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Missouri Memorial gets relief on rent to help repair costs By
William Cole
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The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a $612 billion defense authorization bill by a 392-39 vote.
That's good news for the Battleship Missouri Memorial.
The 2009 defense authorization includes a provision requested by U.S. Rep Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, that would allow the 887-foot battleship memorial to remain at Pier Foxtrot-5 at Ford Island rent-free for two years.
The nonprofit group that operates the Missouri pays the Navy $17,300 per month — rent that has totaled nearly $2 million since the original lease was signed in June 1998, according to Abercrombie's office.
A two-year rent break would save the Missouri $415,000.
The historic battleship, run as a museum and memorial next to the sunken USS Arizona, faces millions of dollars in repair costs for drydocking in Pearl Harbor to repaint its corroding hull and portions of its superstructure.
The "Mighty Mo" was the site of Japan's unconditional surrender on Sept. 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay.
Officials previously estimated that drydocking and lower-hull repainting could run $5 million to $8 million, and superstructure rust control and painting could cost $1 million.
The replacement of 53,000 square feet of rotting teak deck, an additional renovation that's needed, was estimated to cost anywhere from $5 million to $15 million.
Abercrombie previously said the USS Memorial Association "performs a great service to our country by maintaining a renowned symbol that would otherwise be lost to future generations."
The two-year rent break would help defray the repair costs, and provide more time "to discuss a long-term solution in regards to the rent issue," Abercrombie said.
Missouri officials, who expect the battleship to be in drydock for 60 to 90 days, in May said it would be at least a year before drydocking. Last week, they said it will be business as usual at least through Sept. 2 of 2009, the 64th anniversary of the surrender.
Abercrombie said the defense bill includes the following for Hawai'i:
IN BRIEF
X-BAND RADAR BACK AT PEARL HARBOR
For all you "giant golf ball" groupies who haven't already noticed, it's back.
The Sea-Based X-Band Radar, or SBX, pulled into Pearl Harbor for scheduled biennial vessel surveys and inspections by the American Bureau of Shipping, minor modifications and routine preventative maintenance, according to Chris Taylor with the Missile Defense Agency.
The radar is a component of the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System. The SBX is expected to depart Pearl Harbor in late October.
IRAQ ENEMY ATTACKS DOWN 74%
Col. Todd McCaffrey, the commander of Schofield Barracks' Stryker brigade in Iraq, said enemy attacks are down more than 74 percent since the brigade's arrival last December in the Taji area just north of Baghdad.
"The trends you've seen on the reduction of violence across Iraq are certainly present here in Baghdad, and especially visible in our area," McCaffrey said.
McCaffrey and the 4,000-soldier Stryker brigade are part of Multinational Division-Baghdad and are on a 15-month deployment to Iraq.
Maj. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr., who commands the 25th Infantry Division in Hawai'i, will join McCaffrey in Iraq in October along with 4,500 more Schofield soldiers.
Caslen will be in charge of Multinational Division-North based out of the Tikrit area.
McCaffrey made his comments during a press briefing Thursday with Pentagon reporters.
In the 1,300 square miles covered by the Stryker brigade, there are about 13,000 "Sons of Iraq," who are paid armed civilians who man checkpoints and provide local security, McCaffrey said.
The "Sons of Iraq" are being transferred from being U.S. paid to Iraqi paid. "We've successfully worked through the transfer of 97 percent of all the Sons of Iraq in our area to Iraqi army oversight without incident," McCaffrey said.
MARINES' MOVE TO GUAM TO COST $15B
The Marine Corps previously estimated it would cost $10.3 billion to move 8,000 Marines and 9,000 dependents from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam by 2014, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report issued this month.
With the Marine buildup and improvements to Army, Navy and Air Force capabilities, the price tag was expected to be more than $13 billion.
Recently, however, officials with Marine Forces Pacific headquartered at Camp Smith estimated that the Marine Corps realignment alone to Guam will exceed $15 billion, GAO found.
The additional operational costs include the cost of high-speed vessels (procurement and maintenance) to move Marines to and from Guam; training-related costs in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; relocation costs for personnel, equipment and material to Guam; costs of facility furnishings, such as furniture and office equipment; and real estate costs if additional land is required in Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The government of Japan is expected to contribute a total of $6.09 billion to the relocation, GAO said.
The report said it likely will be 2010 or later before the Defense Department is able to complete a comprehensive master plan for the Guam military buildup.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.
