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IN THE MILITARY

Dubik to command
Schofield’s 25th Infantry

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

MAJ. Gen. James Dubik, I Corps and Fort Lewis deputy commander in Washington, D.C., will assume command of the 25th Infantry Division on Nov. 3.

He will replace Maj. Gen. William "Kip" Ward, who took command of the Schofield Barracks unit in September 1999. Ward will become vice director for operations for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dubik was stationed at Schofield in 1987 as inspector general and later as commander of the now inactive 5th Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment.

Military personnel wishing to bring their pets to the islands when they are transferred to Hawaii will be eligible for a partial reimbursement of $275 to cover the cost of quarantine.

The relocation reimbursement was pursued by Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who inserted a provision into the Defense Authorization Bill, which recently passed Congress. The bill is now pending before the president. Current pet quarantine costs range from $655 to $1,080, depending on the type of animal.

Another provision of the bill, authored by U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, would require the Veterans Affairs Department to add details to 74 "unknown" graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific that hold the remains of 124 unidentified crewmen of the USS Arizona. That provision also was adopted.

Lorraine Marks-Haislip, of the USS Arizona Reunion Association, and Raymond Emory, of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, have struggled with Army officials to have information gathered from military records added to the "unknown" Punchbowl headstones, including the Dec. 7, 1941, date and where the remains were recovered.

"I'm excited about it, that something definitely is going to be done," said Marks-Haislip. "It's not for us. It's for the guys who can't speak for themselves."

The bill also provides a 3.7 percent pay raise for all service members, which will take effect Jan. 1, lessening the gap between military and private-sector wages.

Moving up

Pearl Harbor Naval Magazine: Capt. John C. McLawhorn relieved Capt. Shawn B. Morrisey at West Loch as commanding officer.

Hickam Air Force Base: Col. Steve Redmann, 15th Air Base Wing, recently received his first star as a brigadier general from Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters.