Ho‘okele is a free unofficial paper published every Friday by The Honolulu Star Advertiser 500 Ala Moana Boulevard Suite 7-500 Honolulu Hawaii 96813, a private firm in no way connected with DoD, the U. S. Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps, under exclusive contract with Commander, Navy Region Hawaii.
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Thank you, PMRF See page B-1 Pulling together to clean up beach See page A-6 Earth Day! Worldwide voyage, ... is in the stars See page A-5 Why the world needs Earth Day See page A-4 April 22, 2016 www.cnic.navy.mil/hawaii www.hookelenews.com Volume 7 Issue 15 Base commander signs Child Abuse Prevention proclamation Story and photo by Anna Marie G. General Managing Editor, Ho’okele Capt. Stanley Keeve, Jr., commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, signed a proclamation banner in support of Child Abuse Prevention Month during a pinwheel plant- ing ceremony at the Center Drive Child Development Center (CDC), April 15. Hosted by the Military and Family Support Cen- ter (MFSC), this year’s theme “Children Thrive When Supervised, Safe and Sound” invokes awareness that children deserve our utmost protection and care, and to ensure that they have a fair chance to thrive. “It’s important to bring awareness to the fact that we do have child abuse that happens in America. It’s unfortunate, but it does happen. By bringing awareness, we can hope- fully move forward and make things better for the children of today and the children of tomorrow,” Keeve said. During the event, chil- dren from CDC also partic- ipated in the signing of the proclamation banner, fol- lowed by a pinwheel plant- ing ceremony and parade. “The pinwheel symbol- izes a message to protect all children. As the wind blows the pinwheels, the message of protection is sent out to the community,” said Marissa Ayag-Garcia, counseling and advocacy supervisor of MFSC. According to Prevent Child Abuse America, pinwheels for prevention is a national symbol for the great childhoods all children deserve because our children are our fu- ture. It connotes whimsy and childlike notions and serves as the physical em- bodiment, or reminder of the great childhoods we want for our children. “We see these wonderful kids here having a great time, but it does remind us that they are fragile and we need to do all we can to protect them. So that’s why it is important—to stop, pause and realize that every child doesn’t have some of the great things that we have here at Joint Base Pearl Har- bor-Hickam. We have to do our part by bringing awareness to this incident, this situation to make this cause better for our fu- ture,” Keeve said. In addition, CDC also celebrated Month of the Military Child with re- freshments and a carnival to conclude the event. According to the Cen- ter for Disease Control, about nine million children are treated in emergency rooms for various types of injuries and 9,000 of them will die from their inju- ries each year. Research has proven that parents and child caregivers can prevent many childhood injuries by keeping them supervised, safe and sound. For more information on child abuse prevention, visit www.ffsp.navy.mil. Capt. Stanley Keeve, Jr., commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and children from the Center Drive Child Development Center, signed a child abuse prevention month awareness banner, April 15. Sexual assault expert Anne Munch visits Joint Base to raise awareness Story and photo by MC2 Jeff Troutman Sexual assault expert Anne Munch spoke to military ser- vice members and civilians assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam April 14 during a Sexual Assault and Prevention Response event at the Ford Is- land Conference Center. The event was designed to encourage and spread sexual assault awareness during the month of April, which is desig- nated by the Department of Defense as Sexual Assault Aware- ness and Prevention Month. Munch, an attorney and vic- tim-advocate, is known around the world for visiting with mili- tary installations to talk about the dangers and perceptions of sexual assault. “ I t a l k about sexual assault from a different perspec- tive,” Munch said. “I’m not here to talk about this crime from a restricted or unre- stricted reporting-type way. I use a lot of storytelling and courtroom experience when I speak to ser- vice members, and I ask them to challenge their own thinking and to not just be here in uniform as part of their job, but to be here as the human being they’ve been raised to be thus far and to re- ally examine how they look at the topic of sexual assault.” Munch’s training focused on providing a closer look at victims, offenders and the role bystand- ers play in preventing sexual assaults from happening. Using recorded 911 calls and personal experiences with both victims and sex offenders, Munch’s training strived to increase awareness and understanding while fulfilling a mandatory military-wide training requirement. “Sexual assault pre- vention requires the ac- tive involvement of each and every one here,” said Capt. Stanley Keeve Jr., commander, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. “It requires a commitment to own our cul- ture, and we do that by raising awareness and being committed to stopping sexual assaults from happening, not just today and not just this month, but throughout the year itself.” Munch implored those in atten- dance to continue reporting cases of sexual assault to their chain of command and to the proper authorities in the event they or someone they know feel they’ve been a victim of sexual assault. “If we don’t question sexual as- sault and work to educate people on the realities of this crime, we create a perfect environment for perpetrators,” Munch said. “The good news is, service members are reporting more cases of sexual assault and survivors are com- ing forward a lot more than they were even just a few years ago, and that’s a trend that needs to continue.” For more information regarding April’s theme of sexual assault prevention, the Sexual Assault and Prevention office or visit http://ow.ly/4mV5TQ DBIDS to enhance security measures at JBPHH Blair Martin Gradel Public Affairs, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Joint Base Pearl Har- bor-Hickam will begin transitioning its electronic access systems to the De- fense Biometric Identifi- cation System (DBIDS). A Department of Defense (DoD) owned and operated system, DBIDS is a sig- nificant enhancement to military installation force protection and improves the management of base access and screening of ci- vilian and military person- nel at DoD installations. According to Tech Sgt. Travis B. Martho, from JBPHH Pass and ID and 647th Security Forces Squadron, the goal of the program is to utilize a com- prehensive database that provides quick and reliable information to validate and verify access for all person- nel entering JBPHH. “Additionally, DBIDS allows law enforcement to utilize the DBIDS data- base to inform entry con- trol points of any wants, warrants, missing persons, as well as ‘Be on the Look- out’ (BOLO) notifications within seconds,” Martho said. The transition period will begin in a staggered basis with ID card reg- istration at installation gates from April 25 to May 20, with full implementa- tion beginning May 21 at JBPHH and its annexes at Wahiawa, West Loch, and Lualualei. According to Martho, the DBIDS program is meant only to enhance security measures already in place. As he explained, the program will benefit the base by providing fully in- tegrated identity manage- ment and force protection capability. For example, DBIDS provides entry con- trollers with details, such as a photo, access dates, times, security warnings, wants, warrants and other information that can assist with verifying installation access. “DBIDS integrates mul- tiple technologies to facil- itate positive electronic identification of person- nel,” he said. “Additionally, DBIDS makes it very dif- ficult to fake an identity or use someone else’s ID card in order to gain installation access.” Please note, that during the transition period, per- sonnel might experience slight delays at installation access points when gate personnel scans an ID card for the first time. For more information on DBIDS, please visit https:// dbids.dmdc.mil/my.policy or contact JBPHH Pass and ID office at 449-0872 or 449-0865.
Transcript
Thank you, PMRFSee page B-1
Pulling together to clean up beachSee page A-6
EarthDay!
Worldwide voyage, ...is in the starsSee page A-5
Why the world needs Earth DaySee page A-4
April 22, 2016 www.cnic.navy.mil/hawaii www.hookelenews.com Volume 7 Issue 15
Base commander signs Child Abuse Prevention proclamationStory and photo by Anna Marie G. General
Managing Editor, Ho’okele
Capt. Stanley Keeve, Jr., commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, signed a proclamation banner in support of Child Abuse Prevention Month during a pinwheel plant-ing ceremony at the Center Drive Child Development Center (CDC), April 15.
Hosted by the Military and Family Support Cen-ter (MFSC), this year ’s theme “Children Thrive When Supervised, Safe and Sound” invokes awareness that children deserve our utmost protection and care, and to ensure that they have a fair chance to thrive.
“It’s important to bring awareness to the fact that we do have child abuse that happens in America. It’s unfortunate, but it does happen. By bringing awareness, we can hope-fully move forward and make things better for the children of today and the children of tomorrow,” Keeve said.
During the event, chil-dren from CDC also partic-ipated in the signing of the
proclamation banner, fol-lowed by a pinwheel plant-ing ceremony and parade.
“The pinwheel symbol-izes a message to protect all children. As the wind
blows the pinwheels, the message of protection is sent out to the community,” said Marissa Ayag-Garcia, counseling and advocacy supervisor of MFSC.
According to Prevent Child Abuse America, pinwheels for prevention is a national symbol for the great childhoods all children deserve because
our children are our fu-ture. It connotes whimsy and childlike notions and serves as the physical em-bodiment, or reminder of the great childhoods we
want for our children.“We see these wonderful
kids here having a great time, but it does remind us that they are fragile and we need to do all we can to protect them. So that’s why it is important—to stop, pause and realize that every child doesn’t have some of the great things that we have here at Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam. We have to do our part by bringing awareness to this incident, this situation to make this cause better for our fu-ture,” Keeve said.
In addition, CDC also celebrated Month of the Military Child with re-freshments and a carnival to conclude the event.
According to the Cen-ter for Disease Control, about nine million children are treated in emergency rooms for various types of injuries and 9,000 of them will die from their inju-ries each year. Research has proven that parents and child caregivers can prevent many childhood injuries by keeping them supervised, safe and sound.
For more information on child abuse prevention, visit www.ffsp.navy.mil.
Capt. Stanley Keeve, Jr., commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and children from the Center Drive Child Development Center, signed a child abuse prevention month awareness banner, April 15.
Sexual assault expert Anne Munch visits Joint Base to raise awarenessStory and photo by MC2 Jeff Troutman
Sexual assault expert Anne Munch spoke to military ser-v ice members and c iv i l ians assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam April 14 during a Sexual Assault and Prevention Response event at the Ford Is-land Conference Center.
The event was designed to encourage and spread sexual assault awareness during the month of April, which is desig-nated by the Department of Defense as Sexual Assault Aware-ness and Prevention Month.
Munch, an attorney and vic-tim-advocate, is known around the world for visiting with mili-tary installations to talk about the dangers and percept ions o f sexual assault.
“ I t a l k about sexual assault f r o m a different perspec-tive,” Munch said.
“I’m not here to talk about this crime from a restricted or unre-stricted reporting-type way. I use a lot of storytelling and courtroom experience when I speak to ser-vice members, and I ask them to challenge their own thinking and to not just be here in uniform as part of their job, but to be here as the human being they’ve been raised to be thus far and to re-ally examine how they look at the topic of sexual assault.”
Munch’s training focused on providing a closer look at victims, offenders and the role bystand-ers play in preventing sexual assaults from happening. Using recorded 911 calls and personal experiences with both victims and sex offenders, Munch’s training strived to increase awareness and understanding while fulfilling a mandatory military-wide training
requirement. “Sexual assault pre-
vention requires the ac-tive involvement of each
and every one here,” said Capt. Stanley Keeve Jr. ,
commander, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. “It requires
a commitment to own our cul-ture, and we do that by raising awareness and being committed to stopping sexual assaults from
happening, not just
today and not just this month, but throughout the year itself.”
Munch implored those in atten-dance to continue reporting cases of sexual assault to their chain of command and to the proper authorities in the event they or someone they know feel they’ve been a victim of sexual assault.
“If we don’t question sexual as-sault and work to educate people on the realities of this crime, we create a perfect environment for perpetrators,” Munch said. “The good news is, service members are reporting more cases of sexual assault and survivors are com-ing forward a lot more than they were even just a few years ago, and that’s a trend that needs to continue.”
For more information regarding April’s theme of sexual assault prevention, the Sexual Assault and Prevention office or visit http://ow.ly/4mV5TQ
DBIDS to enhance security measures at JBPHHBlair Martin Gradel
Public Affairs, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam will begin transitioning its electronic access systems to the De-fense Biometric Identifi-cation System (DBIDS). A Department of Defense (DoD) owned and operated system, DBIDS is a sig-nificant enhancement to military installation force protection and improves the management of base access and screening of ci-vilian and military person-nel at DoD installations.
According to Tech Sgt. Travis B. Martho, from JBPHH Pass and ID and 647th Security Forces Squadron, the goal of the program is to utilize a com-prehensive database that provides quick and reliable information to validate and verify access for all person-nel entering JBPHH.
“Additionally, DBIDS allows law enforcement to utilize the DBIDS data-base to inform entry con-trol points of any wants, warrants, missing persons, as well as ‘Be on the Look-out’ (BOLO) notifications within seconds,” Martho said.
The transition period will begin in a staggered basis with ID card reg-istration at installation
gates from April 25 to May 20, with full implementa-tion beginning May 21 at JBPHH and its annexes at Wahiawa, West Loch, and Lualualei.
According to Martho, the DBIDS program is meant only to enhance security measures already in place.
As he explained, the program will benefit the base by providing fully in-tegrated identity manage-ment and force protection capability. For example, DBIDS provides entry con-trollers with details, such as a photo, access dates, times, security warnings, wants, warrants and other information that can assist with verifying installation access.
“DBIDS integrates mul-tiple technologies to facil-itate positive electronic identification of person-nel,” he said. “Additionally, DBIDS makes it very dif-ficult to fake an identity or use someone else’s ID card in order to gain installation access.”
Please note, that during the transition period, per-sonnel might experience slight delays at installation access points when gate personnel scans an ID card for the first time.
For more information on DBIDS, please visit https://dbids.dmdc.mil/my.policy or contact JBPHH Pass and ID office at 449-0872 or
449-0865.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-2
FIST2FAC: The future of Navy combat training?USS Michael Murphy participates in virtual training program
Warren Duffie
Office of Naval Research Public Affairs
ARLINGTON, Va.— Sailors aboard the guided-missile de-stroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) recently partici-pated in a virtual training pro-gram demonstration training at the Fleet Integrated Syn-thetic Training/Testing Facility (FIST2FAC) at Ford Island.
According to an official an-nouncement on Apr i l 11 , the Office of Naval Research (ONR), with support from members of its reserve compo-nent, demonstrated new and improved training technology.
FIST2FAC develops, tests, and demonstrates simulator training technology blending live-action exercises with vir-tual assets and adversaries.
