stryker

Here is a report on the SBCT scoping meeting in Colorado Springs.

In no particular order of importance here is a mixture of facts and opinions.

Tom Warren, of course, said several times that he was not the decision maker on expansion. His job is to manage and maintain whatever land the Army gets and assigns to him. He sure does like to talk though and lets a few cats out of the bag now and then.
He did confirm what we have heard many times before. They hardly use the site right now. His direct quote: "I haven't had a tank on the ground down there in years." He also restated the reason. Almost all the equipment that works is in Iraq and Afghanistan or deployed in that region. What is left behind is in short supply and bad repair.

Very few folks showed up and it was a very low key process. There was one civilian from the Army Environmental Command and one Col. from the Pentagon. Didn't write down their names but talked with both of them for 15 or 20 minutes and to Tom Warren for a half hour or so.
The refreshments consisted of bottled water and nothing else.
The same team will do the other hearings in sequence.
Arcadis is handling only the Colorado hearings. The other locations will be handled by Booz, Allen, Hamilton. I commented on that with both the out of towners and Tom Warren. I think they did it to avoid using Karen Edge's firm here because it would look like a conflict of interest. They all got a kind of knowing smile on their faces but did not confirm my allegation.
The Col and the other guy more or less confirmed that this was a routine process although when they were pushed they would say that the SBCT could actually come to Carson. They agreed that it did not need a big training area as evidenced by the small size of the other bases that are in the running.
The Col. said the brigade is fully training at its present location in Hawaii. They just have to say it is temporary because the court ordered them to do the Supplemental hearings before making it permanent..
They will not be doing any detailed environmental analysis at all unless and until the SBCT is actually assigned to one of the alternative locations.
They couldn't really say why these 4 bases got selected to be looked at.
All their posters were filled with all the jargon about Transformation, yada, yada, yada..
I gave some oral comments to a court reporter and took a written form to mail in later, maybe.

Then I talked for quite some time with Tom Warren with Donna Johnson and Mark Lewis. Here are a few things that he said.

He said the original LURS went to DC asking for 1.4 million acres. He said that in response to my comment about General Milano saying it had been 750,000 acres. He said that the 1.4 million figure was well known and not a secret. He said it had been in the press. I reminded him that we only got redacted numbers. He seemed surprised to hear that.
We talked back and forth about how much was really wanted. He claimed that the 100 K square maneuver box was no longer the doctrinal number. He said the number keeps changing.
I asked why only PCMS seems to be needing to get that big. He said that was a good point. Then he tried to say other bases were growing too and used Fort Sill as an example because it is adding 30,000 or 40,00 acres. I pointed out that that was a pittance compared to PCMS.
He said he had been unaware that the final proposal for the 418,507 acres had been submitted until after the fact. He said the bigger numbers included the principle of rotation and that was removed in the current proposal. He expressed some discomfort with that idea. I asked if that meant he would resign on principle. No he didn't think so. Wasn't that big a deal
We asked about the damage to wildlife inflicted by the repeated storms. He insisted that they had flown over the whole reservation in a helicopter grid by grid and everything was fine. We pushed him hard on that and he kept repeating that everything was fine. Wow!
I gave him a copy of the new brochure and he commented on a couple of things and pointed to the statement that the "stakes are high" and agreed with that, wanting to indicate that he was aware of what we have been saying about the impact the expansion would have on the area. He admitted he has been advocation expansion for years and said something about leasing land in New Mexico as one possible good idea.
He continues to insist that NEPA is a good process and we should really bank on it to stop this even if the waiver is granted and they go forward. Needless to say I strongly disagreed.
There was a lot of other banter back and forth about integrity and about the good environmental image that he has helped create. Is it PR and bribery or is it the real thing?

I wish everyone well at the other locations. It was even lower key than I expected it to be. I think you can get a lot of publicity by making it what you want it to be at the other locations. Robin Renn was not around nor was anyone else there from her office. If you have any other questions I'd be happy to respond. I probably left out a few important details.

I wish everyone well at the other locations. It was even lower key than I expected it to be. I think you can get a lot of publicity by making it what you want it to be at the other locations. Robin Renn was not around nor was anyone else there from her office. If you have any other questions I'd be happy to respond. I probably left out a few important details.

Bill Sulzman
719 389 0644

You can comment in writing on the scope of the environmental impact study until February 19:

(Photos and report of Springs' Stryker meeting)

Scoping Meetings to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
for the permanent stationing of the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team
(SBCT)
The Department of the Army (DA) announces scoping meetings to engage
public participation in the environmental impact statement process that
will address the permanent stationing of the 5th SBCT (currently the
designated as the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division) in Hawaii and
other reasonable alternate locations. The SBCT is a maneuver brigade that
includes infantry, artillery, engineers, and other Army specialties;
approximately 4,000 soldiers, 1,000 vehicles, including 320 Strykers.

The public will have the opportunity to provide input on what they would like the SEIS to address as it pertains to the DA's proposal for the permanent stationing of the 5th SBCT. Public comments will be accepted through February 19 and can be submitted in writing to the individual named below

Send written comments to or request additional information from:
Mr. Robert DiMichele, Chief, Public Affairs Office, US Army Environmental
Command, Building E4460, 5179 Hoadley Road, Attention: IMAE–PA, Aberdeen
Proving Ground, MD 21010–5401, telephone: 410–436– 2556, facsimile:
410–436–1693, e-mail: robert.dimichele@us.army.mil.