URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO SAVE KULANI AND REVERSE THE LAND TRANSFER TO THE MILITARY

URGENT ACTION TO SAVE KULANI LAND AND REVERSE THE TRANSFER TO THE NATIONAL GUARD

Kat Brady of the Community Alliance on Prisons issued a call to contact Gov. Abercrombie ASAP and urge him to revoke the executive order that transferred Kulani prison land to the State Department of Defense for a military Youth ChalleNGe acadey.

THIS MUST BE DONE TONIGHT OR TOMORROW, THE MEETING IS ON FRIDAY.

E-mail the Governor asking him to issue an Executive Order turning back the full 622 acres of Kulani lands to the Department of Public Safety. Right now it is in the hands of DOD. The current proposal is to let the Department of Defense keep 279.76 acres and turn 342.24 over to DLNR, who will start processing the Natural Area Reserve (NAR) designation, making it off-limits to reestablish a wellness or pu`uhonua facility at Kulani.

REQUEST:

E-mail Governor Abercrombie: governor.abercrombie@hawaii.gov

MESSAGE:

Please revoke Executive Order No. 4341 (TMK (3) 2-4-08:09) and issue a new Executive Order turning back the full 622 acres of Kulani lands to the Department of Public Safety. Reopen Kulani as a center for treatment and reentry.

October 2, 2011October 2, 2011

Army should stop high altitude training on Mauna Kea

The Honolulu Star Advertiser editorial calls on the Army to complete a full environmental impact statement for its High Altitude Mountainous Environment Training (HAMET) on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa:

Training flights for Army helicopter crews scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan in January have been approved on Hawaii island. Nonetheless, in the wake of poorly coordinated efforts to ensure that the Army complied with state environmental laws, it makes sense for the state to seek a full environmental impact statement before future high-altitude training takes place on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

Given the convoluted history of the military’s use of sensitive environmental areas, it’s a reasonable condition that could help both sides.

However, the EIS process only gives the public a chance to get information about the project and its potential impacts and to give input. The perfect EIS could still result in disastrous environmental impacts as long as the process was followed correctly. This has been the experience with the military in Hawai’i. There are no teeth for the public to actually stop an unacceptably destructive or harmful project.

The story of the military in Hawai’i is a litany of environmental disasters imposed undemocratically upon communities. The government has already predetermined the outcome of the process. The media uncritically accepts the premise:

Certainly there’s little doubt that such training for high-altitude combat in Afghanistan is currently necessary. Also, the Army has been training on the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa for years.

Why does the mainstream media not question the premise? High-altitude training supports an illegal and immoral war in Afghanistan. This training would not be ‘necessary’ if the U.S. withdrew. In the past, Army helicopter training was done without public review or hearing. The issue only came to light when forestry staff became frustrated that Army helicopters flew and landed in restricted areas in violation of temporary right of access permits.

The Army can avoid an EIS and save money, the environment and lives by stopping the HAMET trainings and withdrawing from Afghanistan.

September 19, 2011

Hawai’i island activists raise questions about Abercrombie’s ordnance “emergency proclamation”

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/questions-raised-over-ordnance-emergency.html

Questions raised over ordnance emergency

According to the Hawaii Tribune Hereald:

The decision to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clean up unexploded ordnance without interference from those laws has environmental activists concerned because of the perceived potential for misuse.

Abercrombie’s proclamation, which only came to light last week, was signed June 14. It invokes a section of state law conferring upon the governor emergency powers to deal with the threat of unexploded ordnance, or UXO, and other contaminants.

The secret proclamation to suspend 25 chapters of Hawai’i state law for five years drew criticism from Big Island activists:

“While the underlying intent of the proclamations may have been virtuous, from a public perspective it appears that government is simply looking for a shortcut to avoid Hawaii’s decades-old environmental laws,” said Sierra Club spokeswoman Deborah J. Ward.

The Sierra Club has drafted a letter to Abercrombie that calls on him to withdraw the proclamation immediately and questions the legal justification for it.

“Even assuming the governor’s office had the power to issue these proclamations, we believe you are ill-advised to do so,” the letter states.

