John Bond PhotoJournalist - Pohakuloa Training Area - PTA - US Army - 1977 - 1978

Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA)

PTA is located on the island of Hawaii between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and the Hualalai

Volcanic Mountains. It extends up the lower slopes of Mauna Kea to approximately 6,800 feet

in elevation and to about 9,000 feet on Mauna Loa. The training area is about midway

between Hilo, on the east coast and the Army landing site at Kawaihae Harbor.

The area is the largest DoD installation in Hawaii. The area was constructed in April 1955

from World War II prefabricated Quonset huts. Bradshaw Airfield, was constructed in 1956.

The training site can be reached from Oahu be either direct military helicopter or fixed wing

flights to PTA, or by using Saddle Road. The Saddle Road is frequently closed to the public due

to poor surface conditions caused by storms and heavy military vehicles. In preparation for large

scale training exercises at PTA, the ground forces are flown to Hilo and transported over Saddle Road. Supporting equipment and vehicles are transported from Oahu by ship or barge to

Kawaihae and driven to the site. A tank trail parallels much of the Saddle Road. These

movements involving personnel, equipment and light vehicles could ideally be accomplished

by flying directly to PTA; however the 3,700 foot Bradshaw Air Field runway is inadequate to

accommodate large transport aircraft.

The PTA consists of 108,863 acres, of which 24,048 are leased by the Army from the

State of Hawaii. The remaining land is ceded and includes the impact and range areas and a

portion of the west maneuver area. The leased areas include the northern maneuver areas

and the support complex. Pohakuloa is deceptive in terms of training suitability. Almost the

entire site is level or gently sloping, uninhabited, and having few trees or deep gullies to inhibit training. Nevertheless, a large percent of it is almost completely unusable for maneuvers due to

the rough lava flows that occur over much of the surface area. There are several geological

features within the installation. Cinder cone hills or puu's, products of the latest eruptive activity

on Mauna Kea, are found in the northern part of the installation and are surrounded by more

recent lava flows from Mauna Loa. These recent flows (less than 200 years) are the most notable

features of the central and southern landscape and together with the northern flows cover

approximately 30% of the training area. Recent lava flows surround and contrast with islands

of vegetation call kipukas. The two types of lava found throughout Hawaii, pahoehoe and 'a'a,

are present at PTA as well. The pahoehoe flows have smooth undulating surfaces and can be

traversed on foot for short distances. The rough 'a'a, however, are jagged, slag-like piles of

impassable material.

As the largest training area in Hawaii, Pohakuloa can be used to accomplish nearly all of the

varying types of training required by the military forces. PTA has a 51,000 acre impact area

which is over 10 times the size of the one at Schofield Barracks. There are approximately 32,000 acres free of recent lava flows and are considered fully usable for large maneuver exercises.

This area is more than twice the 14,000 acres of similar training land on all of Oahu. The impact area is surrounded on the north by several ranges and designated firing points for artillery.

A support area of 600 acres containing logistic and administrative facilities plus quarters for

approximately 2,000 troops is located to the north at the base of Mauna Kea.

The major restrictions to training at PTA are the presence of the lava flows and environmentally sensitive areas. Weather conditions are generally conductive for training activities; however,

fog often prevents helicopters from using the runway. The use of the area is also restricted by

the cost of transporting troops, equipment and vehicles from Oahu. Because of this, Army and

Marine Corps exercises are few in number and last for several weeks.