The Pacific Connection - Honolulu District - U.S. Army

16 The Pacific Connection Centennial Edition 1905-20051980 - 1989Growth Meets TechnologyThe 1980s were a time of dramatic changes in technologies that affectedthe way everyone did business. Keeping up with the exploding informationage led to the creation of the Information Management Office and changes ingovernment legislation led to the establishment of the Emergency ManagementDivision. The ‘80s also saw large military construction and navigationalprojects as well as displays of ingenuity which increased the quality of life forpeople in the Pacific and Hawaii’s Soldiers and their families.1980s Milestones• The major buildup of Kwajalein Atoll; HED’s 1989 total construction atKwajalein was $43.6 million;• New Barbers Point Harbor;• New dental clinic at Schofield Barracks;• Managing construction of more than 30 differenthousing areas in support of Oahu ConsolidatedFamily Housing Office to include Aliamanu, SchofieldBarracks, TAMC, Helemano, Fort Shafter, Pearl Harbor,Kaneohe and Wheeler;• Upgrading the man-made reef runway near PearlHarbor to accommodate an emergency landing of theNASA space shuttle;• HED completes the Ground Based Electro-OpticalDeep Space Surveillance system (GEODSS) projecton Maui. Overcoming numerous obstacles, GEODSSwent into operation on schedule, saving the governmentmore than $800,000 in potential penaltiesand liquidated damages;• State-of-the-art contamination cleanup ofEnewetak in the Marshall Islands;• Real Estate sells 36.7 acres on Honolulu waterfront;monies which funded several military constructionprojects including a logistics facility atTAMC, warehouses at Schofield Barracks, andan ID lab/mortuary at Ft. Kamehameha; and• The USACE Pacific Regional Visitor Center/Army Museum built at Ft. DeRussy at BatteryRandolph opens. This premier facility in theheart of Waikiki represents HED’s continuedcommitment to community outreach.Since its completion in July 1980, the Kaneohe-Kailua Dam has provenits worth by saving millions of dollars in flood damage. Even before theproject was finished, it was estimated to have saved $1.5 million in damagesduring a March 18-19, 1980 storm.In 1981 HED began the10-year project to upgradeOahu’s TriplerArmy Medical Centerto include a four-storyaddition, three newwings, new entrances, apower plant, eye clinic,dental clinic and modernizingthe wards andclinics all while thehospital remained fullyoperational.The Aliamanu ConsolidatedCommunityCenter swimmingpool opened in1986. The pool wasjust one facet ofHED’s project toimprove the qualityof life for AliamanuMilitary Reservationresidents.Theproject also includeda fitness center,a chapel, a multipurposebuildingwith library and achild developmentcenter.In 1981, the Department of theArmy ordered all units to createa new division: The InformationManagement Office. Photoat right: An HED computeroperator and Honeywell executiveexamine the new systemwhich brought together dataprocessing and administrativeservices such as mail and records,the library, printing, publishingand visual information systems.Computers not only changed theway HED did business, it alsoimproved communication betweenthe districts which previouslyhad been difficult and costly.In 1987, HED built the computerized shooting range atSchofield Barracks.