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In the Military Gregg K. Kakesako |
See also: For Your Benefit
Kamehameha graduate
hurt in Stryker accidentCapt. Jonathan Ishikawa, a 1995 Kamehameha Schools graduate, recently wrote to his family from Iraq that he was okay after a Stryker mobile combat vehicle in Iraq was a victim of an improvised explosive device last week.
Ishikawa is the son of Col. Gary Ishikawa, deputy adjutant general for the state Department of Defense.
The driver of a Stryker assigned to 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, suffered a broken right ankle and foot on Dec. 6 and was flown to an Army hospital in Balad, a town north of Baghdad, according to The News Tribune of Tacoma, which has a reporter embedded with the recently deployed brigade. Three other crew members escaped unharmed by the explosion, believed to have been caused by an improvised explosive device.
This is the second time in less that a week that new eight-wheeled, 19-ton Strykers have been in a mishap since arriving in Iraq in early December from Fort Lewis. On Dec. 8, three soldiers were killed and a fourth was injured when two Strykers plunged into an irrigation canal
Col. Ishikawa said his son, who was commissioned through the Washington University Army ROTC program, e-mailed him earlier this week to say that he was okay.
Cmdr. Tito Dua, captain of the frigate USS Gary in Japan, has been relieved of his command "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command," according to a U.S. 7th Fleet press release. He is the third 7th Fleet commander to be fired in 15 months. In February, Rear Adm. Steven Kunkle, the USS Kitty Hawk Battle Group commander, was relieved for engaging in an "inappropriate relationship" with a female officer. Kunkle also received a punitive letter of reprimand.
In September 2002, Capt. Thomas Hejl lost his job as the commander of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk because of a breakdown in the ship's proficiency and crew readiness. The carrier hit a buoy and had failed an engineering plant assessment. There also were several high-profile crimes committed by Kitty Hawk sailors.
Brig. Gen. Jerry C. McAbee, commanding general of Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii, was presented this week with a $133,500 rebate check from Hawaiian Electric for the installation of solar water heating panels on new base housing. The Marines estimate the solar devices amount to an annual savings of $48,000.
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"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.