There was a great article in the Honolulu Advertiser, about the Stryker Project and the history of the Stryker Brigade in Hawaii. To summarize:

The Army in 2001 decided to base a Stryker unit in Hawai’i, and started about $700 million in construction projects, including upgrades that were also needed for non-Stryker troop training. Three Native Hawaiian groups filed a lawsuit in 2004 against the Stryker brigade, claiming it would harm the environment.

In 2006, a federal appeals court ruled that the service had not adequately examined alternative locations outside Hawai’i for the unit, and ordered the Army to do so. Bases in Alaska and Colorado were considered before the Army again chose Hawai’i, saying it was selected primarily because of the ability to meet strategic defense and national security needs in the Pacific.

Now the massive Stryker brigade project, one of the biggest Army efforts in Hawai’i since World War II, is getting back on track after four years of litigation and is a part of the overall $1.5 billion effort to base the brigade here.

Approximately six construction projects related to the Stryker brigade are expected to begin in coming months, employing 1,000 or more workers, officials said. The Schofield-based Stryker brigade, which consists of 328 Stryker vehicles and 4,000 soldiers, is deployed in Iraq and is expected back in Hawai’i around March.

This should definitely help add to our economy here.