Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 11, 1 November 1985 — Navy Responds to OHA Concern re Kahoolawe [ARTICLE]

Navy Responds to OHA Concern re Kahoolawe

The United States Navy, in a letter to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, has denied that a recent battle script was meant to moek the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana. The battle script, used in connection with recent U.S. Marine exercises on Kaho'olawe, identified fictional enemy forces on the island as a terrorist group called the Allianee for an lndependent Kaho'olawe. OHA's Board of T rustees on Sept. 27 adopted a statement indicating a belief that the enemy described by the Navy was a thinly veiled reference to the Protect Kaho'olawe 'Ohana. The OHA statement asked that, in future scenarios, the military refrain from portraying loeal people in an unfavorable manner. Third Fleet Commander Vice Admiral K.E. Moranville, in a letter to OHA Chairman Joseph G. Kealoha Jr., replied to the OHA complaint as follows: "In response to your letter of 30 September 1985, 1 have looked into the situation as you requested. "The U.S. Navy meets twice a year with the Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana. On Monday, 23 September 1985, a meeting was held with this group and they voiced their concerns about the scenario for 'Beach Thunder '85.' "The implication in your press release that the scenario was directed at the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana is not correct. The scenario was written to give the exercise realism, is totally fictitious, and does not represent any real people or culture. In fact the scenario implies that the enemy is a group made up of other than American citizens." OHA Chairman Kealoha said the Navy's reply answers most of his concerns relating to the battle script.