date, but he indicated he was looking for the brief ‘soon.’ I’ll get more fidelity on that one.”

Bice responded, stating he had a discussion with “Ms. P last week,” and believed a “successful Route 15 acquisition strategy will require elimination all impacts to Pågat historic village in the near term, and finding mutual accommodations with race track until expiration of land use license; ‘book end’ COA.”

Bice further wrote, “We can get all of the land eventually, including an SDZ (surface danger zone) over Pågat; we have to be patient and build trust with the community first.

“Groups opposing Marine relocation are successfully seizing on Pågat as a means to gain legitimacy with the public – need to take the issue off the table to isolate them.

“Sweeteners will be needed to garner GovGuam/Legislature support to remove firing range restrictions on Rt. 15 properties and to obtain Legislature approval of Chamorro Land Trust lease of properties below the cliff-line. Some members of the Legislature will attempt to block all land acquisition until other issues with Fed Govt are resolved – need to give Legislature a deal they can’t refuse.”

Speaker’s reaction

When Variety shared the email with Speaker Judi Won Pat, her reaction was quick, pointed, heated and then, resigned:

“This shows how disingenuous they are, and it seems they are engaging in some type of covert activity. … They say they are being honest and upfront with us, yet, here’s proof that they are conniving behind our backs.

“We respond to the DEIS and FEIS, because they asked us to. We play by their rules and this is what they do to us. It’s very hurtful. We’ve been very trusting. They tell us that they’re listening to us. Perhaps this is the problem. We’re so trusting, we’re so welcoming; and yet, this is what we get from them.”

The Speaker said she was reminded of a past incident when We Are Guåhan member Cara Flores Mays was having lunch at a local restaurant and overheard a conversation between military personnel and Guam residents, one of them, Lee Webber.

“They treat us like we are the enemy and we’re not. We want this to work for our people too. Is that too much to ask. I’m very upset about this,” said Won Pat.

Won Pat was referring to a November 2010 conversation that Mays overheard, which included then-Joint Guam Program Office Director of Communications for Washington D.C. and Guam Paula Conhain, Lee Webber, a former Marine, and Lt. Col. Aisha Bakkar of the Marine Force Pacific Public Affairs Office. Conhain has since been removed from this position.

May 25, 2011

Drones arrive in Hawaiʻi – “the future of aviation”?

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard recently got four Shadow 200 RQ-7B unmanned aerial vehicles. While these UAVs are unarmed, the military is looking for ways to weaponize them.

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Source: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110525_hawaii_guard_gets_flock_of_shadow_UAVs.html#

Hawaii Guard gets flock of Shadow UAVs

Isle soldiers will be ready to use the unmanned aircraft should they deploy to Afghanistan as expected in 2013

By William Cole

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 25, 2011

A 24-year-old private first class piloted a new $300,000 Hawaii Army National Guard aircraft over Wheeler Army Airfield Tuesday — from inside a Humvee parked on the tarmac.

The Shadow 200 RQ-7B unmanned aerial vehicle, its 38-horsepower engine revved up like a leaf blower on steroids, leapt off its pneumatic catapult and soared over Wheeler and the Waianae Range as its swiveling camera tracked cars driving on the military base.

An unveiling ceremony was held Tuesday for the National Guard’s four new Shadows, a UAV that has had widespread success in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The Shadow represents the future of aviation,” Lt. Col. Neal Mitsuyoshi, commander of the 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, said at the ceremony.

Officials said National Guard brigades in 11 states are receiving Shadows this year, bringing the total to Guard units in 30 states.

The Army previously said it had fielded 98 Shadows and the Marines had 11, with the “workhorse” UAV exceeding 600,000 combat hours in Iraq and Afghanistan since it was first introduced into the Army.

The Marine Corps said it has no UAVs in Hawaii, while the active-duty 25th Infantry Division has Shadow UAVs in Iraq, officials said.

The vehicle’s arrival to the National Guard follows an announcement in April that more than 2,000 Hawaii soldiers with the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, along with 1,600 others from Guam and Arizona, could deploy to Afghanistan in 2013.

It would be the third brigade-level deployment for the Hawaii National Guard to a combat zone since 2004.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

May 11, 2011

Crosshairs on Kaneohe

As reported previously on this site, there is a campaign by elected officials and residents of Whidbey Island, Washington to keep the Navy’s new P-8A Poseidon aircraft in Puget Sound rather than relocate them to the Marine Corps Base in Kane’ohe. Below are excerpts from “Crosshairs on Kaneohe” an article in the Honolulu Star Advertiser about the competition between Whidbey and Kaneohe for the Poseidons. There are already too many negative impacts and conflicts with the local community and Native Hawaiians due to expanded Marine Corps activities in Hawai’i. We don’t want the Poseidons.