“This is the future of train-ing for the Navy,” said Terry Allard, head of ONR’s Warf-ighter Performance Depart-ment. “With simulation, you can explore endless possibili-
ties without the expense and logistical challenges of putting hundreds of ships at sea and aircraft in the sky.”
FIST2FAC combines a has-sle-free setup, software and gaming technology to help na-val forces develop strategies for diverse missions and opera-tions. It allows Sailors to inter-act with artificially intelligent forces in countless virtual set-tings—and train for multiple missions simultaneously. The
system can replicate situations involving aircraft carriers, he-licopters (in this case, a squad-ron from Marine Corps Base Hawaii), lethal and non-lethal weapons, and more.
“FIST2FAC was created in response to an urgent need for a more portable way for ships to train in any given operat-ing area,” said Glenn White, ONR’s integration and transi-tion manager for the project. “It allows Sailors to ‘train like
they fight’ by presenting real-istic forces in a visual, tactical and operational environment.”
FIST2FAC, which was devel-oped with support from the Na-val Undersea Warfare Center Keyport Division, has demon-strated simulator technology since 2010. The latest event showcased improved capabil-ities and new enhancements to FIST2FAC training simula-tors:
•The bridge of USS Michael Murphy at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam was equipped with an array of computer screens and big-screen televi-sion monitors, allowing it to engage in virtual combat sce-narios while maintaining con-tact with Ford Island.
• S a i l o r s o p e r a t i n g t h e 50-caliber machine gun on the ship wore augmented-reality glasses, enabling them to see virtual enemy combatants within a live physical setting.
•Participants on Ford Island and the destroyer experienced degraded radar, video streaming and communications, mirroring the effects of an enemy jamming communication signals.
•A virtual adversary vocally hailed the participants, speak-
ing in a foreign language as well as broken English.
White said the technology demonstrated at FIST2FAC is a valuable tool for the Navy for two main reasons—savings and security.
The software is reusable and can be modified for different en-vironments. By comparison, it costs about $250,000 just to get an aircraft carrier out for live training and approximately $6 million to fuel a strike group for a week. A live event lasting six to 10 hours may cost a million dollars.
The ability to recreate so many combat scenarios any-where also is useful in training for any challenge a ship might face worldwide—from vessel maintenance to landing a fighter jet to navigating hostile waters.
Currently, FIST2FAC is shore based, but one day White wants to make the capabilities devel-oped there available to ships at sea, he said.
“The ultimate goal is to wrap a destroyer in an augmented world where everyone through-out the ship can see virtual ves-sels, aircraft and adversaries and train to respond appropri-ately,” White said.
U.S. Navy photo by John F. WilliamsSailors aboard the USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) defend against virtual enemy combatants in a demonstration at Ford Island, March 24.
AMC PAX terminal set to undergo renovations Story and photo by Tech. Sgt. Terri Paden
15th Wing Public Affairs
The 735th Air Mobil-ity Squadron passenger terminal at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is set to undergo renova-tions beginning May 1.
The remodeling will t a k e p l a c e i n t h r e e stages, and will take ap-proximately two years to complete. Phase one will be May to April 2017, phase two will be from May to October 2017, and phase three will be from November 2017 to May 2018.
A c c o r d i n g t o S t a f f Sgt. Kyle Holmes, 735th A M S F a c i l i t i e s a n d
Programs non-commis-sioned officer-in-charge, the renovation will ad-dress several issues that have been problematic in the past.
“We will be bringing the p lumbing , HVAC and fire suppression sys-tem up to code,” he said. “Most of the changes will happen behind the walls but some changes, such as adding new pub-lic restrooms, a new pas-senger service counter, and security wall, will be more visible,” Holmes said.
The terminal layout will also be renovated to make it more efficient for passengers.
Holmes said though some of the renovations
wil l be apparent, the only true effect on cus-tomers will be a shift in where they will in-pro-cess for flights.
“During phase one, the passenger service operations will happen on the opposite side of the bui ld ing . During phase two and three, op-erations will move out-side of the terminal into the temporary trailers and tents.”
1st Lt. Kimberly Rob-inson, 735th AMC Pas-senger Services officer in charge, said because the terminal was built in the 1970s, it’s in need of some major updates; however, not everything is changing.
“One thing that will
not change is how far our Airmen will go to he lp our customers , ” she said. “We ask for
patience as we further improve our Passen-ger Terminal so we can make it better for the
years to come.”For more information,
v is i t http : / /1 .usa .gov/1rm970e
2nd Lt. Tyler Stevens, former 735th Air Mobility Squadron Passenger and Fleet Service Flight officer in charge, explains procedures at Joint Base, Oct. 9, 2014.
Spouses club supports the mission – HOSC recognized by PACAFTech. Sgt. Terri Paden
15th Wing Public Affairs
At Joint Base Pearl H a r b o r - H i c k a m , t h e Hickam Officers’ Spouses Club (HOSC) is a part of the support system that is behind all Airmen, working hard in the com-munity to ensure Airmen and their families are well taken care of.
The HOSC is a non-profit organization that organizes social and rec-reational activities for its members, and supports charitable and educa-tional endeavors.
“The HOSC aims to bring our spouses together to build relationships and a support network, while having fun,” said Carrie Payne, HOSC president.
“Through our philan-thropic endeavors we give
back to the com-munity
we live in, both on and off base.”
Payne said one of the or-ganization’s more unique accomplishments is their work with the Hickam Thrift Shop.
“Hickam’s [OSC] is unique because we op-erate the extremely suc-cessful Hickam Thrift Shop,” said Payne. “The money raised is utilized for our grants and scholar-ships programs. We have worked diligently this year to reduce overhead at the thrift shop, ensuring we maximize our philan-thropic endeavors.”
In fact, the thrift shop staff and volunteers worked so hard, the HOSC has been able to grant more than $60,000 in grants to deserving members of the Joint base community.
“The grants
awarded by the HOSC offer our largest contri-bution to the commu-nity,” Payne said. “This year we were honored to award grants to the First Sergeants’ Association, Hickam Airman’s Attic, and many other orga-nizations. The funding provided allows these or-ganizations to positively impact the base commu-nity.”
The HOSC also finds other w a y s t o give back and sup-
port Airmen and their families, including the an-nual Snacks with Santa and Cookie Caper holiday events, the Easter egg hunt, Keiki safety fair, National Night Out, USO Operation Birthday Cake, and the Airmen and Fam-ily Readiness Center’s cof-fee outreach social.
Payne said the club continuously searches for ways to enhance the lives of Airmen and their families and works with the 15th Wing to identify potential service proj-ects. The diligent work of Payne and the HOSC was recently recognized by top community leaders.
“It was a privilege to recognize the leadership o f M r s . C a r r i e
Payne by giving her a mil-itary coin,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Dillon, Pacific Air Forces vice commander.
“Carrie leads an inspi-rational OSC team that gives back to our commu-nity throughout the year. Whether it’s providing financial scholarships to military dependents or giving grants to deserving youth and Hickam groups, Carrie and her HOSC team improve the quality of life for all our members and their families. I laud Carrie and her amazing team for their continued generosity and support to the entire Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Ohana.”
According to Payne, the HOSC also offers spouses a chance to build lifelong friendships, support sys-tems and network.
“As a private organiza-tion, the HOSC is different from the AFRC because we not only provide re-sources but friendship,” she said. “Friendships made at the HOSC can span decades. Our phil-anthropic endeavors can affect change for years to come. The HOSC has the ability to award grants to community organizations, thus building community relations.”
For more information or to join the HOSC, visit http://www.hickamosc.com/.
USS Chung-Hoon honors Sigsbee Sailors(Far right) Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) parade the colors during a ceremony in honor of USS Sigsbee (DD 502) in the western Pacific, April 14.
(Right) Ensign Stefanie M. Cotner, a native of Heath, Texas, commits flowers to the sea during the ceremony aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon.
U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Marcus L. Stanley
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-3
Commander, Navy Region Hawaii
Rear Adm. John V. Fuller
Chief of Staff Capt. Mark Manfredi
Commander, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
Capt. Stanley Keeve Jr.
Deputy Commander Col. Richard Smith
Director, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs
Agnes Tauyan
Deputy Director, Public Affairs Bill Doughty
Director, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
Public Affairs Grace Hew Len
Managing Editor Anna Marie General
Editor Don Robbins
Assistant Editor Brandon Bosworth
Sports Editor Randy Dela Cruz
Sr. Graphic Artist Antonio Verceluz
Graphic Artist Michelle Poppler
Ho‘okele is a free unofficial paper published every Friday by The Honolulu Star Advertiser 500 Ala Moana Boulevard Suite 7-500 Honolulu Hawaii 96813, a private firm in no way connected with DoD, the U. S. Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps, under exclusive contract with Commander, Navy Region Hawaii. All editorial content is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the staff of the Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs Office: 850 Ticonderoga, Suite 110, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 96860-4884. Telephone: (808) 473-2888; fax (808) 473-2876; e-mail address: [email protected] World Wide Web address: https://www.cnic.navy.mil/Hawaii/ or www.hookelenews.com. This civilian enterprise newspaper is an authorized publication primarily for members of the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps military services and their families in Hawaii. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U. S. Government, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps and do not imply endorsement thereof.
The civilian publisher, The Honolulu Star Advertiser, is responsible for commercial advertising, which may be purchased by calling (808) 521-9111.The appearance of advertising in this newspaper, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement of the products and services advertised by the Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii or The Honolulu Star Advertiser. Everything advertised in this paper shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. A confirmed violation of this policy of equal opportunity by an advertiser will result in the refusal to print advertising from that source. Ho‘okele is delivered weekly to Navy & Air Force housing units and Navy and Air Force installations throughout Oahu.
What is your favorite endangered or threatened species?
Logistics Specialist First Class (SW/AW) Froilan RevillaAfloat Training Group Middle Pacific
“Philippine monkey-eating eagle: It is the symbol of the Philippines and I am from the Philippines.”
Lt. j.g. Fleet WhiteUSS Olympia (SSN 717)
“Koala bears, because they are cute and cuddly.”
Lt. Cmdr. Ken St. GermainNaval Information Operations Command Hawaii
“Snow leopard. It’s a big cat and survives in harsh environments.”
Operations Specialist Second Class (SW) Skylar SearleCommander Naval Surface Forces Middle Pacific
“Panda bear, it’s important to Asian community and cool to see at the zoo.”
Staff Sgt. Crystol Brown15th Comptroller Squadron
“Sea turtles, because as part of every ecosystem, every animal has its place or plays their part. Sea turtles protect the sea grass that house many fish and in turn helps commercial fisheries that provide us with food.”
Master Sgt. Mike Free15th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
“Grouper, because they’re a part of the sea bass family. My favorite is the goliath grouper that can reach up to 800 pounds.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Morris15th Medical Operations Squadron
“Malayan tiger. I’m not sure if people realize that the tiger image is seen right before you start a Mandalay Pictures film. The Malayan tiger to me is a beautiful animal. My wife would have a fit if I brought a 220-pound tiger home so I’ll just admire it from afar.”
Provided by Lt. j.g. Jacqueline Muslin and David D. Underwood Jr.
Want to see your command featured in Diverse Views? Got opinions to share?
Elvis Presley, wearing his trademark gold lamé suit and lei, performs at Bloch Arena at Pearl Harbor, March 25, 1961. The concert was a fundraiser for the Arizona Memorial.
Photo courtesy of Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Every Day is Earth Day Here
‘Dreams Come True … in Green, Blue Hawaii’Rear Adm. John Fuller
Commander, Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Sur-face Group Middle Pacific
Elvis Presley brought Hawai i to the s i lver screen 55 years ago in “Blue Hawaii,” a movie which spawned a #1 al-bum and a cover of the famous song with the lyr-ics, “dreams come true in blue Hawaii.”
Elvis, by the way, was a huge supporter of our military.
On March 18, 1961— just three days before re-cording the soundtrack to Blue Hawaii—Elvis gave a charity concert at our historic Bloch Arena. The concert raised funds for the USS Arizona Memo-rial.
But, getting back to blue—and green—Ha-waii, there is a reason the 50th state captures the world’s imagination on screen and especially in person.
The spir i t o f a loha ranks at the top of the s t a t e ’ s a t t r a c t i o n s , along with the beautiful oceans, beaches, moun-tains, valleys and sky. Hawaii’s natural beauty brings millions of visitors to the islands each year.
Those of us who are fortunate to be stationed in Hawaii feel a deep sense of belonging and
appreciation. It’s literally a “dream come true” to live and work here. We learn about the culture, experience great diver-sity, and work to preserve the environment as part of the ohana.
I’m so proud to see the time and effort our Sail-ors, airmen, civilians and family members donate to beach and bike path cleanups.
At the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai and at the Joint Base here on Oahu, we actively work to protect endangered birds and plants. Our commands embrace renewable en-ergy and promote inno-vative ways to increase energy efficiency and en-ergy conservation.
I’ve been impressed by how seriously we take our energy and environment responsibilities.
Two years ago, when workers discovered de-
cades-old hazardous mil-itary debris buried under the track and football field at Radford High School, we took full responsibility and began remediation. Now the debris is gone and the field is pristine and green again.
More than two years ago, when 27,000 gal-lons of fuel was lost at Red Hill fuel facility, our Navy team responded to prevent further losses. Today, we continue to modern ize the fac i l -i ty, update operating procedures , increase oversight and keep the public informed. We are absolutely committed to keeping the drinking wa-ter safe.
S ince 2006 , we in -vested $192 million to continue modernizing Red Hill and for environ-mental tests. We plan to invest additional millions over the next five years in addition to any work required from the Admin-istrative Order on Con-sent. For example, we recently awarded more than $43 million in con-tracts to upgrade the fa-cility’s fire suppression, ventilation and oil-tight door systems.
We are taking a delib-erate, engineering-based approach with EPA/DOH approval and oversight to avoid a rush to failure or cause unintentional dam-
age to the environment.Our Navy is moving
away from fossil fuels and embracing renewable energy wherever possi-ble.