“The end is good, dealing with the unexploded ordnance,” said Kurtistown peace activist Jim Albertini. “The means are very questionable.”

In 2006, Albertini’s group, Malu ‘Aina Center for Nonviolent Education and Action, assembled a map of the Big Island with 57 known former military sites covering more than 250,000 acres in every district of the island. That’s considerably more than the 128,790 acres statewide that the governor has identified as eligible for remediation.

[…]

Albertini has no objections to the military cleaning up after itself, but he would have appreciated more public consultation.

“It’s been an emergency for a long time,” he said. “Why the declaration of emergency now?”

September 9, 2011

…Yes, DLNR will let the Army violate Mauna Kea

Marti Townsend of KAHEA reported:

Another disappointing day at the BLNR.

After five hours of testimony (the majority in opposition), the Land Board voted to accept the finding of no significant impact in the final environmental assessment. The vote was:

Pacheco: No
Edlao: yes
Alia: yes
Goode: yes
Agor: yes
Gon: no

Then after that they voted to approve the right of entry permit, along the same vote lines. The logic expressed by Agor and Edlao was that it was a short time period, an EIS will be required next time, and tho there may be an impact if we limited our actions based on what “may” happen then nothing would ever happen.

Pacheco spoke strongly in support of protecting the Palila habitat. Gon spoke strongly in support doing a more comprehensive cultural impact assessment. Aila didn’t say anything.

September 8, 2011

Will DLNR approve Army helicopter training on Mauna Kea?

The staff of the State of Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources is recommending approval of an Army request for a permit to conduct high altitude helicopter training on the sacred mountain Mauna Kea. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

State Department of Land and Natural Resources staff is recommending approval of a month’s worth of high-altitude helicopter training on the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa for Army pilots and crews deploying to Afghanistan in January.

The Army’s request for a “right-of-way” permit for training in October on state conservation land is scheduled to come before the Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday.

The 9 a.m. meeting will be held at the Kalanimoku building on Punchbowl Street. Acceptance of an environmental assessment, finding of “no significant impact,” and the permit for the Hawaii Island training are being sought by the Army.

[…]

The permit request is for October training only. Army officials said a decision will have to be made whether to pursue a longer-term permit for high-altitude training on Hawaii Island to include other services, such as the Hawaii National Guard.

The meeting of the DLNR will be Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 9am at the Kalanimoku Building. KAHEA and the Mauna Kea protectors have been mobilizing opposition to this plan. Testify in opposition to the helicopter training on the sacred temple Mauna Kea.

August 11, 2011

Stop the helicopter training on Mauna Kea

The Honolulu Star Advertiser article “Delay in copter-training permit will cost $8 million, Army says” talks about the environmental assessment for army High-Altitude Mountainous Environment Training. (HAMET) for helicopters. But why is it assumed that the army should naturally be allowed to encroach into ecologically and culturally sensitive areas on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa to train for an illegal war in Afghanistan? As Bianka Isaki commented on Facebook, the headline should be “Army stupidly insists on wasting $8m of taxpayer contributions on a project that cannot comply with natural resource use regulations”. Others have pointed out that the Colorado high altitude training area is the proper place to conduct such training. But the army complains about the cost of having to train in Colorado while completing a state environmental review of the project:

The Army wants to use landing zones on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa for high-altitude helicopter pilot training. A Black Hawk medevac helicopter from Wheeler Army Airfield was used in April as the Army conducted noise and ground-effects testing on Hawaii island.

The Army, which is completing a third environmental review for high-altitude helicopter training on Hawaii island, said it will have to spend $8 million to conduct most of the training in Colorado because it is running out of time to practice in Hawaii before a January deployment to Afghanistan.

[…]

The Army hopes to get state Land Board approval in September to be able to conduct high-altitude training on six landing zones on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in October before it has to ship its nearly 100 helicopters to Afghanistan in November, officials said.

Ninety pilots out of 260 would be trained in Hawaii if the state grants a “right of entry” permit for the conservation district land, according to the Army.

