9th Regional Readiness gets new commander

Brig. Gen. Alexander I. Kozlov today becomes the first general to command the 9th Regional Readiness Command and Pacific Army Reserve who has not spent any time in the unit.

The position has been a one-star command since 1976. Since April 2005, Kozlov, 48, has been commander of the U.S. Army Facility Engineer Group, 416th Engineer Command, in Darien, Ill., which provides construction management of military base camps and public works worldwide, and oversight of environmental practices and minor construction at all U.S. Army Reserve Centers.

He lives in Redwood City, Calif., and is vice president of MacDonald-Bedford, a construction management consulting firm. Kozlov received his bachelor's degree from California Polytechnic State University, where he is working on a master's degree. He served for five years on active duty as an engineer officer and is fluent in Russian.

He will take over from Brig. Gen. John Ma at a ceremony planned for 2 p.m. today at Fort Shafter Flats. Ma, the Pacific Army Reserve commander since December 2002, is retiring.

Kozlov's new command is made up of 24 units in three countries spanning seven time zones across the Pacific in Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, American Samoa, Guam and Saipan. Approximately 3,500 soldiers are assigned to the 9th RRC.

The salvage ship USS Salvor, which entered naval service in 1986, was decommissioned last week and transferred to Military Sealift Command after 21 years of service. In 2001, the Salvor was involved in surveying and recovery from the Ehime Maru, which sank off Diamond Head when it was rammed by a U.S. nuclear submarine.

Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki will serve as the national spokesman for the Go For Broke National Education Center in Los Angeles. The center's mission is to teach and preserve the history Japanese Americans. Go For Broke is the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 100th Battalion and the 442nd RCT were two units comprised of Japanese Americans, many of whom volunteered to fight in World War II while being held in internment camps.

Two Mililani High School students, William Stewart and Jeremy Howze Jr., attained the Boy Scouts of America rank of Eagle Scout by improving local Army community facilities. Both are members of Troop 32 in Waipahu. Stewart's Eagle Scout service project was to demolish and reconstruct two information bulletin boards for the Schofield Sharks swim team at Schofield Barracks and construct a new presentation case for a team perpetual award. Howze's Eagle Scout service project transformed the Tripler Army Medical Center outpatient pediatric treatment room into a child-friendly atmosphere.

Moving up

Pearl Harbor

» Capt. Gregory R. Thomas has been selected to be the next commander of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

» Cmdr. Jeffrey James has assumed command of the destroyer USS Hopper, relieving Cmdr. Peter Driscoll.

>>Cmdr. Patrick Huete has assumed command of the frigate USS Crommelin, relieving Cmdr. Mark Manfredi.

Kalaeloa

>>Maj. Rudolph Ligsay has assumed command of the 29th Brigade Combat Team's 1st Squadron, 299th Cavalry, relieving Lt. Col. Ken Hara.

"In the Military" was compiled from wire reports and other sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached by phone at 294-4075 or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.