Source: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110511_cross_hairs_on_kaneohe.html

William Cole writes:

A county commissioner from Washington state has mounted a campaign to secure Navy P-8A Poseidon sub-hunting aircraft for her state by claiming that Kaneohe Bay — where 18 of the jets are planned to be based — has a runway that’s too short for fully fueled and loaded Poseidons to take off.

“What can you do to help? Write a letter to your congressmen and women, state legislators and Navy brass,” Island County Commissioner Angie Homola says in her “talking points in support of the P-8A” on the Island County website.

A 2008 environmental impact statement also raises questions about the runway.

The 7,771-foot runway at Kaneohe Bay is “shorter than the suggested 8,000-foot runway for extreme operational conditions,” the Navy EIS states. “However, aircraft loads can be managed to decrease the required runway length for take off.”

The competition between Kane’ohe and Whidbey island came about when the Pentagon made cuts to its original basing plans for the Poseidons:

Hawaii, Whidbey Island in Washington state and Jacksonville, Fla., were selected as home bases for the Poseidons, a military version of the Boeing 737 that will replace aging, propeller-driven P-3C Orions.

Kaneohe Bay was picked for three squadrons and 18 aircraft that are expected to begin arriving in 2015.

But with the Pentagon seeking to cut costs, the Navy said in February it was considering operating from two bases instead of three, with Whidbey potentially being left out.

Island County said Naval Air Station Whidbey is the largest employer in the region, with a $500 million annual impact on the economy.

As part of the campaign to change the Navy’s mind, Homola said in a news release sent to newspapers that Kaneohe Bay’s “short” runway and higher costs of living “make Hawaii a costly pick,” while Whidbey offers the “optimal strategic location.”

A key tenet of Homola’s argument against Kaneohe Bay is that its runway is too short for a fully loaded P-8A, which has the fuselage of a 737-800 and wings of a 737-900.

Given the recent crash of the Sea Stallion helicopter in Kane’ohe Bay and the concern of residents when aircraft overfly the communities fringing the bay, the issue of safety piqued my interest:

The EIS said Hickam was looked at but eliminated as a possible base for Poseidons in part because ordnance handling would exceed Defense Department safety requirements.

If the ordnance handling would exceed DoD safety requirements for Hickam, why is it okay to have these aircraft in Kane’ohe? Right now the P-3C Orions operating out of Kane’ohe are being phased out due to structural problems:

All but three of the Navy’s 27 P-3C Orions at Kaneohe Bay would be replaced by Poseidons, the service said in late 2008. The number remaining at Kaneohe Bay has shrunk to about 18 with groundings due to metal fatigue and some planes out for depot maintenance, officials said.

In 2007 many of the Cold War-era sub hunters Navy-wide were grounded after studies of a test airframe and computer modeling showed there could be “significant” issues with fatigue on the rear portion of the wing.

The environmental review for the 18 Poseidons said the basing would bring an investment of $147.5 million to Kaneohe Bay for infrastructure upgrades.

These “upgrades” constitute a major expansion that would have significant impacts on cultural sites in Mokapu. There is already a decades’ old conflict over the removal of more than 2000 iwi kupuna (human remains) to make way for the runway. Native Hawaiians have been fighting the Marine Corps to have the iwi repatriated. Other construction on the base have desecrated additional burials. Despite the anticipated major impacts to cultural sites due the proposed construction, the Marine Corps has tried to restrict the required consultations under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 to only those Native Hawaiian families already involved as claimants to the burials under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a separate statute with different criteria for having standing.

With the military base realignment plans in Okinawa, Korea and Guam meeting greater resistance both within the affected communities as well as budget-conscious officials in Washington, will Hawai’i be hit with more military expansion in the Pacific? Often these decisions follow the path of least resistance. If residents of Ko’olaupoko don’t mobilize to oppose the military expansion, there is a good chance that they will get hit with the backwash of the militarization wave in Asia.

May 10, 2011

APEC will cause surge in prostitution

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports “Prostitution expected to surge for APEC”:

“When big events come to town, the number of prostitutes increases on the street, and APEC is a big event,” said Ben Rafter, president and chief executive of Aqua Hotels & Resorts, operator of Aqua Waikiki Wave.

APEC Leaders’ Week — Nov. 7 to 13 — will bring about 20,000 attendees, including President Barack Obama, other heads of state from APEC’s 21 countries, ministers, political staff, business leaders and media.