At this moment, USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) is forward deployed and vis-iting Singapore as part of the worldwide Great Green Fleet, demonstrat-ing the power of alterna-tive energy.
Another Pearl Har-bor homeported ship, USS Chafee (DDG 90), along with PMRF, won the Chief of Naval Oper-ations and Secretary of the Navy Environmental awards for 2015.
Energy conservation goes hand-in-hand with protecting the environ-ment, and our Resident Energy Conservat ion Program is successfully incentivizing savings— both in electricity and in finances—for families in privatized housing. We are looking to do more.
Earth Day is a good oc-casion to thank our mili-tary ohana for all you are doing in “malama aina, malama kai”—caring for the land, caring for the sea.
We recognize April 22 as Earth Day, but some say every day should be Earth Day, especially h e r e — w h e r e d r e a m s come true in “green and blue Hawaii.”
Rear Adm. John Fuller
CorrectionThe article “Seabees build two new ramps at
Wahiawa CDC” in the April 15 issue of Ho‘okele had an incorrect credit for the article. It should have said “story by Construction Electrician 2nd Class (SCW) Seth A. Weaver, Public Works De-partment, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Sea-bee Division.”
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-4
Why the world needs Earth DayThe following is a conversa-tion with Navy Region Hawaii Environmental Counsel Becky Hommon
Question: Why does the world need Earth Day?
Answer: Earth Day started when we realized some of the consequences of over-develop-ment and our general belief that the earth had an infinite capacity to absorb whatever pollution we were throwing at it. We still need Earth Day to remind ourselves that our ac-tions as individuals and collec-tively still matter. We really can make this world a better place. But we all have to act.
Q: How has the military changed over the years in its concern for the environment?
A: It’s been astounding. Not only has professional staffing with environmental protection experts increased exponen-tially, leadership embraces the concept. We all understand that no one wants a military base in their back yard if the people at that base trash the community. Today, military bases provide the best-protected habitat for threatened and endangered species, outside of refuges run by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Just look at the Pacific Missile Range on Kauai.
PMRF is known by wildlife professionals and advocates as the safest place on Kauai for threatened green sea tur-tles, endangered Hawaiian monk seals and endangered
wetland birds. Everyone knows PMRF has done more as to turning off lights to avoid harming night fledging sea-birds than any other place on Kauai. I wouldn’t say I was mocked years ago when I first starting letting people know there was laws that required us to protect the environment, but it was close.
Q: What would people be sur-prised to know about how ships operate at sea, for example, in protecting marine mammals?
A: That the men and women who serve on these ships love to whale watch and see dolphins race alongside just as much as anyone else, if not more so. I don’t think the general public comprehends that our sonar technicians can identify the
species of many life forms in the ocean by the sounds they make.
Our Americans at sea bring with them wherever they go their values, which include a love of nature, a love of the amazing variety of life on this planet. Some of our best na-ture photographers are or were members of the U.S. armed ser-vices. You don’t lose that love of nature when you put on a uni-form.
Q: Recently, PMRF was awarded the SECNAV En-vironmental Award for 2015 for small installations. What are they doing that is so award-worthy?
A: PMRF continues to ramp up its environmental protection programs especially around the natural resources that
are on the base, and does so with Kauai partners. Because PMRF is so small and the staff so tight with the Kauai commu-nity, they can accomplish amaz-ing things. The most recent story is their effort with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other groups to re-establish a Laysan albatross colony on Oahu with eggs from PMRF on Kauai transported on regular flights to Kaneohe. These ma-jestic six-foot wing span birds that float on the breeze are of course a bird/aircraft strike hazard, known as BASH.
Years ago we had a permit to smash eggs and wring the necks of any chicks born on the base. It was legal but we didn’t feel very good about it. We re-alized there had to be a better idea. And there was.
PMRF staff worked with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture people on Kauai to move the eggs to a national wildlife ref-uge. When the refuge reached its carrying capacity, the team thought that having a second albatross colony on Oahu would be a good idea so here we are, helping out. It’s a wonderful thing.
Q: Isn’t the military among the worst polluters and destroy-ers of the environment?
A: That’s so wrong. No. Just look to see who’s being fined and put out of business. It’s not the U.S. military. I’ve had many environmental profes-sionals over the years recognize
our tight command and control as well as constant training. That has benefits. People don’t stray too often.
When I’ve shown commercial fishermen our whale wheels and pollution wheels that are used on our ships, they want them, too. We’re not driven by profit. Our people are amazing at doing the right thing with few resources. And our leaders are some of the brightest and best. Our nation is very for-tunate to have these talented men and women serving day after day, some in harm’s way, and doing the right thing.
Q: What’s your take on the current voyage of Hokulea and Malama Honua?
A: I know many people are headed to New York to welcome Hokulea to New York. Should be a great party.
Q: What can each of us do to be responsible citizens of the planet?
A: Oh, that’s easy. Spread a little aloha around the world. The more we take care of each other, the more the planet benefits. Support national parks and national wildlife refuges not only within the United States but globally. It’s still the same: speak up when you see something that you’re not comfortable with, whether it’s something being rinsed down a drain or a turtle being chased. Heal the world. And thanks for asking. It’s been 30 years of good fun. Happy Earth Day!
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-4 April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-5
Worldwide voyage, exploration, navigation is in the stars
Thevoyage of life Bill Doughty
U.S. astronaut Air Force Lt. Col. Charles Lacy Veach looked out the window of the space shuttle as it passed over Hawaii nearly 25 years ago and had an epiphany about “island Earth.”
“Lacy could see all the islands, and he could see his whole spirit and soul here. He could see the entire planet as one vi-sion,” said master navigator Dr. Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
Thompson credits Veach for inspiring Malama Honua (“Care for the Earth”), the worldwide journey of a double-hull voyaging canoe, Hokule’a, using traditional navigation techniques. The voyage is underway to raise awareness of our collective respon-sibility to protect and cherish our home planet.
“Hawaii is a laboratory for living well on islands, including Island Earth,” according to Thompson, in an interview with PBS.
Kathy Muneno of Hawaii’s KHON reports, “Thompson says it’s when Veach saw Hawaii from space that he knew it held the answer to a beautiful, sustainable and caring Earth. He says Veach actually planted the seed for Hokule’a to sail around the world.”
Hokule’a (“star of gladness,” named for the star Arcturus, which passes over Hawaii) visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Cen-ter earlier this month, where Thompson and other voyagers paid tribute to Veach’s legacy.
“The country needs to know that Lacy was the one that planted the idea as a seed into us in 1992 to take Hokule’a around the world,” Thompson said, “Florida becomes founda-tional for us to articulate and communicate to this country that that’s why we’re coming — out of respect, and out of honoring and making sure that they know that Lacy’s legacy counts.”
Thompson’s tribute to Lacy and his vision of “the beauty of island Earth” is published by the Polynesian Voyaging Soci-ety at: http://ow.ly/4mPUGl. It’s a beautiful tribute and shows Veach’s commitment to teaching the next generation.
Like President Obama, Veach is a graduate of Punahou School in Honolulu. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force upon graduation from the Air Force Academy in 1966 and served as a USAF fighter pilot. According to his NASA bio, he flew “the F-100 Super Sabre, the F-111, and the F-105 Thun-derchief, on assignments in the United States, Europe, and the Far East, including a 275-mission combat tour in the Republic of Vietnam.”
He was a member of the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, in 1976 and 1977. Veach left active duty in 1981, but served as a F-16 pilot with the Texas Air National Guard before becoming an astronaut in June 1985.
From his NASA bio: “He held a variety of technical assign-ments, and had flown as a mission specialist on two Space Shut-tle missions, STS-39 in 1991 and STS-52 in 1992. He had logged 436.3 hours in space. Most recently, Lacy had worked as the lead astronaut for the development and operation of robotics for the International Space Station.”
Veach is mentioned in the same breath as Pinky Thompson (Nainoa’s father), Mao Piailug and Eddie (“Eddie Would Go”) Aikau, inspirational leaders who are part of a seafaring tradi-tion.
U.S. Navy Sailors in Hawaii have a history of working with the Polynesian Voyaging Society — volunteering to assist with fixing and painting facilities, sanding and refurbishing canoes, and advising voyagers.
Just prior to Hokule’a’s voyage, Rear Adm. Frank Ponds (then-commander, Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific) spoke with Kathy Muneno and spoke about mitigating the dangers they could face transiting the Pa-cific, including pirates, storms and rogue waves.
Recently the Navy announced a renewed interest in teach-ing traditional navigation techniques at the Naval Academy (USNA), using constellations, the sun and moon as Hokule’a does, without relying on global positioning satellites.
National Public Radio published a story about the Navy’s initiative, noting, “Navigation by the stars dates back millen-nia. The ancient Polynesians used stars and constellations to help guide their outrigger canoes across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean. And right up until the mid-20th century, navigation on the sea was usually done by looking at the heavens.”
As for Hokule’a, the voyaging canoe heads north up the East Coast now toward Washington D.C. and New York via the Carolinas and Virginia. Kamaaina will likely be on hand to meet and greet the voyagers. At the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, the voyagers plan to participate in the Earth Day celebration there April 23.
To follow the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage, visit http://hokulea.com/track-the-voyage
(A version of this essay appeared on Navy Reads, a blog dedi-cated to books, reading and critical thinking: http://navyreads.blogspot.com/)
Team Pearl rescues green sea turtle in shipyard dry docksStory and photo by Gail Shon
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermedi-ate Maintenance Facil-ity Occupational Safety, Health & Environment Department
After the undocking of USS Olympia (SSN 717) Pearl Harbor Na-val Shipyard and Inter-mediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSYand IMF) workers noticed a large green sea turtle (in Hawaiian, a “honu”) trapped in a dry dock aft during the dewater-ing operation.
The green sea tur-tle is an endangered species protected by the Endangered Spe-cies Act, so action was taken immediately to notify the shipyard’s docking off icer and Occupational Safety, Health & Environment Department, which then closely monitored the dewatering opera-tion to ensure the turtle would not be injured.
A shipyard crane and rigging team from the Rigging and Equipment
Operations Divi-sion lowered an empty r igging g e a r s t o r a g e box into the dry dock to safely remove the tur-
tle. PHNSY and IMF Regional Div-
ing Division divers surrounded
the large turtle, gently lifted it into the box and quickly filled the box with seawater. The box was then craned over the dry dock cais-son and lowered to Shipyard divers wait-ing in Pearl Harbor on a dive boat. The divers gently lifted the honu (nicknamed “Oly”) out of the box and released him safely into the har-bor waters.
“This is the 993rd turtle rescued since the Marine Turtle Re-search Program began in 1990,” said Shandell Brunson of the Na-tional Oceanic & Atmo-spheric Administration (NOAA).
Cory Campora, Na-val Facilities Engineer-ing Command Hawaii’s (NAVFAC HI) Natural Resources manager said, “The divers doing this rescue were edu-cated on how to handle sea turtles by a NOAA s ta f f member the last
time this happened, so they were confident they could safely move the turtle without in-jury.”
“Some people don’t realize we have green sea turtles in the har-bor, and are excited and surprised when one shows up,” stated Rebecca Smith, NAV-FAC Hawaii’s Natural Resources Management specialist.
The Navy coordinates closely with NOAA on all marine life rescues in and around the har-bor. To notify NOAA of any endangered or threatened marine an-imals that appear to be injured, stranded, entangled, dead, swim-ming, sleeping, ha-rassed and/or attacked in or around our piers, dry docks and shore-line, please call (808) 722-7285.
Story by Justice Vannatta
Editor’s Note: The following article is re-printed from Shipyard Log
“I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percent-age of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back from whence we came.”
•John F. Kennedy
As we set sail in the great voyage of our lives, seldom do we know what the changing tides may bring.
Though it is apparent, once we are in the proverbial storm, preparation is what sets us apart from sink or sail.
It was 25 years ago when I first heard of the voyage of Hokule’a. I was 12 years old, in middle school, and crew members, including master navigator and captain of the Hokule’a Nainoa Thompson, visited our campus for a show and tell assembly with our student body.
They began to tell grand sea tales of tread-ing the vast, tumultuous blue ocean, to a much immersed and entertained 8th grade crowd. In detail, they described to us how the Hokule’a, a double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe, scaled a stampede of relentless Mount Ever-est-sized ocean waves, which, in the midst of an onslaught of hurricane-force winds, merci-lessly pounded the hull into submission.
I could see the prideful glint in these navi-gators’ eyes. They had knowingly invested ev-ery bit of themselves into the pit of the abyss, and had emerged a little battered, a little bruised, but as resilient as ever. They had all shared in a life-changing experience, and in turn, subscribed to the fraternity of adventure, thrusting themselves into the voyage of the un-known… into the voyage of discovery.
I sat there, fascinated, with wide eyes and a fast-beating heart. This young man, so influ-ential, so eager and naive, fixated on the won-derment of his own life. Where would the wind take me? What will it be like when I grow up? The prospects of a young life, still anchored in place, impatiently waiting for its maiden voy-age. The possibilities were endless, the oppor-tunities boundless. I felt an insatiable desire to experience the great wide open, where my natural curiosity and penchant for exploration could be quenched.
As the crew members continued to talk and share their ocean anecdotes, it was clear that their nautical experiences were only matched by the depth of my enthusiasm and imagina-tion.
There are times in life when things come full circle. Fast forward 25 years later.
I was lucky enough to meet Gary Yuen on his last day of work at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facil-ity. Gary dedicated 37 years of his professional career as a nuclear shipfitter to the shipyard’s Structural Group, and was off to enjoy his sec-ond career as head cook and crew member of the legendary Hokule’a.
To intimately witness a person at the prec-ipice of a life transition is a real privilege. I could see that Yuen was sad to be leaving Pearl behind, but eager to set a new sail to a differ-ent frontier.
“No regrets,” he said, shaking his head. “No regrets.”
