Kevin Knodell

The Pentagon increasingly sees the Pacific as its most important theater of operations as tensions brew between the U.S. and China. To that end, the Navy plans to increase training across the vast blue expanse and in Hawaii, home to Pearl Harbor and headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The Army has suffered another setback in efforts to renew leases on state lands in Hawaii, even as service leaders say they want to drastically scale back their land holdings on Oahu.

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted Friday 5-1 to reject the Army’s final environmental impact statement on plans to retain state land on Oahu after leases expire in 2029.

MANILA >> Amid increasing hostilities in the South China Sea — a busy waterway through which more than a third of all trade travels — disputed waters around the Philippines are emerging into a potential flashpoint that holds repercussions both there and in Hawaii.

The Navy announced it has awarded an $8 billion mega contract to 11 companies — including both local and mainland contractors — for a series of construction, maintenance and renovation projects to facilities, as well as the demolition of old facilities, in Hawaii and on Wake Island.

Christine Song was just 3 years old when the Korean War began. Her memories are hazy, but there’s one that sticks out prominently: looking for a place to hide as North Korean artillery pounded her neighborhood.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case is blasting military appropriation legislation that is moving through the House of Representatives as “shortchanging” priorities critical to Hawaii, including environmental cleanup and military infrastructure.

This week the U.S. Army is commemorating its 250th birthday with a series of celebrations around the country. The Army, tracing its roots to rebels that fought the British, is older than the nation itself.

As the U.S. military has been ramping up its training in the Philippines, American troops are an increasingly common sight. In April and May, Hawaii-based units participated in the annual Exercise Balikatan, showcasing new weapons and conducting live fire exercises on the western and northern coasts amid tensions with China.

The court martial of Pfc. Dewayne Arthur Johnson, a 28-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier who is pleading guilty to killing and dismembering his pregnant 19-year-old wife Mischa Mabeline Kaalohilani Johnson, continued Wednesday as both the defense and prosecution made their cases to the presiding military judge, Col. Rebecca Farrell.