The Pro Bowl, military exercises and the Asian Development Bank meeting in 2001 all drew more prostitutes to Waikiki, said Bob Finley, who has been a Waikiki resident since the 1970s and is chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board.

As usual, the government and business response is to beef up security and police to target the women, most of whom are trafficked to Hawai’i to meet the demand from the large influx of transient male populations such as tourists, conventioneers and the military. Why do they not identify the ‘johns’ as the problem? Kaleo Keolanui, president of the Hawaii Hotel & Visitor Industry Security Association even framed it as if the women were the predators:

“We have travelers from all over the world mixed with our military population, which makes for an ideal prey for the prostitutes,” Keolanui said. “Why? Because they have money, and they’re here for a very short period of time. It’s a huge concern.”

The link between military populations and prostitution is plain knowledge. However, whenever the military proposes to expand in Hawai’i and are asked to study the impact on prostitution and sex crimes, the environmental impact statements are always silent.

It’s ironic that the corporate and government elites are worrying about prostitution with APEC. When whole industries have been developed in ways to pimp Hawai’i to the outsider such as corporate tourism and the military, prostitution will be part of the mix. APEC is itself a grotesque example of Hawai’i being prostituted to cater to the desires of the international conference industry. Maybe it’s time to rethink the ways that Hawai’i is always forced to ‘turn tricks’ for others.

May 9, 2011

Marine Corps to phase out Sea Stallion helicopter, the type involved in crashes off Kaneohe and in Okinawa

The Marine Corps’ helicopter that crashed in Kaneohe Bay in March killing a crew member was Sea Stallion. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that the Sea Stallions will be retired from service:

After a start that came during the Vietnam War, the Marine Corps’ aging CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters — the type that crashed in Kaneohe Bay in March, killing a crew member — are expected to be completely retired from service in the next year and a half, officials said.

A replacement program could begin as early as September, when the first of 12 newer and more capable CH-53E Super Stallions is expected to take up residence with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, a unit now in southern Afghanistan.

A squadron of 12 MV-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft, meanwhile, is tentatively scheduled to arrive in Hawaii in 2014, the Corps said.

The article also mentioned that this is the same type of helicopter that crashed into a building of the Okinawa International University in 2004:

One of the Hawaii-based choppers crashed on Aug. 13, 2004, on the grounds of Okinawa International University in Japan. The helicopter maintenance crew’s lack of sleep was cited in the investigation as possibly contributing to the failure to reinstall a cotter pin that led to the destruction of the $14.5 million aircraft, the Stars and Stripes newspaper had reported.

The accident intensified calls for the closure of Futenma air base. Reporters were not allowed to videotape or photograph the crash site by Marine personnel. The helicopters contain depleted uranium as weights on the rotors which could have been released in the crash and fire. Was there any releases of depleted uranium in Kaneohe?

May 2, 2011

Woman motorcyclist killed in crash was Navy veteran and military spouse

According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, a motorcyclist who was killed in a head-on collision in Waiaula was a former Navy personnel, whose husband is in the military:

Meanwhile, the Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the woman killed in Saturday’s head-on collision between a motorcycle and a Jeep on Kaukonahua Road as 26-year-old Brenda Anderson of Honolulu.

According to police, Anderson was riding northward at a high rate of speed when she lost control of her Harley-Davidson motorcycle and collided with the Jeep. Anderson was taken to Wahiawa General Hospital in critical condition and was later pronounced dead. The two occupants of the Jeep were not seriously uninjured.

In a message posted on a local Harley-Davidson online forum last month, Anderson, a native of Wisconsin, identified herself as former Navy personnel.

“Husband still serves while I’m out enjoying the freedom of the road,” she wrote.

This is the second military spouse killed in a motorcycle accident in seven months. In October 2010, a woman who lost control of her motorcycle was run over and killed by another cyclist on the Pali Highway.

May 2, 2011May 11, 2011

Hawaii is no place for P-8 squadrons

I came across this letter to the editor from the Puget Sound area arguing against the relocation of P-8 squadrons to Marine Corps Base Hawai’i Kaneohe Bay:

Hawaii is no place for P-8 squadrons

By Whidbey News Times

Published 06:45 p.m., Sunday, May 1, 2011

A couple of weeks back I attended a presentation by County Commissioner Angie Homola on the possible loss of the P-8 (replacement for the P-3) squadrons to Hawaii. Without boring everyone with the numbers, I will keep this brief.