Since 1985, Yuen sailed on 10 voyages with the historical Hokule’a. He will rejoin the Hokule’a crew and the support ship Hikianalia in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of their “Malama Honua” (“Care for the Earth”) good-will tour. Launched from Hawaii on May 18, 2014, the tour will take three years and cover more than 49,000 nautical miles with visits to more than 26 countries and 85 ports of call, without the use of any modern navigational instruments.
“It’s all about seeing new places, meeting new people and exchanging cultures,” Yuen said enthusiastically. “There is so much life out there in the world. You wouldn’t believe how fascinating it is.”
When I ex-
pressed to Yuen my desire to draw a correla-tion in this article between the Hokule’a and the submarines and ships in our Pacific Fleet, our conversation began to focus on the impor-tance of the process of predictive planning and strategic preparation. Yuen explained its sig-nificance by telling me an unbelievable story of determination and triumph.
The preparation for the estimated $12 mil-lion “Malama Honua” tour took almost six years of dedicated planning. The mammoth task of organizing, training and forecasting for the extensive trip proved to be a colossal challenge.
“We prepared for everything and paid metic-ulous attention to details. Even the unforeseen took years to get right. All of this was done to ensure the crew’s safety, because their lives would be constantly at stake,” Yuen explained, his voice echoing a genuine concern.
One of the most important drills they ran was a “man-overboard” exercise, done over and over and over again, until each movement was engrained in their minds. Then they ran it again.
Yuen’s tale began 140 miles off the coast of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a territory of Australia located in the Indian Ocean, south-west of Christmas Island and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka. At 2:30 a.m. local time, three crew members stood watch while the rest of the crew was sleep-ing. Without a moment’s notice, a freak squall burst upon Hokule’a.
Immediately, as Yuen went into “storm mode” and began to batten down the mast, out of nowhere a rogue wave swept over the vessel and caught Yuen in its grasp and launched him 20 feet over the side into the deep dark sea. As he was being thrown, Yuen tried to grab onto the first thing he could get his hands on that could keep him from going overboard.
Unfortunately, what he caught as he flew over the side was a very expensive bilge pump. Realizing what he was holding, he began treading water frantically, while simultane-ously fastening the bilge pump to his waistline with a dangling cable.
“Man overboard, man overboard!” the ur-gent shouts rang out.
Within minutes, Yuen had drifted 75 feet away from the Hokule’a, steadily slipping into the frenzied gloom.
“There were moments when I couldn’t even see the boat, the waves were so high and ev-erything was so dark. I kept thinking to my-self, just stay calm. This is what you train and prepare for.”
He continued drifting until the spotlight on the boat looked like a star in the sky, but he refused to quit.
“I kept thinking of my family, my wife. That’s what kept me paddling like heck.”
Around the 30-minute mark, as the crew struggled to get close to him through the con-stant lurching of the waves, fatigue began to set in.
“The water was freezing and that bilge pump was getting really heavy,” Yuen said with a chuckle. “So many times I just wanted to ditch the pump, but I would’ve felt so guilty if I lost it because that piece of equipment is so expensive and hard to get.”
Finally, after 44 minutes of Yuen treading the turbulent ocean, the Hokule’a got close enough for the crew to get a flotation ring around him and pull him safely aboard.
“I have never been so exhausted in my life!” exclaimed Yuen. “I was so out of breath, but so grateful to be alive,” he said, laughing. “If it wasn’t for our training and predictive plan-ning, I might not be here today.”
As I listened to Yuen’s tale, I kept thinking of our Shipyard’s responsibility to keep the fleet’s ships and submarines “Fit to fight” so the ser-vicemen and women who sail in them are safe out there on – and under – the sea. Each of us has a direct connection to them as we do our jobs here at Pearl, not only ensure they can honor their duty, but also to bring our ohana home safely.
Think of all the predictive planning and pre-cautions we take to ensure our own families’ safety at home. Lest we ever take our duty for granted, we need to realize that lives are at stake and that they hinge on the quality of our job performance. The importance of predictive planning is an essential part of the shipyard’s success, so we can all say, in the words of Gary Yuen, “no regrets.”
U.S. Navy file photoSeaman Anthony Arebalo, assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, collects trash along Kamehameha Highway outside the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, June 22, 2011.
Joint Base to celebrate Earth Day at Hickam Harbor April 23
Great Green Fleet arrives in Singapore
Reid Tokeshi
Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam Morale, Welfare and Recreation
On April 23, the annual Earth Day Celebration will take place at Hickam Harbor.
There will be live musical
entertainment featuring the Navy’s Pacific Fleet Band as well as food vendors, infor-mation booths, events and activities to entertain and educate kids and adults.
The Earth Day Celebra-tion begins at 11 a.m. Atten-dance is free and is open to all base-eligible patrons.
Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam Morale, Welfare & Recreation (MWR) is pre-senting the Earth Day activ-ities, organized and managed by MWR’s Outdoor Recre-ation (ODR) department.
The weekend wi l l be -
gin with camping April 22. Advance registration is re-quired for camping. As the sun sets, ODR will set up a movie screen so people can view a family-friendly f i l m u n d e r t h e stars.
For more information on Earth Day events, call ODR at 449-5215.
MC1 Jason Noble
USS John C. Stennis Group Public Affairs
CHANGI NAVAL BASE, Singapore —The John C. Stennis Strike Group (JCSSG), the centerpiece of the Great Green Fleet, and the 8,500 Sailors at-tached arrived in Singapore for a regu-larly scheduled port visit, April 19.
The visit to the “Lion City” affords the opportunity to enjoy one of the most diverse ports in the world. Rear Adm. Ron Boxall, commander, JCSSG, expects the visit to be a memorable one.
“Singapore is one of the most won-derful countries in the world,” said Boxall. “It is a model in terms of di-verse cultures living together, and our visit here is a fantastic opportunity to enhance partnerships, develop good-will, and create friendships.”
USS John C. Stennis moored at Changi Naval base with the guid-ed-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the guided-missile de-stroyers USS Chung-Hoon and
USS William P. Lawrence after participating in Ex-
ercise Balikatan 2016, an annual bilateral training
exercise that is a sig-
nature element of the Philippine-U.S. alliance, focused on humanitarian as-sistance, maritime law enforcement and environmental protection.
Logistics Specialist 3rd Class Dis-hawnte Williams, from Atlanta, as-signed to the Vigilantes of Strike Fighter Squadron 151, is excited about the port visit and seeing how unique the city is.
“I have heard plenty about [Singa-pore], I am ready to see it for myself,” said Williams. “I’m also excited to go to Universal Studios. I’ve been to Univer-sal Orlando, so I am looking forward to the 18 rides that are strictly designed for the Singapore park.
So far in their western Pacific de-ployment, JCSSG has transited over 20,000 nautical miles using an ad-vanced b io fue l blend and other energy sav- ing prac t i ces ,
to reduce fue l consumption and extend operational capabilities. They wi l l depart the port visit to Singa-pore continuing to set the standard for energy conservation across the f leet.
U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Andre T. RichardShips assigned to the John C. Stennis Strike Group steam together during Maritime Counter Special Operations Force (MCSOF) exercise, as part of the Great Green Fleet on a regularly scheduled 7th Fleet deployment, March 24.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-5
Why the world needs Earth DayThe following is a conversa-tion with Navy Region Hawaii Environmental Counsel Becky Hommon
Question: Why does the world need Earth Day?
Answer: Earth Day started when we realized some of the consequences of over-develop-ment and our general belief that the earth had an infinite capacity to absorb whatever pollution we were throwing at it. We still need Earth Day to remind ourselves that our ac-tions as individuals and collec-tively still matter. We really can make this world a better place. But we all have to act.
Q: How has the military changed over the years in its concern for the environment?
A: It’s been astounding. Not only has professional staffing with environmental protection experts increased exponen-tially, leadership embraces the concept. We all understand that no one wants a military base in their back yard if the people at that base trash the community. Today, military bases provide the best-protected habitat for threatened and endangered species, outside of refuges run by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Just look at the Pacific Missile Range on Kauai.
PMRF is known by wildlife professionals and advocates as the safest place on Kauai for threatened green sea tur-tles, endangered Hawaiian monk seals and endangered
wetland birds. Everyone knows PMRF has done more as to turning off lights to avoid harming night fledging sea-birds than any other place on Kauai. I wouldn’t say I was mocked years ago when I first starting letting people know there was laws that required us to protect the environment, but it was close.
Q: What would people be sur-prised to know about how ships operate at sea, for example, in protecting marine mammals?
A: That the men and women who serve on these ships love to whale watch and see dolphins race alongside just as much as anyone else, if not more so. I don’t think the general public comprehends that our sonar technicians can identify the
species of many life forms in the ocean by the sounds they make.
Our Americans at sea bring with them wherever they go their values, which include a love of nature, a love of the amazing variety of life on this planet. Some of our best na-ture photographers are or were members of the U.S. armed ser-vices. You don’t lose that love of nature when you put on a uni-form.
Q: Recently, PMRF was awarded the SECNAV En-vironmental Award for 2015 for small installations. What are they doing that is so award-worthy?
A: PMRF continues to ramp up its environmental protection programs especially around the natural resources that
are on the base, and does so with Kauai partners. Because PMRF is so small and the staff so tight with the Kauai commu-nity, they can accomplish amaz-ing things. The most recent story is their effort with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other groups to re-establish a Laysan albatross colony on Oahu with eggs from PMRF on Kauai transported on regular flights to Kaneohe. These ma-jestic six-foot wing span birds that float on the breeze are of course a bird/aircraft strike hazard, known as BASH.
Years ago we had a permit to smash eggs and wring the necks of any chicks born on the base. It was legal but we didn’t feel very good about it. We re-alized there had to be a better idea. And there was.
PMRF staff worked with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture people on Kauai to move the eggs to a national wildlife ref-uge. When the refuge reached its carrying capacity, the team thought that having a second albatross colony on Oahu would be a good idea so here we are, helping out. It’s a wonderful thing.
Q: Isn’t the military among the worst polluters and destroy-ers of the environment?
A: That’s so wrong. No. Just look to see who’s being fined and put out of business. It’s not the U.S. military. I’ve had many environmental profes-sionals over the years recognize
our tight command and control as well as constant training. That has benefits. People don’t stray too often.
When I’ve shown commercial fishermen our whale wheels and pollution wheels that are used on our ships, they want them, too. We’re not driven by profit. Our people are amazing at doing the right thing with few resources. And our leaders are some of the brightest and best. Our nation is very for-tunate to have these talented men and women serving day after day, some in harm’s way, and doing the right thing.
Q: What’s your take on the current voyage of Hokulea and Malama Honua?
A: I know many people are headed to New York to welcome Hokulea to New York. Should be a great party.
Q: What can each of us do to be responsible citizens of the planet?
A: Oh, that’s easy. Spread a little aloha around the world. The more we take care of each other, the more the planet benefits. Support national parks and national wildlife refuges not only within the United States but globally. It’s still the same: speak up when you see something that you’re not comfortable with, whether it’s something being rinsed down a drain or a turtle being chased. Heal the world. And thanks for asking. It’s been 30 years of good fun. Happy Earth Day!
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-4 April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-5
Worldwide voyage, exploration, navigation is in the stars
Thevoyage of life Bill Doughty
U.S. astronaut Air Force Lt. Col. Charles Lacy Veach looked out the window of the space shuttle as it passed over Hawaii nearly 25 years ago and had an epiphany about “island Earth.”
“Lacy could see all the islands, and he could see his whole spirit and soul here. He could see the entire planet as one vi-sion,” said master navigator Dr. Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
Thompson credits Veach for inspiring Malama Honua (“Care for the Earth”), the worldwide journey of a double-hull voyaging canoe, Hokule’a, using traditional navigation techniques. The voyage is underway to raise awareness of our collective respon-sibility to protect and cherish our home planet.
“Hawaii is a laboratory for living well on islands, including Island Earth,” according to Thompson, in an interview with PBS.
Kathy Muneno of Hawaii’s KHON reports, “Thompson says it’s when Veach saw Hawaii from space that he knew it held the answer to a beautiful, sustainable and caring Earth. He says Veach actually planted the seed for Hokule’a to sail around the world.”
Hokule’a (“star of gladness,” named for the star Arcturus, which passes over Hawaii) visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Cen-ter earlier this month, where Thompson and other voyagers paid tribute to Veach’s legacy.
“The country needs to know that Lacy was the one that planted the idea as a seed into us in 1992 to take Hokule’a around the world,” Thompson said, “Florida becomes founda-tional for us to articulate and communicate to this country that that’s why we’re coming — out of respect, and out of honoring and making sure that they know that Lacy’s legacy counts.”
Thompson’s tribute to Lacy and his vision of “the beauty of island Earth” is published by the Polynesian Voyaging Soci-ety at: http://ow.ly/4mPUGl. It’s a beautiful tribute and shows Veach’s commitment to teaching the next generation.
Like President Obama, Veach is a graduate of Punahou School in Honolulu. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force upon graduation from the Air Force Academy in 1966 and served as a USAF fighter pilot. According to his NASA bio, he flew “the F-100 Super Sabre, the F-111, and the F-105 Thun-derchief, on assignments in the United States, Europe, and the Far East, including a 275-mission combat tour in the Republic of Vietnam.”
He was a member of the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, in 1976 and 1977. Veach left active duty in 1981, but served as a F-16 pilot with the Texas Air National Guard before becoming an astronaut in June 1985.
From his NASA bio: “He held a variety of technical assign-ments, and had flown as a mission specialist on two Space Shut-tle missions, STS-39 in 1991 and STS-52 in 1992. He had logged 436.3 hours in space. Most recently, Lacy had worked as the lead astronaut for the development and operation of robotics for the International Space Station.”
Veach is mentioned in the same breath as Pinky Thompson (Nainoa’s father), Mao Piailug and Eddie (“Eddie Would Go”) Aikau, inspirational leaders who are part of a seafaring tradi-tion.
