The Army says it will comply with a federal appeals court order issued yesterday to stop all "activities associated" with establishing a $1.5 billion Stryker brigade in the Islands.

A temporary injunction barring further Stryker work came nearly a month after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Army violated environmental laws when it failed to consider other sites to base the 19-ton armored vehicles.

In the 2-1 decision on Oct. 5, the San Francisco-based court said the Army must complete a supplementary environmental analysis to consider alternatives to setting up a brigade here.

Earlier this month, the Army had argued the ruling did not mean all Stryker operations and training would have to stop.

"We're pleased the court recognized the Army's plans to plow ahead with Stryker conversion in Hawai'i before it even looked at other places ... violated both the law and common sense," David Henkin, an attorney for Earthjustice, said yesterday.

Henkin is representing three Hawaiian groups in the suit: Ili'ulaokalani Coalition, Na 'Imi Pono and Kipuka. They asked for the temporary injunction last week.

In its decision to issue the order, the 9th Circuit said yesterday: "We should not permit defendants to render meaningless our holding that they should have considered alternatives to transformation in Hawai'i by allowing them to continue with their implementation plan."

The Army issued a brief news release last night, saying, "We are in receipt of the court order and we are complying."

You can't make rational decisions about what type of military presence is appropriate for Hawai'i unless you have all the relevant facts. The court's ruling makes sure we finally get that information. That's good news for everyone.