Name: Brig. Gen. Michael H. Tice
Age: 53
Education: Punahou, University of Oregon
Occupation: Commander, 154th Wing, Hawaii Air National Guard
Hobbies: Sailing

Those distant deployments are business as usual for the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Wing, commanded by newly romoted Brig. Gen. Michael H. Tice.

Based at Hickam Air Force Base, the wing is a six-time recipient of the Air Force Outstanding Unit award. Its F-15 Eagle jet fighters have been deployed twice to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey for Operation Provide Comfort II - patrolling the northern no-fly zone of Iraq. In addition to refueling missions over Bosnia, the wing's KC-135 Stratotankers participated in the Operation Desert Strike cruise missile attacks in Iraq two months ago.

"Our tankers refueled the B-52 bombers as they flew over to the Pacific on their way to their targets," Tice recalls.

The wing also maintains five C-130H Hercules to transport and air-drop soldiers and equipment to any place in the world under all conditions.

Tice anticipates the Hawaii Air National Guard assuming a larger role as the Air Force continues to shrink because of fiscal cutbacks. "I see ourselves getting busier now," he says.

Tice enlisted in the Hawaii Air National Guard in 1965 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant two years later. He served as a "traditional guardsman" until he became a full-time employee as an instructor pilot in September 1973.

Since then Tice has accumulated 3,900 hours of tactical fighter flying time, 900 of them in F-15s. The Eagles are part of the wing's fighter squadron - one of the oldest in the Air Guard - responsible for the air defense of Hawaii. It's one of only 10 units in the country with an air-defense mission.

Tice was named commander of the 154th Wing in December 1989, when it was called the 154th Composite Group. He pinned on his one-star rank Oct. 29.