U.S. Navy Sailors in Hawaii have a history of working with the Polynesian Voyaging Society — volunteering to assist with fixing and painting facilities, sanding and refurbishing canoes, and advising voyagers.
Just prior to Hokule’a’s voyage, Rear Adm. Frank Ponds (then-commander, Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific) spoke with Kathy Muneno and spoke about mitigating the dangers they could face transiting the Pa-cific, including pirates, storms and rogue waves.
Recently the Navy announced a renewed interest in teach-ing traditional navigation techniques at the Naval Academy (USNA), using constellations, the sun and moon as Hokule’a does, without relying on global positioning satellites.
National Public Radio published a story about the Navy’s initiative, noting, “Navigation by the stars dates back millen-nia. The ancient Polynesians used stars and constellations to help guide their outrigger canoes across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean. And right up until the mid-20th century, navigation on the sea was usually done by looking at the heavens.”
As for Hokule’a, the voyaging canoe heads north up the East Coast now toward Washington D.C. and New York via the Carolinas and Virginia. Kamaaina will likely be on hand to meet and greet the voyagers. At the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, the voyagers plan to participate in the Earth Day celebration there April 23.
To follow the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage, visit http://hokulea.com/track-the-voyage
(A version of this essay appeared on Navy Reads, a blog dedi-cated to books, reading and critical thinking: http://navyreads.blogspot.com/)
Team Pearl rescues green sea turtle in shipyard dry docksStory and photo by Gail Shon
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermedi-ate Maintenance Facil-ity Occupational Safety, Health & Environment Department
After the undocking of USS Olympia (SSN 717) Pearl Harbor Na-val Shipyard and Inter-mediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSYand IMF) workers noticed a large green sea turtle (in Hawaiian, a “honu”) trapped in a dry dock aft during the dewater-ing operation.
The green sea tur-tle is an endangered species protected by the Endangered Spe-cies Act, so action was taken immediately to notify the shipyard’s docking off icer and Occupational Safety, Health & Environment Department, which then closely monitored the dewatering opera-tion to ensure the turtle would not be injured.
A shipyard crane and rigging team from the Rigging and Equipment
Operations Divi-sion lowered an empty r igging g e a r s t o r a g e box into the dry dock to safely remove the tur-
tle. PHNSY and IMF Regional Div-
ing Division divers surrounded
the large turtle, gently lifted it into the box and quickly filled the box with seawater. The box was then craned over the dry dock cais-son and lowered to Shipyard divers wait-ing in Pearl Harbor on a dive boat. The divers gently lifted the honu (nicknamed “Oly”) out of the box and released him safely into the har-bor waters.
“This is the 993rd turtle rescued since the Marine Turtle Re-search Program began in 1990,” said Shandell Brunson of the Na-tional Oceanic & Atmo-spheric Administration (NOAA).
Cory Campora, Na-val Facilities Engineer-ing Command Hawaii’s (NAVFAC HI) Natural Resources manager said, “The divers doing this rescue were edu-cated on how to handle sea turtles by a NOAA s ta f f member the last
time this happened, so they were confident they could safely move the turtle without in-jury.”
“Some people don’t realize we have green sea turtles in the har-bor, and are excited and surprised when one shows up,” stated Rebecca Smith, NAV-FAC Hawaii’s Natural Resources Management specialist.
The Navy coordinates closely with NOAA on all marine life rescues in and around the har-bor. To notify NOAA of any endangered or threatened marine an-imals that appear to be injured, stranded, entangled, dead, swim-ming, sleeping, ha-rassed and/or attacked in or around our piers, dry docks and shore-line, please call (808) 722-7285.
Story by Justice Vannatta
Editor’s Note: The following article is re-printed from Shipyard Log
“I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percent-age of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back from whence we came.”
•John F. Kennedy
As we set sail in the great voyage of our lives, seldom do we know what the changing tides may bring.
Though it is apparent, once we are in the proverbial storm, preparation is what sets us apart from sink or sail.
It was 25 years ago when I first heard of the voyage of Hokule’a. I was 12 years old, in middle school, and crew members, including master navigator and captain of the Hokule’a Nainoa Thompson, visited our campus for a show and tell assembly with our student body.
They began to tell grand sea tales of tread-ing the vast, tumultuous blue ocean, to a much immersed and entertained 8th grade crowd. In detail, they described to us how the Hokule’a, a double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe, scaled a stampede of relentless Mount Ever-est-sized ocean waves, which, in the midst of an onslaught of hurricane-force winds, merci-lessly pounded the hull into submission.
I could see the prideful glint in these navi-gators’ eyes. They had knowingly invested ev-ery bit of themselves into the pit of the abyss, and had emerged a little battered, a little bruised, but as resilient as ever. They had all shared in a life-changing experience, and in turn, subscribed to the fraternity of adventure, thrusting themselves into the voyage of the un-known… into the voyage of discovery.
I sat there, fascinated, with wide eyes and a fast-beating heart. This young man, so influ-ential, so eager and naive, fixated on the won-derment of his own life. Where would the wind take me? What will it be like when I grow up? The prospects of a young life, still anchored in place, impatiently waiting for its maiden voy-age. The possibilities were endless, the oppor-tunities boundless. I felt an insatiable desire to experience the great wide open, where my natural curiosity and penchant for exploration could be quenched.
As the crew members continued to talk and share their ocean anecdotes, it was clear that their nautical experiences were only matched by the depth of my enthusiasm and imagina-tion.
There are times in life when things come full circle. Fast forward 25 years later.
I was lucky enough to meet Gary Yuen on his last day of work at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facil-ity. Gary dedicated 37 years of his professional career as a nuclear shipfitter to the shipyard’s Structural Group, and was off to enjoy his sec-ond career as head cook and crew member of the legendary Hokule’a.
To intimately witness a person at the prec-ipice of a life transition is a real privilege. I could see that Yuen was sad to be leaving Pearl behind, but eager to set a new sail to a differ-ent frontier.
“No regrets,” he said, shaking his head. “No regrets.”
Since 1985, Yuen sailed on 10 voyages with the historical Hokule’a. He will rejoin the Hokule’a crew and the support ship Hikianalia in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of their “Malama Honua” (“Care for the Earth”) good-will tour. Launched from Hawaii on May 18, 2014, the tour will take three years and cover more than 49,000 nautical miles with visits to more than 26 countries and 85 ports of call, without the use of any modern navigational instruments.
“It’s all about seeing new places, meeting new people and exchanging cultures,” Yuen said enthusiastically. “There is so much life out there in the world. You wouldn’t believe how fascinating it is.”
When I ex-
pressed to Yuen my desire to draw a correla-tion in this article between the Hokule’a and the submarines and ships in our Pacific Fleet, our conversation began to focus on the impor-tance of the process of predictive planning and strategic preparation. Yuen explained its sig-nificance by telling me an unbelievable story of determination and triumph.
The preparation for the estimated $12 mil-lion “Malama Honua” tour took almost six years of dedicated planning. The mammoth task of organizing, training and forecasting for the extensive trip proved to be a colossal challenge.
“We prepared for everything and paid metic-ulous attention to details. Even the unforeseen took years to get right. All of this was done to ensure the crew’s safety, because their lives would be constantly at stake,” Yuen explained, his voice echoing a genuine concern.
One of the most important drills they ran was a “man-overboard” exercise, done over and over and over again, until each movement was engrained in their minds. Then they ran it again.
Yuen’s tale began 140 miles off the coast of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a territory of Australia located in the Indian Ocean, south-west of Christmas Island and approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka. At 2:30 a.m. local time, three crew members stood watch while the rest of the crew was sleep-ing. Without a moment’s notice, a freak squall burst upon Hokule’a.
Immediately, as Yuen went into “storm mode” and began to batten down the mast, out of nowhere a rogue wave swept over the vessel and caught Yuen in its grasp and launched him 20 feet over the side into the deep dark sea. As he was being thrown, Yuen tried to grab onto the first thing he could get his hands on that could keep him from going overboard.
Unfortunately, what he caught as he flew over the side was a very expensive bilge pump. Realizing what he was holding, he began treading water frantically, while simultane-ously fastening the bilge pump to his waistline with a dangling cable.
“Man overboard, man overboard!” the ur-gent shouts rang out.
Within minutes, Yuen had drifted 75 feet away from the Hokule’a, steadily slipping into the frenzied gloom.
“There were moments when I couldn’t even see the boat, the waves were so high and ev-erything was so dark. I kept thinking to my-self, just stay calm. This is what you train and prepare for.”
He continued drifting until the spotlight on the boat looked like a star in the sky, but he refused to quit.
“I kept thinking of my family, my wife. That’s what kept me paddling like heck.”
Around the 30-minute mark, as the crew struggled to get close to him through the con-stant lurching of the waves, fatigue began to set in.
“The water was freezing and that bilge pump was getting really heavy,” Yuen said with a chuckle. “So many times I just wanted to ditch the pump, but I would’ve felt so guilty if I lost it because that piece of equipment is so expensive and hard to get.”
Finally, after 44 minutes of Yuen treading the turbulent ocean, the Hokule’a got close enough for the crew to get a flotation ring around him and pull him safely aboard.
“I have never been so exhausted in my life!” exclaimed Yuen. “I was so out of breath, but so grateful to be alive,” he said, laughing. “If it wasn’t for our training and predictive plan-ning, I might not be here today.”
As I listened to Yuen’s tale, I kept thinking of our Shipyard’s responsibility to keep the fleet’s ships and submarines “Fit to fight” so the ser-vicemen and women who sail in them are safe out there on – and under – the sea. Each of us has a direct connection to them as we do our jobs here at Pearl, not only ensure they can honor their duty, but also to bring our ohana home safely.
Think of all the predictive planning and pre-cautions we take to ensure our own families’ safety at home. Lest we ever take our duty for granted, we need to realize that lives are at stake and that they hinge on the quality of our job performance. The importance of predictive planning is an essential part of the shipyard’s success, so we can all say, in the words of Gary Yuen, “no regrets.”
U.S. Navy file photoSeaman Anthony Arebalo, assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, collects trash along Kamehameha Highway outside the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, June 22, 2011.
Joint Base to celebrate Earth Day at Hickam Harbor April 23
Great Green Fleet arrives in Singapore
Reid Tokeshi
Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam Morale, Welfare and Recreation
On April 23, the annual Earth Day Celebration will take place at Hickam Harbor.
There will be live musical
entertainment featuring the Navy’s Pacific Fleet Band as well as food vendors, infor-mation booths, events and activities to entertain and educate kids and adults.
The Earth Day Celebra-tion begins at 11 a.m. Atten-dance is free and is open to all base-eligible patrons.
Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam Morale, Welfare & Recreation (MWR) is pre-senting the Earth Day activ-ities, organized and managed by MWR’s Outdoor Recre-ation (ODR) department.
The weekend wi l l be -
gin with camping April 22. Advance registration is re-quired for camping. As the sun sets, ODR will set up a movie screen so people can view a family-friendly f i l m u n d e r t h e stars.
For more information on Earth Day events, call ODR at 449-5215.
MC1 Jason Noble
USS John C. Stennis Group Public Affairs
CHANGI NAVAL BASE, Singapore —The John C. Stennis Strike Group (JCSSG), the centerpiece of the Great Green Fleet, and the 8,500 Sailors at-tached arrived in Singapore for a regu-larly scheduled port visit, April 19.
The visit to the “Lion City” affords the opportunity to enjoy one of the most diverse ports in the world. Rear Adm. Ron Boxall, commander, JCSSG, expects the visit to be a memorable one.
“Singapore is one of the most won-derful countries in the world,” said Boxall. “It is a model in terms of di-verse cultures living together, and our visit here is a fantastic opportunity to enhance partnerships, develop good-will, and create friendships.”
USS John C. Stennis moored at Changi Naval base with the guid-ed-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the guided-missile de-stroyers USS Chung-Hoon and
USS William P. Lawrence after participating in Ex-
ercise Balikatan 2016, an annual bilateral training
exercise that is a sig-
nature element of the Philippine-U.S. alliance, focused on humanitarian as-sistance, maritime law enforcement and environmental protection.
Logistics Specialist 3rd Class Dis-hawnte Williams, from Atlanta, as-signed to the Vigilantes of Strike Fighter Squadron 151, is excited about the port visit and seeing how unique the city is.
“I have heard plenty about [Singa-pore], I am ready to see it for myself,” said Williams. “I’m also excited to go to Universal Studios. I’ve been to Univer-sal Orlando, so I am looking forward to the 18 rides that are strictly designed for the Singapore park.
So far in their western Pacific de-ployment, JCSSG has transited over 20,000 nautical miles using an ad-vanced b io fue l blend and other energy sav- ing prac t i ces ,
to reduce fue l consumption and extend operational capabilities. They wi l l depart the port visit to Singa-pore continuing to set the standard for energy conservation across the f leet.
U.S. Navy photo by MC3 Andre T. RichardShips assigned to the John C. Stennis Strike Group steam together during Maritime Counter Special Operations Force (MCSOF) exercise, as part of the Great Green Fleet on a regularly scheduled 7th Fleet deployment, March 24.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-6
Navy Exchange celebrates Earth Day
Photo by Kenneth ChanPatrons join in an Earth Day celebration April 13 at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange (NEX) Outdoor Living Center. NEX partnered with other
agencies to provide tips and demonstrations on protecting the planet for future generations.
Story and photos by MC2 Johans Chavarro
Navy Public Affairs Support Element Detachment Hawaii
Vo l u n t e e r s f r o m J o i n t B a s e P e a r l H a r b o r -
Hickam and other willing hands targeted rubbish, green waste and invasive plant species during a beach cleanup April 16 at Fort Kamehameha Beach and Ahua Reef Reserve.
The event was held in the spirit of April’s Earth Day (April 22). Some of the work completed included: picking up trash and green waste and pulling or cutting non-native plants, as well as picking up their seeds. “We’re trying to focus on a variety of things,” said Rebecca Smith, natu-ral resource manager at JBPHH. “One, we’re trying to keep the planet clean, so we’re doing a rubbish cleanup, but we’re also trying to educate and emphasize the removal of invasive plants, and species, off and around this area of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.”
