After four years, a 3,000-page environmental impact report and a federal lawsuit, the Army's planned Stryker brigade for Hawai'i appears to be a reality.
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The first ground will be turned this month on a series of projects that will transform land on O'ahu and the Big Island for use by the 3,818-soldier unit. The 19-ton "Strykers" begin to arrive a year from now, and the unit is expected to be operational in 2007.

The project, one of the Army's biggest in Hawai'i since World War II, will include the creation of 71 miles of private trails on O'ahu and the Big Island, six new firing ranges, two airfield upgrades, and the purchase of 1,400 acres adjacent to Schofield Barracks.

The pace of the $1.5 billion project picked up almost immediately once the Army prevailed last week in a legal battle against three Native Hawaiian groups that filed suit in federal court to halt the brigade's arrival.

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The Army has paid $15.9 million for 1,400 acres south of Schofield for another firing range and Stryker brigade motor pool. The title changed hands last September.

As part of the conversion, the Army is seeking to buy from Parker Ranch about 23,000 acres adjoining 109,000-acre Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island for a maneuver and blank-fire area.