There is a strong push by the senior senator from Hawaii to move the new P-8 squadrons to a Marine base on Oahu. Here is the rub, the runway in Hawaii is too short (and cannot be extended) to allow the P-8 to take off with a full load of fuel. They will have to land at Hickam Air Force Base to fuel up and then proceed on their mission. There will need to be considerable construction to house the crews and hangars for the planes. It just costs more to house the military in Hawaii.

When you add up the numbers and compare it to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, the dollars do not justify this move to Hawaii. Whidbey will suffer the loss of approximately 2,000 servicemen and women. This will put huge pressure on our already depressed housing and rental situation, not to the mention the added wear and tear on the P-8, having to take off, land at Hickam AFB, fill the tanks, then take off from Hickam AFB, complete the mission then land again at the Marine base, adding 30 percent to the wear and tear on the plane.

As an Air Force guy I have always struggled with the Navy terminology and have had asked many Navy friends to explain all the lingo (VAQ’s etc). I was so impressed with Commissioners Homola’s presentation; she spoke “Navy” but explained as she went.

I was proud to know that she met with the Chief of Naval Operations for over 40 minutes. She was able to talk his talk. As the wife of a naval officer (P-3 pilot), Commissioner Homola was the right person to lobby the Navy for us. She represented to him the actions taken by herself, Commissioner Price-Johnson and previous Commissioner Dean, changing how the county dealt with homeless veterans and previous Island County actions to be a good neighbor to the Navy with setbacks, zoning, etc.

Apparently from what I have read in the press, for what appears to me to be purely political reasons, Commissioner Homola was either dis-invited on not invited at all to travel with the Oak Harbor group to Washington, D.C. Commissioner Homola was by any measurement the right one for the job.

This makes me wonder if the Republicans in Oak Harbor really care about the base or are more interested in promoting their own. This type of juvenile politics will always be part of life, but it should stop at the county line and all concerned should go forward with the best interest of the county, not the Republican Party, in mind. Shame on them!

Thank you Commissioner Homola for taking the initiative to represent Island County. You made me proud to be from Whidbey Island.

Jay C. Brand
Oak Harbor

May 1, 2011

Military ordnance team unable to dispose of canister that closed Hanauma Bay today

According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, a diver found a military ordnance in Hanauma Bay today, causing officials to close the popular tourist recreational spot. This was where President Obama and his family swam during his winter vacation. Army ordnance disposal technicians failed to blow the canister, which began smoking once exposed to the air. The article reports that the device could be a phosphorous canister used to illuminate and mark targets with smoke. However, phosphorous is a particularly sinister material when it makes contact with flesh. It continues to burn at a high temperature until it is cut off from oxygen.

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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/Hanauma_Bay_closed_after_military-looking_ordnance_found.html

Military ordnance team unable to dispose of canister that closed Hanauma Bay today

By Dan Nakaso

POSTED: 11:06 a.m. HST, May 01, 2011

An explosive ordnance team from Schofield Barracks tried to blow up a military smoke cannister that forced the evacuation of Hanauma Bay this morning but had to return to Schofield under police escort because “whatever process they used, it didn’t work,” Honolulu Fire Capt. Earle Kealoha said.

The ordnance team is expected to return later today to dispose of the 3-foot-long, 6-inch diameter cannister that was discovered by a scuba diver this morning at “witches’ brew,” a small peninsula and cove on the right side of the marine preserve.

The team buried the cannister in the sand and apparently triggered a small explosion, Kealoha said.

“Evidently it didn’t do the job it was supposed to do,” Kealoha said. “They’re heading back to Schofield under police escort to get more of what they need.”

About 1,000 beach-goers were evacuated from Hanauma Bay this morning after a scuba diver brought the cannister to shore, according to the city’s Department of Emergency Services.

The diver brought the device to a lifeguard, who notified Honolulu firefighters around 9:30 a.m., according to the Department of Emergency Services. The marine preserve was evacuated at 10 a.m., according to Ocean Safety dispatchers.

The cannister later began smoking as it lay near a lifeguard tower, Kealoha said.

Hazardous materials experts from the fire department believe the device is a phosphorous canister used by P-3 pilots to mark objects, such as submarines, in the water with white smoke, Kealoha said.

“We’re guessing it was used in a training exercise off shore and it floated in,” Kealoha said.

HFD hazardous materials officials recommended keeping people at least 100 feet away from the cannister until military ordnance crews can remove it today, Kealoha said.

But, as a precaution, Hanauma Bay officials cleared the entire marine preserve “for safety,” Kealoha said.

Asked about the wisdom of bringing a military device to shore, Kealoha said, “I wouldn’t have.”