An Air Force C-17 Globemaster arrives at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Sept. 22, 2022, during a test landing in preparation for the Army’s upcoming Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center exercise. (U.S. Army)
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The Army and Marines are advising Hawaii residents to expect increased noise from aircraft and simulated firearms in coming weeks as major training events take place on Oahu and the Big Island.
Marines from the 3rd Littoral Combat Team will conduct simulated close-air support drills on Marine Corps Base Hawaii Oct. 12 to 14, the service said in a Facebook advisory last week.
The Marines will train alongside Army and Air Force partners.
Aircraft are expected to make more noise than usual because they will be flying at much lower altitudes during the drills, the Marines said.
From Oct. 31 to Nov. 9, the Army’s 25th Infantry Division will take part in a large-scale training event called Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, the Army said in a news release Wednesday.
Specifically, the division’s 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, elements of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Division Artillery and 25th Division Sustainment Brigade will participate in the training rotation.
The Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center is a deployable package of personnel and equipment capable of providing exercises that rival rotations soldiers would get at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., or the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif.
The training is intended to provide realistic scenarios portraying what troops might face in a conflict with China or Russia.
Regional training centers under the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center were deployed for the first time in Hawaii in the fall of 2021 and to Alaska this winter.
It was deployed to Indonesia in August for Super Garuda Shield.
The upcoming Hawaii drills will involve use of blank ammunition and explosive simulators during day and night training, the Army said.
Training on Oahu will be held on Bellows Air Force Station, Dillingham Army Airfield, Kahuku Training Area, Kawailoa Mountain Ranges, Helemanu Plantation and Schofield Barracks East and South Ranges.
On Hawaii Island, troops will train at Pohakuloa Training Area, a 132,000-acre site used by the joint services for live-fire drills.
Last week, the Air Force’s 535th Air Lift Squadron from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam landed a C-17 Globemaster on Pohakuloa’s airfield, a dry-run before training begins late next month, Lt. Col. Kevin Cronin, the training area’s commander, said in a phone interview Tuesday.
At 3,700 feet, the airstrip is barely long enough to provide the required 3,500 feet a C-17 needs to land. It was the first time in more than two decades that a Globemaster landed there, Cronin said.
The Globemaster will make 10 sorties with troops and cargo to the island during the upcoming training, Cronin said.
