Army Reserve
activates first postal
unit on Maui

The new unit will bring nearly
60 jobs to the island

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

The Army Reserve will activate its first postal unit today, which it hopes will bring nearly 60 jobs to Maui.

The activation ceremony for the 751st Adjutant General Company was to be held this morning at the Maui Army Reserve Center at 1686 Kaahumanu Ave. in Wailuku.

"We are extremely pleased to establish the 751st AG Co. on Maui," said Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Robert Lee, commander of the 9th Regional Support Command, in prepared remarks.

"We hope it will create more opportunities for Maui residents, especially today's young people, to participate in the Army Reserve. ... The 9th RSC constantly seeks to create opportunities for more people to join the Army Reserve."

First Sgt. Manuel Tagavilla, the acting commander of the new Maui unit, said he does not believe he will have any problems recruiting soldiers for the unit.

"We already have transfers coming from the other Maui unit," he said.

That unit is a small detachment belonging to the 411th Engineer Battalion.

Tagavilla, who lives in Salt Lake, said the new postal unit has openings for two full-time workers, while the other 57 positions will be traditional reservists. He will have to commute to Maui to attend his monthly Army Reserve drills.

So far, only three soldiers have been assigned to the unit, which is authorized to have 54 enlisted soldiers and five officers -- one captain and four lieutenants.

Tagavilla, who has an Army Reserve member since 1972, works as a personnel management specialist in his civilian capacity for the Army Reserve's 657th Area Support Group.

This is the third Army Reserve unit activated during the past three years.

The other two are an engineer and maintenance support platoon in American Samoa, and a Logistics Support Vessel Marine Transportation unit at Pearl Harbor.

The Army Reserve still plans to activate its first aviation unit here in two years, which means four Black Hawk helicopters will be added to its inventory.

There are now 24 units belonging to the Pacific Army Reserve, whose largest unit is the 100th Battalion with 650 soldiers spread out from Hawaii to Guam, Saipan and American Samoa.

The color guard for this morning's ceremony was to be members of the Baldwin High School Army JROTC unit.