In the Military
For and about Hawaii's servicemen and womenBy Gregg K. Kakesako
See also: For Your Benefit
Afghan air control
duty wins Bronze Star
for master sergeantHickam Air Force Base Master Sgt. Jeffrey Haynes, an air traffic controller, has been awarded the Bronze Star for maintaining the critical follow of aircraft and personnel from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan between November 2001 through April.
Haynes, an 18-year Air Force veteran, was attached to the staff of U.S. Ambassador John Herbst in Tashkent and managed the combat airspace cell in Uzbekistan air force headquarters that controlled all Uzbekistan air space and air defense.
In recommending the Bronze Star, Herbst said Haynes' "cool demeanor and analytical approach to diplomatic and procedural difficulties required to integrate combat and civil air operations within Afghanistan were critical to negotiations which enabled commercial overflights generating more than $2 million in monthly revenue." Haynes, 40, and his team also came under fire several times when they were deployed to airfields and forward locations to help air traffic control operations in Afghanistan.
Haynes said he was overwhelmed with all the attention, noting "there are so many other people who sacrificed a lot ... It's awkward at best."
Schofield Barracks Pfc. Chad Saladin fired a 6-under-par 66 last week to secure one of the four men's open division slots on the All-Army golf team, beating 10 competitors at Fort Bliss in Texas. He will join another Schofield Barracks soldier -- second-year All-Army teammate, Master Sgt. Michael Withrow. The eight-member Army golf team will take on eight-member teams from the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy during the U.S. Armed Forces Golf Championships. Saladin finished 8 under with a four-round total of 280.
Brent Uyehara, a 1994 Kalani High School graduate, was recently commissioned as an ensign after graduating from the Navy's Officer Candidate School at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
Myanmar officials will visit the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam next month to meet with U.S. scientists and learn how they plan to explore four sites in what was once known as Burma to search for wreckage of U.S. military planes that crashed during China-Burma-India supply missions nearly half a century ago.
It is the first time the South Asian nation, which is ruled by a military junta, has agreed to permit U.S. searches on its territory. Technical talks are to be held in Myanmar in November to arrange details for experts from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory to visit the four sites early next year. Myanmar has lived under military rule since 1962, when former dictator Ne Win took power in a coup. The United States discourages trade and investment with Myanmar to protest military suppression of democracy.
The laboratory has pinpointed four World War II crash sites of C-47 cargo aircraft that went down in northern Myanmar in 1944 and 1945. In their initial visit to the sites next year the U.S. specialists will survey the areas for subsequent excavation in hopes of finding remains of the air crews.
Moving Up
Pearl Harbor>> Cmdr. Michael Ryan has assumed command of the attack submarine USS Columbus (SSN 762), relieving Cmdr. Norman Moore.
>> Rear Adm. (selectee) Peter Daly has been assigned as deputy director for resources and requirements, on the Pentagon's Joint Staff. He was executive assistant to the commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
>> Cmdr. Paul Marconi has assumed command of the nuclear submarine USS Olympia (SSN 717), relieving Cmdr. Robert Brennan.
Fort Shafter
>> Lt. Col. Joseph Krakowiak has assumed command of the Army Reserve's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, succeeding Lt. Col. Jon D. Lee, who will become operations officer for 9th Regional Support Command.
Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
