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In the Military Gregg K. Kakesako |
See also: For Your Benefit
25th ID soldier
earns NAACP award
Army Sgt. 1st Class Lamont Christian, an equal opportunity adviser with the 25th Infantry Division, was one of six military personnel and two Defense Department civilian employees honored with the NAACP's Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award in recognition of their contributions to military equal opportunity policies and programs. Called a highly motivated, professional soldier and community activist, Christian was cited for working "tirelessly to eliminate racial prejudice and to remove barriers based on race, color, gender, national origin and religion for military and civilian members alike."
Gary Respicio: Ewa Beach soldier in Iraq says troops pull together in rough times
He served as a member of the National Major Gang Task Force and the Hawaii State Law Enforcement Gang Task Force. "Additionally, he volunteers during off-duty hours taking the message of equal opportunity to the local Hawaiian community by partnering with high schools and the Hawaii State National Guard Youth Challenge, an at-risk youth camp," according to the award citation.
Army Reserve Spc. Gary Respicio, a carpenter and a mason with the 411th Engineer Combat Battalion in Iraq, writes, "it's pretty rough being away from our loved ones, but we're taking it one day at a time."
The Ewa Beach resident says the best thing about his current Iraqi assignment is that "everybody is close to each other and we help each other out throughout the rough times. We are all family fighting for everyone back home."
Schofield Barracks' Company B, 65th Engineer Battalion, was one of 23 units recently recognized for their innovative deployment initiatives. The engineer company shared first place in the small unit, operational deployment category with Company C, 121st Signal Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, Kitizingen, Germany. In its fourth year, the awards program looked at units that deployed or those who supported deploying units from Dec. 1, 2002, to Feb. 10. Within that two-year period, the Army redeployed more than 111,500 soldiers back to their home stations from war-fighting missions.
The University of Hawaii's Army ROTC unit has been recognized as being in the top 15 percent of the Army's 271 units for the 2002-03 school year. Officers may be commissioned on active duty, in a reserve component, or receive an additional delay to earn a graduate or professional degree.
Moving up
Pearl Harbor
>> Rear Adm. John S. Godlewski, Pacific Fleet deputy chief of staff, will be assigned as commander of Carrier Group 6 in Mayport, Fla.>> Rear Adm. Michael S. Roesner, Pacific Fleet deputy chief of staff, will become commander of Naval Inventory Control Point Philadelphia/ Mechanicsburg, Pa.
>> Cmdr. John Heatherington has assumed command of the submarine USS Pasadena, relieving Cmdr. Donald Fritts.
Fort Shafter
>> Lt. Col. David E. Anderson will assume command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu Engineer District, relieving Lt. Col. David C. Press
Camp Smith
>> Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Kelly will assume command of the Joint Interagency Task Force West, relieving Rear Adm. David Kunkel.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
"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.