[…]

Opponents say the helicopter training will interfere with critical habitat for endangered species and is an affront to the sacredness of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

The latest draft environmental assessment for the Hawaii island training, released on July 23 and intended to cover both federal and state requirements, has a 30-day public comment period ending Aug. 23.

As expected, the army spokesperson cited the helicopter shot down by Taliban fighters as the need for the training:

Col. Mike Donnelly, a spokesman for U.S. Army Pacific, said the deaths of 30 Americans in a Chinook helicopter crash Saturday in Afghanistan “is a stark reminder of how important training is and the inherent risks of flying a helicopter in a combat zone.”

These troops would not have died, and this training would not be needed if the U.S. were not occupying Afghanistan.

Native Hawaiians are not happy about the military occupying and desecrating Hawaiian sacred sites:

But Hanalei Fergerstrom, a Big Island resident who opposes the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa training, said that, as a Hawaiian religious practitioner, “I’m not happy with the Army telling me they are going to fly helicopters in my temple.”

The army already controls more than 120,000 acres at Pohakuloa. Although the army is not acquiring new land, it is effectively extending its activities over a vast areas beyond their existing lands. Military activities are encroaching on protected areas. The state correctly required the army to conduct a more thorough state environmental review:

The latest problem faced by the Army in securing a permit stemmed from a state Attorney General opinion — detailed in a June 20 letter from Gov. Neil Abercrombie to Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, head of the Army in the Pacific — that the Army needed to complete a state environmental assessment for the training in addition to the federal studies it already conducted.

Wiercinski said recently that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources couldn’t continue to provide individual special-use permits to the Army as it did in years past. “I understand that, because people will always take you to court on a waiver, and then everything stops,” Wiercinski said. “If you don’t do it right, it just keeps getting messed up.”

The Army now wants flights from Bradshaw Army Airfield at Pohakuloa Training Area to six existing Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa landing zones.

[…]

The Sierra Club’s Moku Loa Group said helicopters will fly over the only designated critical habitant for the endangered palila bird, a finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreeper.

The Army said in its latest report that a 2,000-foot altitude has been established to protect the palila and its habitat from planned operations.

Cory Harden, a Hawaii island Sierra Club board member, said she is sympathetic to the greater cost and time away from families with high-altitude training in Colorado, “but I’m also concerned about the impacts (on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa).”

“I share the concerns about the endangered species and the impacts to cultural practitioners and hikers,” she said. “That’s a beautiful peaceful place up there, and you have more helicopters going in and out. It destroys it.”

Given the past history of violations of conservation zones by the army, mitigation measures will be meaningless without effective oversight and enforcement.

The army seeks a permit for a Right of Entry via Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife Special Use Permit. Comments are due on August 21, 2011. See KAHEA posts here and here for more information. Send comments to:

United States Army Garrison, Hawai’i (USAG-HI), 851 Wright Avenue, Wheeler Army Airfield, Schofield Barracks, Hawai’i 96857-5000. Contact: Mr. William Rogers (808) 656- 3075

AND

Portage, 1075 S. Utah Ave., Suite 200, Idaho Falls, ID 83402. (208) 419-4176

August 8, 2011

Kulani prison may reopen

The Hawaii Tribune Herald reports that the state is considering reopening the Kulani prison, which was closed and converted into a military school. Advocates of prison reform have called for the reopening of Kulani, which was once the most successful sex offender treatment program in Hawai’i:

Closed nearly two years ago to save money, Hawaii Island’s former prison could be reopened to house up to 200 inmates now incarcerated on the mainland.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie is considering whether to use the old Kulani Correctional Facility in has plan to reduce the number of prisoners Hawaii has sent out of state, Abercrombie spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Friday.

“Kulani … is definitely, from what I understand, being considered to be reopened,” Dela Cruz said.

In June, Abercrombie announced a criminal justice plan that involves expanding prison space to accommodate some of the one-third of Hawaii’s inmates now serving time in mainland prisons.

[…]

Last November, the 614-acre prison property was put under state Department of Defense control for use as a training camp for at-risk teens. The camp, called the Hawaii National Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe Academy — Kulani, graduated its first 41-member class in June.

[…]

The decision to close Kulani was “ill-advised” and resulted in Hawaii investing in mainland states, Jeanne Ohta, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, said in her testimony before the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs.

“Kulani was also the largest sex offender treatment program in Hawaii and the most successful offender treatment program in the nation, with less than a 2 percent recidivism rate since 1988,” Ohta said during the March meeting. “Why close such a successful facility?”

[…]

Talk of reopening the prison has left the Youth ChalleNGe Academy’s Big Island operation with an uncertain future, statewide program Director Rick Campbell said following the June 27 graduation ceremony for its inaugural class.

It’s possible the academy could be moved to the recently renovated Keaukaha Military Reservation located across the street from Hilo International Airport, he said.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

August 1, 2011

Army has no plans for live fire in Makua

The new commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific may be softening his position with regard to live fire training in Makua. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

There may be no Army live-fire training in Makua Valley for years to come, and possibly never again, the new commanding general of the U.S. Army in the Pacific said.

Lt. Gen. Francis J. Wiercinski, who took over the Fort Shafter-based command in March, said he’s focusing on providing replacement live-fire training for Hawaii soldiers through range improvements at Schofield Barracks and at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island.

“I firmly believe that if those things stay on track at Schofield and PTA, we will not have to live fire in Makua,” Wiercinski said in a recent interview.

Additionally, Wiercinski is putting on hold his predecessor’s plan to convert Makua into a “world-class” roadside bomb and counterinsurgency training center as the Army continues to deal with litigation that has prevented live fire in the 4,190-acre Waianae Coast valley since 2004.

“I’m not going to move forward with disrupting anything or trying to add another element to this until we get the first steps done,” he said. “I don’t want to complicate what’s already in the court system.”

But Makua is still being held hostage as insurance against delays in the expansion of training areas in Lihu’e (Schofield) and Pohakuloa, which pits communities and islands against one another. There have been major changes in the army’s command structure that shifted more training and operations to the U.S. Army Pacific:

U.S. Army Pacific oversees issues such as Makua Valley, but also has taken on greater responsibilities across the region.

Troop levels in Alaska and Hawaii have increased as numbers have dropped in South Korea. A series of sub-commands has been added in Hawaii that has bolstered Fort Shafter’s command and control role as an administrative and deployable headquarters.

In years past, U.S. Army Pacific “never really participated in exercises as a headquarters, never participated in operations as a headquarters,” Wiercinski said.

It was always a service component command, meaning it did all of the administrative functions.

“For the first time in the last couple of years, it’s become operationalized,” Wiercinski said. “It gives (U.S. Pacific Command) an extra set of headquarters to be able to do things at a moment’s notice.”

This shift has meant an expansion of Fort Shafter as the Army Pacific headquarters:

In 2001, Fort Shafter had 1,194 soldier “billets,” or positions, and a total population of 4,077, including families and civilian workers, officials said.

That population now stands at 6,306 military members with a total Fort Shafter census of 13,172, according to the command.

While the U.S. tries to reinforce its military presence in east Asia in order to contain China, it is also withdrawing and realigning forces to Guam and Hawai’i in response to protest in Korea, Japan and Okinawa. The realignment of forces in Korea is having negative repercussions for Hawai’i:

The Eighth Army is becoming a combat unit in a return to its Korean War-era roots.

Fort Shafter will exercise the service component command change with the Eighth Army in August.

For an increase in soldiers in Hawaii, firing ranges have been added at Schofield and a Battle Area Complex for Stryker vehicle training is expected to be completed in late 2012, officials said.

Meanwhile, a new Infantry Platoon Battle Area at PTA that could permanently replace Makua Valley might be ready for use in 2014 or 2015, the Army said.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

August 1, 2011

Pilot error caused copter crash

An army investigation of a 2009 helicopter crash at Wheeler Army Airfield that killed two pilots concluded that pilot error was the cause. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports:

The trouble started within two seconds of the helicopter’s engine drive being disengaged from the rotors — the equivalent of putting a car transmission in neutral — in a test of the chopper’s ability to “autorotate.”