“While praised on the mainland for their ability to stabilize shore-lines, provide fish habitats and clean water run off, the red mangrove tree is highly invasive to the Hawaiian Islands,” Smith said.
“It takes over the shoreline and out-competes all the native Hawai-ian plants along the shore,” Smith said. “There are often very specific insects, birds and other animals that are specifically associated with a very specific plant. So as the mangrove takes over and eliminates those native plants here in Hawaii. It actually dramatically impacts the type of wildlife that is here.”
With the sun rising higher overhead, volunteers worked to remove red mangrove seedlings and their propagules — a structure that propa-gates a plant. Groups of volunteers also worked throughout the morning to uproot patches of pickleweed, another invasive plant to Hawaii.
Additionally, in an effort to combat the invasive coconut rhinoc-eros beetle (CRB), Smith and the volunteers also gathered and re-moved green waste such as palm and other tree logs, palm fronds, and branches, common nesting grounds for the CRB.
“It’s an invasive beetle that destroys and has the potential to destroy all of our coconut palms on the island,” Smith said. “And although [coconut palms are] not native to the islands, it is an iconic species for Hawaii.”
Seeing the progress made throughout the morning, many volunteers expressed a sense of pride and satisfaction within themselves.
“I just came from Japan, so having a beach so close to you and see-ing it being maintained is actually amazing, and it’s so important too,” said Tech. Sgt. Jamie Carela, assigned to Pacific Air Forces. “I love the beach and my children love it, and I want to make it so my children and their children can come back and enjoy where we were stationed, because this is all just beautiful.”
“It makes me feel good being here,” said Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Renato Batallones Jr. assigned to JBPHH. “I didn’t expect this many people to come out, but seeing them all come out, clean up and work together has been really nice.”
Overlooking the Hawaiian mountainside view from the beach, Capt. Stanley Keeve, commander of JBPHH, personally thanked everyone for volunteering their time to keep the base and Hawaii clean.
“That’s an incredible, beautiful view and it doesn’t stay that way unless folks like yourselves and others are involved in keeping it that way,” Keeve said. “So I want to say thanks, and I want to say thank you on behalf of the base. The base definitely appreciates all of your hard work.”
Pulling together to clean up beach
Volunteers remove invasive species and trash during the beach cleanup.
LEDs are illuminating piers at JBPHHBryan Law
Regional Energy Program Manager Navy Region Hawaii
Adequate lighting is crit-ical to nighttime operation along the piers at JBPHH. Hundreds of light fixtures can consume large amount of energy, and contribute to light pollution with poten-tial impacts to migratory birds.
As part of an energy sav-ings performance contract being executed by the JBPHH Energy
Team, 559 existing pier lights were recently retro-fitted with energy efficient LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology to reduce elec-tricity consumption. LED lighting has proven to be an effective replacement for traditional outdoor light-ing technologies such as high-pressure sodium and mercury vapor, providing about 50 percent energy sav-ing and longer useful life.
In addition to reducing energy use by 655 MWH
per year, sav-i n g t h e
Navy
$150,000 in electric ity costs, these new LED pier lights are also lessening the impact on our night-time sky by incorporating dark-sky compliant design features to minimize light pollution.
The LED lights are de-signed to direct better quality, and more con-sistent, light toward the intended area, thereby minimizing light scatter-ing toward the sky.
Energy-saving projects such as the LED pier lights are part of Navy Region Hawaii’s strategy to reduce energy use by improving efficiency in our operation, while being good steward
of our environment.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-7
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard given laboratory status by ONR
Single Airmen Resiliency Retreat brings rest, relaxation
David Tomiyama
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility Public Affairs
After more than a year of research and adminis-trative coordination, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY&IMF) was officially given “labo-ratory status” by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), March 18. The shipyard is the pilot naval shipyard to be named a laboratory as part of a potential effort to seek laboratory status for all naval shipyards.
“This designation veri-fies what the command has been demonstrating for years: we have the in-house expertise, culture,
and capacity to successfully leverage new technolo-gies to pro-vide better v a l u e t o t h e t a x -payer,” said Eric Petran, PHNSY&IMF N a v a l N e w Technology Program manager and New Office of Research & Technology Applications representa-tive.
This shipyard initiative falls under the Chief of Naval Operations recent publication A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority which high-lights four lines of effort, one of which is to expand and strengthen our net-work of partners which
includes: private research and
development l abs , and academia, increase the volume and range of interac-
t i o n w i t h commercial
industry, and seek opportunities
through non-traditional partners.
“Laboratory status is a natural step forward for the shipyard through our strategic focus on inno-vation,” said Capt. Jamie Kalowsky, PHNSY&IMF commander.
“Innovation requires teaming, resources, and opportunities; all of which will benefit from our part-nering with academic in-
stitutions and commercial entities. As a learning organization, we are com-mitted to move forward boldly in elevating tech-nology for the mission readiness of our subma-rines and surface combat-ants.”
Designating a Navy command as a “laboratory” is not randomly given by ONR. Potential designees must meet a number of strict requirements such as security, legal, informa-tion technology, to name a few.
“SECNAVINST 5700.17 dated March 27 sets forth stringent requirements that a Department of Navy (DoN) command or techni-cal activity must follow to apply for and be approved as a Navy laboratory,” said Dottie Vincent, Navy Tech-
nology Transfer (T2) Pro-gram manager.
“These include a request from the commanding of-ficer for laboratory desig-nation. The request must affirm that the lab person-nel are familiar with fed-eral T2 legislation, DoD and DoN policies and guid-ance; and that the activity has sufficient T2 security and legal staff to support the effort. All requests must be submitted and ap-proved by ONR.”
Laboratory status opens the door for the shipyard to develop new technol-ogies and processes with partners outside the Navy. In the past, the shipyard was limited to partnering only with Navy-affiliated academic institutions and other Navy commands for research and development
opportunities. While new technologies and processes came out of the collabora-tions, the list for who the Shipyard can now partner with is wide open.
“We’re now authorized to enter into technical partnerships such as edu-cation partnership agree-ments and cooperative research and development agreements, which opens the door to many new proj-ects,” said Petran.
“The goal is to pursue innovative advances to improve our productive ca-pacity while looking at the role of a shipyard in both the current Navy as well as the Navy of the future.”
The shipyard laboratory will seek local academic partnerships and serve as the shipyard laboratory model for NAVSEA.
Capt. Nicole White
15th Wing Public Affairs
The 692nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Recon-naissance Group, along with the 15th Wing Sex-ual Assault and Preven-tion Response (SAPR) office and the Joint Base chapel sponsored the 3rd annual Single Airmen Re-siliency Retreat at Kua-loa Ranch’s Secret Island, April 8.
The free retreat was open to active-duty Air-men, and was attended by more than 145 singles looking to relax and so-cialize in a no-stress, no-threat setting.
“The retreat was re-freshing and provided a nice way for Airmen to reenergize from the day-to-day business,” said
Chaplain Deborah Hugh-ley, 692nd ISRG chaplain. “This was an opportunity for everyone to relax and network with peers.”
Throughout the day, the 15th Wing SAPR of-fice, mental health and the Joint Base chapel de-livered presentations. It covered a wide range of
resiliency lessons to en-sure participants walked away with more healthy life skills added to their toolbox.
“This was a unique ex-perience to come together from different parts of the Air Force and create a bond,” said Senior Air-man Antonio Brooks, 37th
Intelligence Squadron. “This event gave me the ability to reach out to my peers and make a differ-ence in a positive way.”
Although the event is traditionally geared to-ward Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors were on hand to participate as well.
“The event and loca-
tion were beautiful,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Lindsey Pritchett, Navy Information Operations Command Hawaii. “I had participated in a similar program with the Navy before but not with a dif-ferent service so I took a chance.”
However for some, this
was a first-time experi-ence.
“I signed up because this seemed like some-thing fun to do,” said Seaman Kyle Tadda, N4 Department. “It was, in fact, fun and informative. To anyone on the fence about attending next year, just go for it!”
‘Airmen’s ministry center’ The Gathering Place gets fresh lookCapt. Nicole White
15th Wing Public Affairs
The Gathering Place recently celebrated a grand reopening fol-lowing a three-day renovation.
The Gathering Place, which is located in King Hall Dormi-tory, provides a comfortable alcohol-free and smoke-free, home-like environment in which young Airmen can socialize with peers.
The Gathering Place was created in 2001, when then Hickam Chaplain James Richey came up with the idea that young, single Airmen needed
a place to hang out and get to know one another.
Armed with his dream and
help from volunteers and the Friends of Hickam, The Gather-ing place became a reality.
Today, the Gathering Place continues to be one of the many key programs run by the chapel. The most recent renovations were done to update and refresh the facility.
“The Gathering Place is an Airmen’s ministry center that is here to foster a sense of commu-nity, spiritual growth, develop leaders and cultivate service to others geared toward new Air-men as they transition into the Air Force,” said Chaplain David Haltom, The Gathering Place chaplain.
According to Haltom, the Gathering Place has received more than $32K in updates.
The location is furnished with Wi-Fi, a gaming room with a large LCD television, video game consoles, games, a movie lounge area with a large LCD television, surround sound, cable and a large selection of movies. A large outdoor enter-tainment lanai is also available.
In addition to entertainment, the new Gathering Place offers a fully operable kitchen and coffee bar. Though the chapel oversees operations of the Gathering Place, the program utilizes volunteers from various
organizations to support the mission.
One way organizations help provide support is through the weekly meal served on Tuesday evening.
“The units that provide meals each week are building morale and it really helps strengthen [Airmen’s] spirit and continue the building of an authentic community,” said Haltom.
For more information or volunteer opportunities, visit or call The Gathering Place at www.facebook.com/pages/The-Gathering-Place-JB-PHH/1399031930394806 or call 910-574-3346.
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Terri PadenThe Gathering Place recently celebrated a grand re-opening at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, April 6.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-8
TRICARE
To increase access to care, the Department of Defense is launching an urgent care pilot program for TRICARE Prime ben-eficiaries. This program allows Prime enrollees two visits to a network or TRI-CARE authorized provider without a referral or prior authorization.
The urgent care pilot program, scheduled to be-
gin spring 2016, is for: Active duty family mem-
bers (ADFMs) enrolled in TRICARE Prime or TRI-CARE Prime Remote
Retirees and their fam-ily members who are en-rolled in Prime within the 50 United States or the District of Columbia
ADSMs enrolled in TRI-CARE Prime Remote and stationed overseas but traveling stateside
Active duty service
members (ADSMs) en-r o l l e d i n T R I C A R E Prime are not eligible for this program as their care is managed by their service. This pilot also excludes Uniformed Ser-vices Family Health Plan (USFHP) enrollees. TRI-CARE Overseas Program (TOP) enrollees can re-ceive an unlimited num-ber of urgent care visits, but only when they are traveling stateside and
seeking care. There are no point of
service (POS) deductibles or cost shares for these two urgent care visits, but network copayments still apply.
Once you receive ur-gent care, you must notify your PCM about that care within 24 hours or the first business day after the urgent care visit. Authori-zation requirements have not changed for follow up
care, specialty care or in-patient care.
W h e n y o u a r e n o t sure of the type of care you need, or you require care outside of standard business hours, call the Nurse Advice Line (NAL) at 1-800-TRICARE (874-2273), Option 1. If the NAL recommends an ur-gent care visit, and a refer-ral is submitted, that visit will not count against the two pre-authorized visits
allowed under the urgent care pilot. However, if you call the NAL and get a referral to a military hos-pital or clinic and you go elsewhere for care, that visit will count against your two preauthorized visits.
For more information, please visit the urgent care pilot program web page on the TRICARE website at http://www.tri-care.mil/urgentcarepilot.
New urgent care pilot program for Prime beneficiaries
PACAF Airmen stand up air contingent in PhilippinesStory and photo by HQ Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs
Pacific Air Forces Air-men stood up the first ro-tation of an air contingent at Clark Air Base, Philip-pines, April 16, following a joint announcement by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Philippine De-fense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin in Manila that highlighted several initia-tives aimed to enhance bi-lateral relations between the two nations.
The air contingent com-prises five A-l0C Thun-derbolt IIs from Osan Air Base, Republic of Ko-rea; three HH-60G Pave Hawks from Kadena Air Base, Japan, and approx-imately 200 personnel deployed from multiple Pa-cific Air Forces units. The air contingent is designed to promote interoperability and provide greater and more transparent air and maritime domain aware-ness to ensure safety for military and civilian ac-tivities in international waters and airspace. The flights further enhance ongoing maritime situa-tional awareness missions by U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft at Clark AB. The air contingent’s missions will include air and mar-itime domain awareness, personnel recovery, com-
bating piracy, and assur-ing access to the global commons.
“It ’s a tremendous privilege having PACAF aircraft and Airmen con-stitute the air contingent’s first rotation that will lay the foundation for joint air patrols and promote stron-ger ties with our Philip-pine partners,” said Gen. Lori Robinson, Pacific Air Forces commander.
The aircraft and ap-proximately 175 Airmen, including aircrew, main-tainers, logistics and sup-port personnel, remained in place to stand up the air contingent following their participation in Ex-ercise Balikatan, April 4-16. During the exercise, PACAF Airmen joined more than 7,000 person-nel in the two countries’ premier bilateral event to conduct a variety of missions that enrich the bilateral partnership and commitment to the mu-
tual defense treaty. The remaining 30 air
contingent Airmen will deploy from PACAF head-quarters at Joint Base Pearl-Harbor-Hickam, as well as several other PA-CAF bases.
“By leveraging forces al-ready operating at Clark AB, the standup of the air contingent required a min-imal additional investment and will help to strengthen ties with our Philippine al-lies,” said Brig. Gen. Dirk Smith, Pacific Air Forces director of air and cyber-space operations. “Stand-ing up this air contingent is just one way we are exercising our continued presence and demonstrat-ing our commitment to partners and allies in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.”
