David Carey, the just-retired CEO of Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, now has more time for meetings as chairman of the Military Affairs Council at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. As the month of May approached — Military Appreciation Month in Hawaii — that became an advantage, planning for the ceremonies and other observances held around the state.
Off and on, he has held the council chair for 10 years, Carey said. The irony there is that this experience arose out of working with the military in conjunction with Outrigger marketing, and now he and his wife host hospitality events at their home. Neither he nor his wife — a granddaughter in the Kelley family, founders of the hotel company — has a military background.
“My father was in the Marine Corps in World War II, much to the disdain of his parents,” said Carey, 62. “And he was about ready to be deployed, an enlisted guy — and this is really bizarre — they made him a drill instructor. I never envisioned my dad being a Marine Corps drill instructor.”
Carey views both the military and tourism sectors as healthy but having their respective areas of concern. The military-civilian communities still have to work through disagreements over environment and land-use issues — the conflict over the Red Hill fuel storage tanks is one of those.
On the tourism side, he said, the industry is doing well but must respond to changing dynamics. The demand for vacation rentals is one of these.
“The side that’s more complex is the zoning issue of, ‘Is it appropriate to have these rental places in neighborhoods?’” he said. “The cow’s out of the barn, the genie’s out of the bottle, so the city’s got a hard problem.”
Question: How would you describe the civilian-military relationship now in Hawaii? How, principally, has it changed over time?
Answer: Despite there being a handful of issues being raised by sections of the community, I believe the civilian-military relationship is as strong as it has ever been due to the numerous partnerships that have been fostered as a result of budget constraints.
The political landscape has changed over the course of the last seven years. Coupled with budget constraints, these changes have forced communities across the country to compete for an ever-shrinking pool of resources for the U.S. military.
Additionally, the passing of Senator (Daniel) Inouye, who was an incredible advocate for Hawaii’s military, has forced community supporters to find unconventional ways to develop partnerships in effort to protect the military footprint.
As a result, we are seeing efforts to create or strengthen public-private and public-public partnerships, particularly in renewable energy, schools and civil defense. Although there are a number challenges that still remain, it is an exciting time for civilian-military relationships.
Q: What do you see as the problems between the military and local communities? The competition for housing? Training conflicts?
A: Beyond budget challenges, the biggest issue for the military nationwide has been encroachment and the impact it has on training. Hawaii, with its scarcity of land, is often pointed to as the principal example for encroachment. The military’s ability to train is paramount to both readiness and Hawaii’s ability to remain militarily relevant.
If we as a community are unable to maintain current levels of training spaces in the state, it is difficult to make an argument for the military to remain in Hawaii.
Affordable housing and renewable energy are interests that can limit training hours (such as noise restrictions) and accessible flight paths (such as windmills).
In years past, Hawaii-based military has provided funding for the preservation of conservation and agriculture lands in an attempt to prevent encroachment from development and foreign investment.
Beyond encroachment, the military relies on state-leased land for training. The continued lease of Pohakuloa Training Area, Oahu North and Makua are likely to be controversial issues as these leases expire in 2029.
Q: The economic impact the military has here: Is that changing?
A: Although direct military spending has declined in step with the decline of military construction and the prohibition of earmarks, it remains as a solid number two behind the visitor industry in terms of economic impact in the state. In the last three fiscal years, defense spending has provided between $8 billion and $9 billion in contracts to Hawaii-based businesses.
When you consider the employment of over 70,000 active-duty, reserve and federal civilians, the military provides an additional $6 billion in salaries. Salary allocation grows even greater when you consider the tens of thousands that are employed as contractors.
Q: How do you describe the U.S. focus on Asia?
A: If you hear the Pacific Command brief, five of the seven largest armies, it’s some huge number of the commerce in the world. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why Asia is really important. Shipping lanes going through the Strait of Malacca, where most of the oil comes from to this part of the world, many trading partners.
So, yeah, it’s a big economic deal.
Q: And that should affect Hawaii, right?
A: It does, it does, and it certainly affects all of America and their base here. So, that’s why.
Q: Is the actual military population here, troop deployment and families, expected to grow?
A: It’s a good question. We had a bit of a scare a year and a half ago when the Army said, “Hey, we’re going to draw down, and we’re gonna take big numbers,” and there was the possibility of closing down Schofield, or parts of it. That would have been 16,000 troops, plus all the stuff that goes with it. That was kind of scary. As it turns out, they didn’t do that, which we’re all grateful for.
Right now, it seems like there’s personnel stability in the military, relative to Hawaii. There’s been talk that over the next several years, with no specific date, that some of the folks stationed in Okinawa and Guam, Marines, would end up here, in Honolulu. …
Q: It doesn’t appear at least that they would have a smaller footprint in Hawaii?
A: No. And particularly if there’s continuing instability in this part of the world, which there is, it’s likely that we’ll continue to maintain a presence here. …
Q: I realize you are retired from Outrigger, but as you are still connected: Where are our main tourist markets, and who are we trying to get?
A: The move over the last decade has been to generally move toward a slightly more upscale tourist. In order to make money in the tourism industry, given the high cost basis in Hawaii, you have to bias upward. …
So you see very few of the budget kind of properties, certainly none in the major tourism area. We’re starting to see some of that out in Kapolei in West Oahu, which is an evolving area. Hampton Inn, that kind of stuff.
In the industry parlance they call it a select service. It’s not a full service. You kind of get the basics, but you don’t get room service and full-time bell and full food-and-beverage operation. …
Q: Airlines have been adding and adding flights, right?
A: Lift is the best since I’ve been here — lift meaning airlift. It’s going to be interesting, because Southwest (Airlines) has made noise about coming to Hawaii, they’re certifying their long-fly airplane. … Alaska (Airlines) has been a growing partner of Hawaii. Alaska and Hawaiian (Airlines) will go head to head, I think, for some of the secondary cities in the U.S. …
Q: What do you think of the vacation rental issue?
A: I think the customer loves it. I’ve been in houses where you rent the whole house. As a hotel person, I couldn’t give a family a six-bedroom house with three bathrooms, a kitchen, a lanai; it’s not a product that exists. …
Where the hotel guys have a problem is, (vacation rentals) are not subject to the same set of regulations, and they often don’t always pay their full share of taxes. So it becomes an unlevel playing field.
