Air Guard cherishes
protective mission

UTAPAO, Thailand » Members of the Hawaii Air Guard 154th Security Forces Squadron helped protect aircraft and crews in four countries -- from the Maldives to Malaysia -- during the tsunami relief effort.

On assignment Star-Bulletin reporter Craig Gima is traveling through Southeast Asia to report on relief efforts.

Their mission included providing security at Utapao, Thailand; for two Hawaii-based Coast Guard C-130s in Colombo, Sri Lanka; and at an airport in Langkawi, Malaysia, about an hour's flight from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, said Tech Sgt. David Weeks, who coordinated security in Malaysia.

Weeks was among four members of the 154th scheduled to return to Hawaii, along with five members of the Hawaii Air Guard's 201st Combat Communications Squadron and a handful of other Hickam and Camp Smith personnel who served in Operation Unified Assistance.

Thirteen members of the 154th deployed to Utapao in mid-January. Three stayed in Thailand; eight were sent to Malaysia, and two to Sri Lanka. One of the missions included providing protection in the Maldives, a small group of islands off India that suffered damage from the Dec. 26 tsunami.

"It was a tight group," said Staff Sgt. Martin La Puente, stationed in Sri Lanka. "We were like ohana over there."

Because most of the Guard come from Hawaii, Weeks, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools, said they are close. "We take care of each other," he said.

La Puente, a Waipahu High School graduate, was in Sri Lanka. One of his missions was to Jaffna, in the area where the Tamils have been fighting for independence from Sri Lanka. A cease-fire has been in effect for two years, but there is still tension.

La Puente said their job was to accompany the Coast Guard C-130 and help bring out a medical team from the tsunami-damaged area on the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka, which they accomplished without incident.

He said Sri Lankans seemed to appreciate what the U.S. military was doing in the country. In Colombo, where tourism has taken a big downturn, restaurants appreciated their spending money in the city, La Puente said.

"Slowly, I think they're recovering," he said.

Weeks said all of the people in his unit had volunteered for duty in Operation United Assistance.

Staff Sgt. Charles Parker, who has lived in Hawaii since 1990, said the Guard members wanted to go out on more missions and help people.

"The cause is good. That's what we all volunteered for," said Senior Airman Sheldon Haleck, a 1994 Kaiser graduate.