U.S. ARMY PHOTO Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Odoardi of Ewa Beach hands an eager Iraqi boy a case of shortbread cookies.

Kaneohe helicopter training
squadron ends service

Some of its personnel will be transferred to Marine Helicopter Training Squadron 302 in New River, N.C., while others will remain with Marine Aircraft Group 24 at Kaneohe. Its mission has been to provide pilots and crew chiefs to the CH-53D helicopter squadrons.

The unit was activated in 1966 at Marine Corps Air Station at Tustin, Calif., and provided training for UH-34 Sea Horse helicopter air crews bound for Vietnam. In January 1968, the squadron changed to the CH-53A Sea Stallion helicopters and was re-designated as Marine Heavy Helicopter Training Squadron 301. On Sept. 30, 1993, HMT-301 was deactivated because the Tustin base was selected for closure. It was reactivated on Aug. 24, 1995, at Kaneohe Bay.

Army Brig. Gen. Michael C. Flowers assumed command of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command from Maj. Gen. W. Montague Winfield this week. Flowers was chief of staff for NATO Kosovo Force in Pristina, Kosovo, from July 2004 to June 2005. Winfield will become the commanding general of the United States Army Cadet Command at Fort Monroe, Va.

At Kaneohe, Col. Michael O'Neal has moved up from his position as deputy commander to commanding officer of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, relieving Brig. Gen. George Trautman III, who moves to Okinawa to become the commanding general of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

More than 200 delegates are expected at the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Ladies Auxiliary convention, hosted by local Post 3830, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo. New officers for the 2005-2006 for both the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary will be elected on Saturday.

Hawaii soldiers from Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry Regiment, late last month handed out hundreds of goods to residents of Hamvani Village, a predominately Sunni neighborhood just west of Baghdad International Airport as a way of expressing appreciation. A total of four pallets of bottled water, cookies and other goods were donated by sailors aboard the Singapore Navy's RSS Resolution.

Capt. Paul T. Agena, Bravo Company commander, said his soldiers are responsible for patrolling the neighborhood of about 250 residents. "The community has been pretty helpful to us," said Agena, a Kailua school teacher, in an Army news release. "They have provided food for my soldiers, and have even baked bread for them."

Children of all ages flocked to the truck as it pulled up to the sheik's house where the goods were delivered and later distributed to the villagers. "We're just trying to show them that we're here to help," said 2nd Lt. Justin Otto, platoon leader with Company Bravo, which has been patrolling the village for about two months. He said he has already noticed a significant and positive difference from when he first patrolled the area.

"Everybody's starting to open up and realize that we're not there to harm them; we're there to actually help them," he said. "For us infantry guys, we enjoy going out there looking for the bad guy and doing humanitarian missions. It gives us a good feeling."

Future plans for Hamvani village include building another schoolhouse, putting in fresh water wells, paving roads and building bridges over the canals villagers frequently use.