Pilots are trained to use the spinning momentum of the rotor and upward airflow to keep flying.

Instead, the Army OH-58D Kiowa Warrior quickly lost airspeed and plummeted from an altitude of 250 feet, according to an Army investigation. The two-seat chopper crashed at Wheeler Army Airfield, killing the pilots, Stanley Blane Hepfner, 29, and Jonathan Bryce Millward, 28, both chief warrant officers.

The accident investigation, obtained by the Star-Advertiser through the Freedom of Information Act, cites pilot error as the cause. The report says a drop in airspeed, a failure to abort the autorotation and a belated attempt to power back up sent the aircraft into a descent greater than 300 feet per minute into its own downwash.

“The pilots did not correct airspeed to stay within acceptable safety parameters,” the report said.

The Army is currently conducting an environmental assessment for a proposal to conduct helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Comments are due August 21, 2011. The Hawai’i State Department of Land and Natural Resources is the agency responsible for making the decision about granting a permit for the military training in a protected natural area.

July 26, 2011July 26, 2011

Helicopter training on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Army-Native Hawaiian convenant and more military housing

The Army wants to conduct helicopter training exercises on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Jim Albertini of Malu ‘Aina issued the following call to oppose the Army’s High Altitude Mountainous Environment Training (HAMET) on the slopes of the sacred Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The Army had conducted these helicopter training exercises in the past under temporary permits from the state. Now they are seeking a regular and permanent right of access which would also affect the endangered Palila bird . Recently, the Army had to move its helicopter training to Colorado, an existing high altitude training area, because the state required the Army to follow the law and complete an environmental review for its proposed actions which did not fit the Army’s schedule. The Army has previously violated permits and laws by recklessly landing in the protected Mauna Kea Ice Age Reserve and in other locations where it was not allowed to train. The draft environmental assessment is now out and public comments are being accepted until August 21st:

More military training on Hawaii Island for wars of aggression: Speak OUT!

“…no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative impacts on natural resources…” !!! WHO SAYS? The people, plants, animals, the aina, air, water, etc. are all interconnected. What effects one effects all. The impacts are not just physical, but cultural, psychological, and spiritual. The training proposed is all part of U.S. occupation and what the Nuremberg trials following WWII called the Supreme War crime –waging a war of aggression. We want to stop all these illegal wars. We do not want the U.S. training anywhere to do to others what the U.S. has already done to Hawaii: overthrow and occupy its government and nation, desecrate its sacred sites, and contaminate its air, land, water, people, plants, and animals with a wide range of military toxins. We want the U.S. to stop bombing Hawaii and clean up its opala (rubbish). Justice demands an end to U.S. occupation and the restoration of the Hawaii nation. And all of this being done on the slopes of the Sacred Mountains. Akua weeps.

Jim Albertini

> From Hawaii’s OEQC July 23, 2011 “The Envornmental Notice”
> http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/Environmental_Notice/current_issue.pdf
> High Altitude Mountainous Environment Training Draft EA

> Permits:
> Right of Entry via Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife Special Use Permit
> Proposing Agency:
> United States Army Garrison, Hawai’i (USAG-HI), 851 Wright Avenue, Wheeler Army Airfield, Schofield Barracks, Hawai’i 96857-5000. Contact: Mr. William Rogers (808) 656- 3075
> Approving Agency:
> Department of Land and Natural Resources Kalanimoku Building, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawai’i 96813. Contact: William J. Aila, Jr., (808) 587-0400
> Consultant:
> Portage, 1075 S. Utah Ave., Suite 200, Idaho Falls, ID 83402. (208) 419-4176
> Status: Anticipated Finding of No Significant Impact.
> 30-day comment period begins; comments are due on August 21, 2011.
> Send comments to the Proposing Agency and the Consultant
> The proposed action is to provide 90 helicopter pilots and crew 180 hours of high altitude training in October 2011 in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan to satisfy mandatory annual training requirements. The Army’s preferred alternative consists of flying to, hovering, and touch and go landings at three (3) landing zones (LZs) located on the slopes of Mauna Kea and three (3) LZs located on the slopes of Mauna Loa. Aircraft landing in the LZs would not be picking up or dropping off troops or supplies. Aircraft will be spending a minimal amount of time in the LZ areas, and ground time should not exceed 10 minutes per landing.
>
> Familiarity with this specialized high altitude environment is critical to save the lives of our 25th Combat Aviation Brigade aircrews and the Soldiers they transport when operating in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Based on careful review of the analysis and conservation measures set forth in the EA and consideration of public comments received to date, implementing the Preferred Alternative would result in no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative impacts on natural resources, cultural resources, water resources, recreational resources and other resources assessed in the EA. Implementing the Preferred Alternative is not a major federal or state action that would significantly impact the quality of the environment.