The A-10C Thunderbolt II is a multirole aircraft with the excellent loiter capabilities and maneu-verability at low air speeds and altitude necessary for
conducting the air contin-gent’s air and maritime domain awareness and personnel recovery mis-sions. The HH-60G Pave Hawk is the Air Force’s premier personnel recov-ery platform, capable of conducting a diverse array of missions including civil search and rescue, medical evaluation, and humani-tarian assistance and di-saster recovery operations.
“Selecting the A-10C and HH-60Gs for this mis-sion was strategically and economically the right de-cision as it allows us to use forces already deployed to the Philippines for Ex-ercise Balikatan,” Smith said. “Balikatan and the air contingent allow us to strengthen working re-lationships and become more interoperable with our Philippine partners and enable our aircrew and support personnel to become familiar with oper-ating in this region.”
Following the comple-tion of the first air con-tingent rotation, PACAF Airmen and aircraft are projected to redeploy to their assigned units in the U.S. Pacific Command area of operations, and will be replaced at a future date by aircraft and per-sonnel from either PACAF or other military services. Follow-on rotations of ad-ditional aircraft and per-sonnel will be determined in consultation with the Philippine government.
Along with standing up an air contingent, Carter announced several new bilateral alliance initia-tives including ongoing joint patrols with U.S. and Philippine maritime forces in the South China Sea and a routine patrol by the USS John C. Sten-nis in the region following its participation in Exer-cise Balikatan. Addition-ally, Carter noted the U.S. will stand up a rotational,
combined command and control element at Camp Aguinaldo after the conclu-sion of Exercise Balikatan.
Approximately 80 per-sonnel will comprise the initial rotation of this forward coordination el-ement, with Marines from the III Marine Ex-peditionary Brigade (III MEB) forming the nu-cleus and representation from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and U.S. Air Force. The element will support increased operations, ac-tivities, and actions in the region and will enhance combined C2 capabilities between both nations.
“There is going to be regular, periodic presence here of American forces,” said Carter during the April 14 joint press con-ference in Manila. “It may change in its nature, timing and duration de-pending on what we and the Filipinos decide is op-timal.”
Three of five U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt IIs, with the 51st Fighter Wing, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, sit on the flight line of Clark Air Base, Philippines, April 16.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele A-9
TAMC Blood Donor Center thanks donors, volunteers, supportersMichelle Lele
ASBP Blood Donor Re-cruiter, Tripler, Hawaii
More than 100 individ-uals in attendance for the Tripler Army Medical Cen-ter Blood Donor Center’s annual Blood Donor Rec-ognition Awards Luncheon packed into a room at the Navy Marine Golf Course in Honolulu, recently.
The event honored doz-ens of top blood, platelet and plasma donors, as well as blood drive coordi-nators, organizations and military commands from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support the Armed Ser-vices Blood Program’s mis-sion to save lives.
The lunch started with the nat ional anthem played by the Army Par-adise Brass Quintet. The invocation from TAMC Chaplain Army Capt. Mark Nikont was followed by a brief overview of the program from Army Lt. Col. Teresa Terry, chief of Transfusion Services at the donor center.
Terry wanted the au-dience to have an under-standing of the depth of the program and how many lives it affects.
“As a tri-service organi-zation, the ASBP collects, processes, stores and dis-tributes blood and blood products worldwide,” Terry said.
According to Terry, the Tripler Army Medical Cen-ter is the largest collector of U.S. military blood in the Pacific.
“The blood has been used for military training events and actual missions for units such as Army forward surgical teams, Special Forces, Navy ships, Navy submarines, Air Force helicopters with evacuation teams, Coast Guard rescues and even cruise ships,” Terry said. “Our blood products are also used in locations such as Guam, Korea and Ja-pan.”
Navy Capt. Peter Rob-erts, TAMC deputy com-manding officer, praised all of the ASBP volunteers.
“Since the military blood program inception, our do-nors have been the heart and soul of our program,” he said. “It is only through volunteer’s donations that we are able to provide life-saving blood products. On behalf of the commander of Tripler Army Medical Center and the Armed Services Blood Program, we would like to say thank you.”
Sgt. 1st Class Jackie Mims was the guest speaker at the luncheon. He has been in the Army for 17 years and served
his country with multi-ple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. At the ceremony, he recalled one of his deployments to Af-ghanistan working for a blood support detachment. A Soldier from an Army Special Forces unit on a humanitarian mission was shot seven times in the chest and required more than 247 blood products during surgery.
“Because of people like you who support our mil-itary blood program, that Soldier made it home to his family and is well and healthy today,” Mims said.
The many awardees and other guests got to enjoy a country style barbecue for lunch as the awards were given out. The lunch ended with a special thank you from Terry.
“While we can never recognize all of the people that have made important contributions to the TAMC Donor Center over the last year, we can’t thank you enough for the unselfish generosity in giving some-one the ultimate gift … a possible second chance at life,” Terry said.Recognitions:
Top whole blood do-norsFrank Abbott (6 donations)Jose Arreola (6 donations)Harry Beasor Jr. (6 donations)Ruth Burkholder (6 donations)Diane Chong (6 donations)Ted Hashimoto (6 donations)Benny Perales Jr. (6 donations)
Top platelet donorsJeffery Boyd (13 donations)Angela Hansen (13 donations)Jimmy Hazelwood (12 donations)Clyde Wong (12 donations)Linda Hartley (12 donations)Christopher Dunlap (12 donations)Luther Townsend Jr. (10 donations)Judith Cronin (10 donations)
Robert Fowler (10 donations)Tobias Bernard (9 donations)Joyce Parkhurst (9 donations)
Top blood drive coordinatorsDeborah ShafferGSM1 Kyle RoweHMC Ryan De La CruzCommunity supportUniversity of Hawaii ROTC Army
Top unitsNational Security Agency Pearl Harbor Navy Shipyard & IMF 1-21st IN Battalion Schof-ield Barracks 3d Radio Battalion Ma-rines USS Chosin (CG 65)
TAMC Blood Battle winnerAlpha company
About the Armed Ser-vices Blood Program
Since 1962, the Armed Services Blood Program has served as the sole pro-vider of blood for the United States military. As a tri-ser-vice organization, the ASBP collects, processes, stores and distributes blood and blood products worldwide.
As one of four national blood collection organiza-tions trusted to ensure the nation has a safe, potent blood supply, the ASBP works closely with our ci-vilian counterparts by sharing donors on military installations where there are no military blood collec-tion centers and by sharing blood products in times of need to maximize availabil-ity.
To find out more about the ASBP or to schedule an appointment to donate, please visit www.military-blood.dod.mil. To interact directly with ASBP staff members, see more pho-tos or get the latest news, follow @militaryblood on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Pinterest.
Navy Capt. Peter F. Roberts, deputy commanding officer of the Tripler Army Medical Center, and Army Lt. Col. Teresa Terry, chief of Transfusion Medicine Service, present an award to retired Navy Cmdr. Robert Fowler.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele B-1
Thank you, PMRF (recipient of the 2015 Secretary
of the Navy Environmental Award for small installations)
from…
turtles…
birds…
seals…
students
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele B-2
Nothing foolish about ful medames
In the United States, l e g u m e s a r e o f t e n regulated to lunch or dinner while various cereals, breads, meats and eggs dominate the breakfast table. How-ever, in other parts of the world they have staked their claim as early morning staples.
Consider, for exam-ple, the fava bean (no Hannibal Lecter jokes please). A part of the human diet since at least 6,000 B.C., fava beans are commonly s e r v e d t h r o u g h o u t the Middle East at breakfast. They are especially popular in Egypt, where they are the stars of what is of-ten called the Egyptian national dish: ful me-dames (“buried beans”).
Ful medames is also widely consumed in Lebanon, Syria, Pales-tine, Jordan, Israel, Su-dan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Like any dish eaten by so many peo-ple in so many places, there are countless variations on the basic recipe. Mine is pretty simple, and more or less representat ive of the average ful me-dames recipe you are likely to come across.
medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft. Toss in the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes.
Add the fava beans and cumin, stirring un-til everything is nicely mixed. Remove from heat.
Empty the contents of the skillet into a sturdy mixing bowl. Use a fork or potato masher to mash every-thing to together. Add the lemon juice, tahini and salt and stir well.
F u l m e d a m e s i s sometimes served with fresh tomato or eggs. I like to have it with a big dollop of hummus on top. It is pretty much always served with a flatbread such as pita. Hot, strong tea makes the perfect accompany-ing beverage.
If you’re feeling es-pecially operatically-in-clined while enjoying your ful medames, cue up Giuseppe Verdi’s classic “Aida,” which is set in Egypt and first premiered in Cairo in 1871. It remains one of the most performed op-eras in the world, just as ful medames is one of the most popular dishes in the Middle East.
a Gent in the Kitchen
by: brandon bosworth
a Gent in the Kitchen
by: brandon bosworth
Ho’okele assistant editor Brandon Bosworth blogs about food, fitness, philosophy, martial arts, and other topics at www.agentintraining.com.
Luggage, backpack drive to benefit foster childrenJoint Base Military and Family Support Center
A luggage and backpack drive for foster children is being held this month in conjunction with Child Abuse Prevention Month with drop-off locations around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
You can help a foster child carry their personal belongings by donat-ing a new or slightly used piece of luggage, duffel bag or backpack.
Drop-off locations include:• Military and Family Support
Center Pearl Harbor, 4827 Bou-gainville Drive, Honolulu
• Wahiawa Annex Child Develop-ment Center (CDC), building 477.
• J o i n t B a s e P e a r l H a r -bor-Hickam Teen Center, 100 Mc-Chord St. building 1859 on the Hickam side of Joint Base (at-tached to the Makai Recreation Center).
• Center Drive CDC, building 930.
• Hickam West CDC, 170 Kuntz Ave., building 1654.
• Ford Island CDC, O’Kane
Blvd., building 570. • Catlin Youth Center, 4655 Cat-
lin Drive.• Peltier CDC, 530 Peltier Ave.,
building 1923. The Joint Base Military and
Family Support Center also urges people to support national Child Abuse Prevention Month by wear-ing the color blue every Friday in April.
(For more information, call 474-1999 or email [email protected] or visit www.facebook.com/JB-PHH.MFSC.)
Joint Base ASYMCA offers many programs for military kidsBrandon Bosworth
Assistant Editor, Ho`okele
The Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam branch of the Armed Services YMCA will be offering several programs for the children of active duty service members in the
weeks ahead.•Aliamanu Military
Reservation Fields will celebrate Healthy Kids Day from 9 to 11 a.m. April 30 with an event featuring different booths focusing on healthy living, includ-ing oral hygiene, literacy and healthy food groups. There will also be fitness
activities. For more infor-mation, call 473-3398.
• From June 13 to 17 and June 27 to July 1, Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam will be host-ing Robotics Camp. This summer workshop is designed to introduce students to the world of robotics. Using their cre-
ative skills, students will build, program, play, test and compete with their personally designed ro-bots. The award-win-ning Kalani High School Robotics Academy and ASYMCA staff will lead the camp instruction. The camp runs from 9 a.m. to noon, and is open
to children of active duty military service members ages 9-13 years old. There is a $75 registration fee per child. To register, visit http://ow.ly/4mPTFN.
• Camp Hero will be held at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., June 20-24. This event helps military
children build self-confi-dence, self-esteem and in-dependence. It is open to children of active duty mil-itary service members ages 7-12 years old and will feature outdoor activities, crafts and field trips. To register, visit http:// www.asymca.org/honolulu- hi/programs/camp-hero.
Rubber ducky swim
MWR Marketing photoA Rubber Ducky Swim took place April 17 at Pool 2 on the Hickam side of Joint Base. Thousands of rubber ducks were thrown into the shallow end of the pool and into the baby pool. Children competed in finding the special rubber ducky with a colored bottom to receive a prize.
Hickam Commissary to undergo reset
Hickam Commissary will be going through a total store reset from May 18 to 20.
The purpose of the reset is to adjust and en-hance the commodity and product flow within the commissary so that it can meet the de-mand of customer shopping trends and buy-ing habits. Store resets are common practice throughout the grocery industry and are done at least once every eight to 10 years. The last total store reset for Hickam was done in 2006.
The commissary will close at 4 p.m. May 18. On May 19 and 20, the commissary will be closed for the reset. The commissary will re-open for business at 8 a.m. May 21 with normal operating hours.
During the Hickam Commissary closure and reduced hours of operation, the Pearl Harbor Commissary will be open.
For more information, call Totolua Ripley, store director of Hickam Commissary, at 449-1363, ext 301.
Upcoming blood drivesTripler Army Medical Center Blood Donor Center has
updated its schedule of upcoming blood drives as part of the Armed Services Blood Donor Program (ASBP). Dates and locations are updated regularly online as new drives are scheduled. Donors are encouraged to schedule an appoint-ment online, call to make an appointment, and check www.militaryblood.dod.mil for the latest information.
Currently scheduled drives include:
• April 25, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Naval Submarine Support Command, 822 Clark St., suite 400, Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam
• May 2, 3, and 4, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2nd Stryker Brigade, building 2097, Schofield Barracks
• May 9, 8 a.m. to noon, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24, building 375, Marine Corps Base Hawaii
(For more information, contact Michelle Lele- H i m a l a y a , A r m e d S e r v i c e s B l o o d P r o g r a m , Tripler Army Medical Center, at 433-6699 or email [email protected].)
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele B-3
SPORTS
Shipyard takes advantage of miscues to beat HQ PACAFStory and photos by Randy Dela Cruz
Sports Editor, Ho‘okele
Shipyard scored three out of five runs off fielding errors by Headquarters Pacific Air Forces (HQ PACAF) in the first two innings of play and then went on to take a 14-5 win on April 19 in a Red Di-vision intramural softball game at Ward Field, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
In the first inning, Ship-yard put two men on with singles and one out, be-fore Lt. Cmdr. Nick Levine reached base on an infield er-ror to bat in the first run of the game.
