The Army has permanently closed parts of its Hawaii training grounds to live fire, marking a major change in how the service uses land on Oahu. The action comes more than 20 years after the last live fire exercise at Makua Military Reservation in 2004.

As of Oct. 1, Makua Military Reservation is permanently closed to live fire. The closure arrived roughly three years after the Army committed to banning that type of training at the location.

The Army said it will continue using the airspace above the land. Other activities, including security work and wildland fire suppression maintenance, also will remain in place despite the permanent end to live fire exercises.

Makua Military Reservation sits in Makua Valley and covers nearly 5,000 acres. The Army began using the valley for military training after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, displacing Native Hawaiian residents from an area considered sacred.

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The land has remained at the center of a lengthy legal fight involving cultural preservation and military use. Earthjustice, a nonprofit organization based in the United States, has represented the activist group Malama Makua in legal battles against the Army.

According to Earthjustice, years of live fire exercises at Makua destroyed cultural sites and caused wildfires. The nonprofit also said the reservation is home to more than 40 endangered and threatened species.

In 2023, the Pentagon pledged to permanently end live fire training on the grounds. Activists welcomed the commitment as a step toward reclaiming the land after years of conflict over access, preservation and military activity.

The Army’s formal closure now puts that earlier commitment into effect. Although the reservation is no longer available for live fire training, the service’s continued use of the airspace means the military is not ending every connection to the area.

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“Cultural access to the area will continue for Malama Makua without interruption. Wildland fire suppression maintenance and security activities will also continue,” the Army said in its November release.

Image Credit: DoW

The access commitment preserves Malama Makua’s ability to enter the culturally important area. At the same time, the Army will retain responsibility for specific security and fire suppression functions identified in the release.

The Army also pledged in 2025 that it would not seek new rights on state leased lands. The service separately elected to move military training conducted on nearby federally managed land to other locations on Oahu.

Those decisions are part of a substantial reduction in the Army’s leasehold area on the island. According to the release, the Army is downsizing that area by 19,500 acres, including 5,900 acres of state leased land.

The Army’s leases in Hawaii are scheduled to expire in 2029. The approaching expiration has placed added attention on negotiations over military land use and the service’s relationship with local communities.

Military use of Native Hawaiian lands has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers who raised concerns about insufficient consideration for community members. Those concerns have followed the broader dispute over training, cultural access and preservation at Makua.

In May, former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll pledged to follow up with Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii about problems involving the Army’s leasing negotiations. The source did not provide further details about that promised follow up.

The permanent live fire closure therefore joins several related Army land decisions in Hawaii. The service is reducing its leasehold area, declining to pursue new rights on state leased land and shifting some training from nearby federally managed property to other parts of Oahu.

Makua will remain open for cultural access by Malama Makua while the Army continues security and wildland fire suppression maintenance. More than two decades after the final live fire exercise, the long promised prohibition is now permanent.

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