Meanwhile, the Army seems to be digging in for a longer stay. In a press release “Native Hawaiian Covenant promotes partnerships”, the Army describes how it is spending a lot of money to cultivate a stable of Native Hawaiian “leaders” to support the military mission in Hawai’i and counter the opponents of military activities. The Native Hawaiian liaison office functions as a cross between glorified hospitality program and counter insurgency asset:

Through the covenant, Army civilians and Soldiers new to the islands now receive an informative briefing on the Native Hawaiian people, history and culture. This critical information gives Army individuals an opportunity to learn the culture of the community around them and be sensitive to its customs.

In addition, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners lead free Hawaiian workshops for those interested in learning about the different aspects of Hawaiian culture. Featured workshops include hula, ukulele, lei-making, Hawaiian legends, Hawaiian language, Hawaiian healing plants and coconut weaving.

“Positive responses from Soldiers and their families have been received through these briefings and workshops we offer,” said Annelle Amaral, Native Hawaiian liaison, USAG-HI. “We have found that it not only teaches the culture, but it provides an opportunity to spend time with their families and meet new friends. To be a part of this has been truly rewarding.”

A monthly “Ho olauna” bulletin is a resource for interested Army individuals, containing Hawaiian history, a featured Hawaiian word, upcoming Hawaiian events, happenings around town, a featured dining spot and volunteer opportunities. This resource keeps readers informed and offers opportunities for them to experience life outside the Army bases.

The program is also actively constructing its own list of “approved” Native Hawaiians that can be consulted to meet various federal requirements:

Through the covenant, the Army’s cultural and natural resources representatives are leading tours of the Kahuku Training Area and Makua Military Reservation for surrounding community members.

The program is even appropriating Kanaka Maoli concepts and mining the wisdom and reputation of elders to lend support to the military’s mission:

“Right now, we’re working on a ‘hanai’ concept, where we bring our young Army families and our elderly Hawaiian aunties and uncles together for a ‘talk-story’ session. This will fill the gap for one group (of people) who miss their families, and the other group (of people) who miss the opportunity to share life-lessons they’ve learned.”

Apparently, military personnel stationed in Hawai’i are not getting the message about malama ‘aina. Recently, fishermen and cultural practitioners at Ka’ena Point documented drunken and destructive military offroading. As previously reported on this site, this is a recurring problem. We recently did an ‘Olelo television program on the problem of military off-roading and the efforts to protect Ka’ena.

Military construction is also booming. Lend Lease company recently won an extension of its contract to construct, refurbish and manage thousands of homes for military personnel.

Lend Lease has secured approval from the US Department of the Army for a US$168m (£103m) change to the scope of its Island Palm Communities project in Hawaii.

Lend Lease will now build more larger homes than previously planned, reflecting the changing needs of military service members and their families.

Island Palm Communities, a partnership between Lend Lease and the Army, is the largest residential privatisation project ever awarded by the US Army. The partnership will develop, design and construct 5,241 new homes, renovate 2,515 existing homes, and provide property and maintenance management services through to 2054.

Lend Lease group chief executive officer and managing director Steve McCann said that the increased work scope reflected Lend Lease’s collaborative working relationship with the US Army. “We continue to work very closely with our long term partner to bring quality homes to US Army service members and their families,” he said.