In the Military
For and about Hawaii's servicemen and womenBy Gregg K. Kakesako
See also: For Your Benefit
More than 3,000 employees of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility have donated $537,508 to the 2002 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). The employees of the state's largest industrial employer averaged $176 per donor. The CFC is the annual fund-raising drive conducted by Federal employees in their workplace each fall. Money raised through the CFC benefits thousands of nonprofit charities. Pearl Harbor shipyard
contributes $537,508
to help charity drive
>>>><<<< More than 13,000 sailors and Marines belonging to aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman battle group left its home port in Norfolk, Va., this week to begin a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf and possibly a pivotal role in a war against Iraq.
The USS George Washington carrier group is scheduled to return to Norfolk around Dec. 20 from the Mediterranean.
Already in the Persian Gulf is the carrier group USS Abraham Lincoln battle group, based in San Diego.
Two other Pacific Fleet carriers, the Constellation and the Kitty Hawk, have been in and out of Hong Kong's harbor recently. The Kitty Hawk is based in Japan.
The Truman battle group is made up of the guided missile cruiser San Jacinto; the guided missile destroyers Oscar Austin, Mitscher and Donald Cook; the destroyers Briscoe and Deyo; the guided missile frigate Hawes; the attack submarines Pittsburgh and Montpelier; the oiler Kanawha; and the ammunition ship Mount Baker.
>>>><<<< The commanding officer of the Norfolk-based attack submarine Oklahoma City has been relieved after his ship's collision Nov. 13 with a Norwegian tanker in the Mediterranean Sea. Cmdr. Richard Voter, the submarine's captain, was relieved Nov. 30 in La Maddalena, Sardinia, by Rear Adm. Kirkland Donald, commander of Submarine Group Eight.
One other officer and two enlisted crew members also were disciplined for alleged dereliction of duty, according to a Navy statement.
The Oklahoma City remains at La Maddalena, undergoing repairs at the port's Naval Support Activity. The submarine sustained damage to its periscope and sail area.
It began a scheduled six-month deployment in June with the George Washington battle group. The ship the submarine is suspected of striking has been identified as the 800-foot-long liquid natural gas tanker Norman Lady.
>>>><<<< Cmdr. Hideo Oyama, 52, commander of the Sasebo, Japan-based 64th Escort Division, was dismissed on Oct. 8 after reports that he frequently drank alcohol in his stateroom aboard the destroyer Asakaze. He was the commander of Japan's task force assisting in the U.S.-led war on terrorism in the Arabian Sea and was relieved of his command for being drunk on duty, the Pacific Stars and Stripes reported.
At the time, the Asakaze and the destroyer Inazuma were deployed in the Arabian Sea to escort two Japanese supply ships that provided fuel to U.S. and British warships as part of Japan's logistics support for the anti-terrorism campaign.
The ships were sent to the region July 1.
"In the Military" was compiled from wire reports and other
sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for
the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. He can be reached can be reached by phone
at 294-4075 or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