Senior Chief Machinist’s Mate Steve Johnson and Electrician’s Mate (Nuclear Trained) 1st Class Scott Par-malee stepped up to spank in two more runs on singles, before the team added a fourth tally on another in-field error.
HQ PACAF got back one of the runs on an RBI single by Chief Master Sgt. Jim Dwyer, but at third an error cost HQ PACAF another run on the field, as Shipyard went out in front at 5-1 going into the bottom of the second.
“You have to do that,” Lev ine sa id about tak-ing advantage of the three gift runs handed over by HQ PACAF. “You have to know that your mistakes are coming, so you have to be able to capitalize on their mistakes.”
In the bottom of the second inning, HQ PACAF tried to keep pace with Shipyard and opened the frame with back-to-back singles, before Capt. Jeremy Williams sliced a ball through the infield to drive in the teams’ second run of the game.
However, Levine picked up his second RBI of the game in the top of the third, before the team really broke things open in the fourth.
Again, two fielding miscues opened the door for Shipyard to rally, when the team put men in scoring position at second and third with only one out on two errors.
Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Brian Love picked up one run on a base hit and Levine got RBI number three before two
more touched home on a hit by Parmalee to make it 10-3.
When it was finally over, Shipyard did what they needed to do to break the game wide-open by picking up seven runs in the top of the fourth to grab hold of an insurmountable 13-3 advan-tage.
Although the season is only two weeks old, Shipyard, by virtue of a veteran club, looked like they are already in peak-season form.
Senior Chie f Machin -ist’s Mate Charles Phelps, Shipyard’s No. 1 pitcher and one of the top veteran players on Joint Base, will be gone from the team for a few weeks, but even without his services, Shipyard looks more than ready to pick up or even surpass their 2015 third-place finish in the White Division.
“We’ve played together for eight seasons, but we al-ways have new guys come in,” Levine said. “We’re lucky because we have a solid base and kind of bring new guys in. That keeps us going year after year.”
One area new players have made a difference so far, Levine said, has been in the infield, where the team looked immaculate against HQ PACAF last night.
Officially, the middle de-fense turned two double plays and would have had a third if it were not for a dead ball and a batted shot back to the pitcher.
“The infield kept us in the game tonight,” Levine ad-mitted. “Two new guys are in at short and second, so hope-fully that chemistry contin-ues.”
While Levine said that the team is always eager to get on the diamond and play the game, he understands that the camaraderie and friend-ship of the players is what really makes each season ex-citing.
The park is the one place where old friends can visit with one another and just have a good time doing some-thing they love.
“In the shipyard, we’re all scattered,” Levine pointed out. “So this is one of the places where we can come to-gether and see each other in one spot. So it’s good fun.”
Above, Shipyard infielder Electrician’s Mate (Nuclear Trained) 1st Class Scott Parmalee makes the pivot to complete the double play from second base.
At left, Shipyard Lt. Cmdr. Nick Levine beats the throw to third base ahead of HQ PACAF Capt. Jeremy Williams.
PACOM/JIOC takes care of 747 CS in fiveStory and photo by Randy Dela Cruz
Sports Editor, Ho‘okele
It took the bats of Pacific Command/Joint Intelligence Operation Center (PACOM/JIOC) a short while to get warmed up against the 747th Communication Squadron (747 CS), but once they did, the team left little doubt as to who would come out on top.
Clinging to a 5-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning, PA-COM/JIOC, spurred by a bas-es-jacked, four-run salami off the bat of Army Sgt. Schaune Collins rolled on to a 13-2 win over the 747 CS on April 19 in a White Division intramural soft-ball game at Ward Field, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
PACOM/JIOC, which got a su-perlative pitching performance from Mike Todd, a Department of Defense civilian, broke out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and held the 747 CS in check until breaking the game wide open in the top of the fifth.
“We’ve been playing together for three years,” Todd said. “Ev-erybody out there on our team has a clue, so we have no holes and we just play together.”
PACOM/JIOC got on the board first with an RBI single, with the bases loaded, off the bat of Marine Master Sgt. Matt Carnejo.
Teammate Information Sys-tem Technician 2nd Class Chad Cozart followed up with an-other base hit to drive in two more runs.
While the PACOM/JIOC bats seemed to have worked out their kinks early in the game, the offense went silent over the next two innings before pick-ing up a run in the top of the fourth on a leadoff, inside-the-
park homer by Tech. Sgt. Brian Graff, whose line shot got past the centerfielder and allowed him the opportunity to go 360.
The drive seemed to be just what the offense needed as PACOM/JIOC picked up right where they left off by hammer-ing out a huge inning in the top of the fifth.
With no outs, bases loaded and one run already in, Collins stepped up to the plate and im-mediately pulled the trigger – sending a pitch deep over the centerfielder’s head.
With the ball rolling around in spacious Ward Field, Collins easily touched them all and boosted the team’s lead up by
four to make 9-2.“If it wasn’t right down the
middle, I was going to let it go,” Collins said about his shot. “It happened to be a great pitch and I got into it. The wind was blowing in and I didn’t know if I got enough of it to get it over his head, but I saw him turn around and chase after it, so I
was like, yeah I got it.”Then, with home plate barely
cooled off from having four players cross over it, Graff went opposite field and deposited a pitch just beyond the right fielder.
As the ball skipped away to-wards the corner, Graff jogged his way around the bases for his second inside-the-park dinger and a 10-2 lead.
“The second one was a no doubter,” Graff said. “I went into trot mode as soon as I saw it go off my bat. I just wanted to get a base hit. I got lucky and it carried.”
Todd, who was credited with three strikeouts while tossing a gem off the mound, said that a lot of his success comes off experience and a little-known technique he calls, “old-man pitching.”
“It’s all about hitting that outside corner,” Todd said. “I hadn’t pitched before, so about three years ago, I said, ‘I’m get-ting too old, I’ve got to find a spot, I can’t play outfield any-more.’ Every year, I’ve gotten progressively better and now I’ve got the old-man thing go-ing.”
Todd said that while in the past few years, softball on Joint Base has been routinely a cor-onation for the 647th Security Forces Squadron or Hawaii Air National Guard, he believes that things are about to change.
As long as his team can stay healthy and keep their players on the field, he admits that this year could be a changing of the guard with PACOM/JIOC com-ing out on top.
“Pound Town isn’t what they used to be because they lost a lot of guys to PCS,” Todd said. “We still got the same guys, so we’re basically waiting our turn.”
Army Sgt. Schaune Collins waves to the crowds at Ward Field after connecting on a grand slam.
“If it wasn’t right down the middle, I was going to let it go. It happened to be a great pitch and I got into it.”
— Army Sgt. Schaune Collins
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele B-4
Block party will return to Wahiawa AnnexHelen Ko
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Morale, Welfare and Recreation
The Wahiawa Annex Block Party will be held for the second time this year at the sports field from 2 to 4 p.m. April 29.
The block party will feature several Morale, Recreation and Welfare information booths rep-resenting activities such as bowling, aquatics, fit-ness and arts and crafts.
Some of the informa-tional booths will be giv-ing away prizes.
In addition to the in-formation booths, there will be bounce houses, bean bag toss, tug-of-war, jousting and sumo wrestling, plus pie eat-ing and donut eating competitions. In addition to the free activities and games, there will be free hot dogs, burgers and a shave ice booth.
(For more information, visit greatlifehawaii.com.)
Visit www.greatlifehawaii.com or subscribe to MWR’s digital magazine Great Life Hawaii.
MWR Marketing photoThe Wahiawa Annex Block Party will return April 29.
U.S. Navy photos by Bettie FeibelPacific golden plovers, locally known as kolea, fly thousands of miles during mid-April from Hawaii to their nesting sites in Alaska. Often solitary while enjoying the warmer winters of Hawaii, they are known to gather together in large groups in order to travel north. Early this week, more than 100 plovers gathered near Ford Island’s flight line, forming together in preparations for their annual migratory journey. These long-distance navigators take no breaks en route, and are expected to return in mid-August.
Leisure and Travel Showcase held at NEXJustin Hirai
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Morale, Welfare and Recreation
Joint Base Pearl Har-bor-Hickam Morale, Wel-fare and Recreation held its annual Leisure and Travel Showcase at the Pearl Harbor Navy Ex-change courtyard on April 16. The event featured over two-dozen vendors. No transactions were al-lowed at the event so pa-trons were able to meet and talk to vendors with-out any sales pressure.
Hawaiian Slice, Local Folk and TRK provided live music during the event. There was also a special performance by a few of the performers from The Big Kahuna Luau Show.
Throughout the event, pr ize drawings were given to lucky guests who attended the showcase. Prizes were provided by the vendors and included a trip to Las Vegas, luau dinners, snorkeling trips, airline miles, hotel and car rental packages and more. Winners did not have to be present to win.
MWR Marketing photosAbove, patrons spin the wheel to win prizes. Below, patrons interact with vendors during the Leisure and Travel Showcase at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange, April 16.
April 22, 2016 Ho‘okele B-5
CommunityCalendar
MOVIE ShowtimeS
aPril
TEMPORARY LANE CLOSURE — NOW The Honolulu Rail Transit project will continue with utility work in the Nimitz Highway and airport area. Saturday lane closures will continue for the next two to three months. Lane closures are taking place in the vicinity of North Nimitz Highway and Valkenburgh Street. Drivers should proceed with caution when traveling through the area.
PASSOVER SEDER EVENTS — TODAYA Christian Protestant Passover Seder meal will be held at 5 p.m. at the Hickam Chapel Center. In addition, a Jewish Passover Seder will be held at 6 p.m. at the Hale Koa Hotel. FMI: Pearl Harbor Memorial at 473-3971 and the Hickam Chapel Center at 449-1754.
NMCRS SAVINGS TICKET — SATURDAY Since 1904, the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) has been helping active duty and retired service members and their families when the unexpected happens. A $5 donation for a Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange shopping ticket from now through Saturday will give back to the NMCRS. Authorized patrons only are eligible. FMI: 423-3287.
EARTH DAY AT HICKAM HARBORSATURDAY — An Earth Day celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hickam Harbor. The event will include activities for the whole family. FMI: 449-5215 or www.greatlifehawaii.com.
JROTC ANNIVERSARY FUN RUNSATURDAY — Oahu all-service Junior JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps) programs will celebrate the 100th JROTC anniversary by hosting a 5K run at Ford Island. The run will begin at 6 a.m. at the end of the runway at Ford Island. Registration is open now and the public can participate to support the JROTC cadets. Oahu-based
JROTC programs are encouraging all JROTC and ROTC alumni to join them for the event, either as a participant or a volunteer. FMI: Visit active.com and search for JROTC 100th or visit JROTCAnniversary.com.
DBIDS IMPLEMENTATION — 25Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam will begin transitioning to its electronic access systems to the Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS). The transition period begins with ID card registration at installation gates from April 25 to May 20 done on a staggered basis, with full implementation beginning May 21 at Joint Base and its annexes at Wahiawa, West Loch and Lualualei. The change should be transparent to personnel seeking to enter JBPHH but during the transition, personnel might experience slight delays when gate personnel scan an ID card for the first time. FMI: JBPHH Pass and ID office at 449-0872 or 449-0865.
NEIGHBORHOOD SECURITY WATCH — 25A neighborhood security watch training meeting for Ohana Military Communities residents from the Pearl City Peninsula, McGrew and Halawa housing areas will begin at 6 p.m. April 25 at the McGrew Point Community Center, 471 McGrew Loop in Aiea. Honolulu Police Department representatives will attend the meeting. Residents can RSVP through today by emailing [email protected] or [email protected] or calling the West number at 839-8640 or the Central number at 839-8670.
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK LUNCHEON26 — A National Volunteer Week luncheon will be held from 2 to 3:30 at the Tradewinds Enlisted Club, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The event will honor Joint Base volunteers who enhance the quality of life in the community. FMI: 474-1999 or www.greatlifehawaii.com.
ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASS — 26A class on managing anger will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. at Military and Family Support Center
Pearl Harbor. FMI: www.greatlifehawaii.com or call 474-1999.
EXPLORING CAREERS — 26 A class on personality assessment and career matching will be held from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Military and Family Support Center Pearl Harbor. FMI: www.greatlifehawaii.com or call 474-1999.
STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS — 27A class on starting your own business will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Military and Family Support Center Hickam. The Small Business Administration and Business Action Center is sponsoring the class. FMI: www.greatlifehawaii.com or call 474-1999.
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS DAY — 29Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Emergency Management Office will host a National Preparedness Day event. Information booths will be staffed from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange and Hickam BX to provide the military community with free resources and handouts to prepare themselves and families on tsunamis, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. The event is held in support of FEMA America’s PrepareAthon National Day of Action, held April 30.
HICKAM EXCHANGE HOURS CHANGE — 30The Hickam Exchange main store hours will change effective April 30. The new hours will be Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, the store will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. FMI: 423-7694 or email [email protected].
FISHPOND CLEANUP — 30A Loko Pa‘aiau Fishpond cleanup will be held at McGrew Point housing area. The event will be conducted with support by the Aiea Hawaiian Civic Club and Damien High School.
Fearing the actions of a god-like superhero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
FRIDAY 4/227:00 PM Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (3-D) (PG-13)
SATURDAY 4/231:30 PM Meet Kernel Popcorn2:50 PM Zootopia (3-D) (PG)5:00 PM My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (PG-13)7:00 PM Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (PG-13)
SUNDAY 4/242:00 PM The Kernel Popcorn Magic Show (free)4:40 PM Miracles From Heaven (PG)7:00 PM My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (PG-13)
THURSDAY 4/28 7:00 PM The Divergent Series: Allegiant (PG-13)
FRIDAY 4/226:00 PM 10 Cloverfield Lane (PG-13)
SATURDAY 4/233:00 PM Zootopia (PG)6:00 PM The Brothers Grimsby (R)
SUNDAY 4/243:00 PM Zootopia 3D (PG) 6:00 PM 10 Cloverfield Lane (PG-13)
