More family members of deployed troops can travel space-available on military transport flights, thanks to a recent expansion of the Defense Department’s space-A passenger rules.
Dependents of service members deployed for at least 30 consecutive days will be able to fly without their service members anywhere in the world if space is available on a flight, and if they meet certain requirements.
Previously, a dependent’s sponsor had to be serving on a deployment for at least 120 days for the dependent to fly unaccompanied on a space-A flight.
Ronald E. Bright, 81, teacher and director extraordinaire, went to be with his eternal Father in Heaven on July 7, 2015. Mr. B., as he was most oftened referred to, was born in Hilo, Hawaii, on September 2, 1933.
After graduating from Hilo High School in 1951, he attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo, then continued his studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he graduated in 1956, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. He obtained his Professional Certificate in 1957 after intern teaching at Roosevelt High School, where he met his wife, Moira. In 1973, he received his Master’s in Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Mr. B.’s full-time teaching career started at Castle High School in Kaneohe, Hawaii, in 1957, only to be interrupted by a 2-year stint with the United States Army at Schofield Barracks from 1958-1960. He thoroughly enjoyed his military career and joined the 111th Hawaii Army National Guard band shortly after.
He returned to education, teaching at Castle High School, up until his retirement in 1993. During his college years, he was a key player in a TV series airing weekly called “Campus Canteen,” moonlighted as a piano player at the Beretania Follies, and later became a dinner pianist at the Kaneohe Yacht Club and Oahu Country Club.
It was at Castle High that he directed over 85 musicals and plays; this, along with other productions elsewhere such as New Hope Christian Fellowship, Kamehameha Schools and Paliku Theatre, numbered over 100 directorial pursuits.
There were numerous accolades bestowed on him throughout his lifetime, more notably, State Teacher of the Year, University of Hawaii Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Milken Teacher of the Year Award, Guardsman of the Year, Father of the Year, Federal Citizen of the Year and Living Treasure of Hawaii.
His love for God never veered and he was content to live the good life that God planned for him. It was in June of 1960, that he married the love of his life, Moira, a made-in-heaven union that produced three beautiful children, Clarke (Lynell), the Royal Hawaiian Bandmaster, Jodi (Lee) Stein, a teacher at Shafter Elementary, Michael (Jade), teacher at Kamehameha Schools, and seven grandchildren he was so proud of: Chris, Timothy, Caitlin, Drew and Colton Bright, and Lauren and Mia Stein. He is also survived by sisters Leilani Aguiar, Judy Pereira, and brother, Wally Bright.
His capacity to love was enormous and he touched thousands upon thousands of souls with his contagious smile, hearty laugh, big hugs and twinkling eyes that communicated, “you are special.” He will never be forgotten but will live in our hearts forever.
Arrangements: by Hawaiian Memorial Park – First Presbyterian Church, Ko’olau Ballroom, Friday, August 7, 2015, visitation from 8:30 – 10:00 am, service 10:00 – 11:15am. Friends and family are urged to car pool if attending services; overflow parking and shuttle service also available at Hawaii Pacific University, Kaneohe. Aloha attire, no flowers.
click on photograph to enlarge
Air Force Day was established on August 1, 1947, by President Truman “in recognition of the personnel of the victorious Army Air Forces and all those who have developed and maintained our nation’s air strength.” August 1 was chosen to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment, in 1907, of the Aeronautical Division in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army.
Update: 201st Combat Communications Group inactivation ceremony
In early 2013, the National Guard Bureau verbally notified the Hawai‘i Air National Guard (HIANG) that they were inactivating the Headquarters, 201st Combat Communications Group. The effective date of the inactivation would be September 30, 2013.
The command took action to find the Headquarters’ full-time force new positions with other HIANG units. Traditional members had opportunities to transfer to other HIANG units. Several members retired.
Planning began for an inactivation ceremony, scheduled for October 2013 UTA weekend. Brig Gen Stan Osserman, then the HIANG Commander, cancelled the ceremony because the ongoing Federal shutdown did not fund Guard unit training assemblies in October.
The planning for the ceremony did not restart after training funds became available in November. HIANG had still not received any official correspondence directing the inactivation.
In a conversation with General Osserman, he said,
“As I recall, NGB never actually “de-activated” the CCG back in 2013 and even after I retired, they basically pulled the manpower off the document and defunded the group. We never got a de-activation order, and even the funding to turn in equipment and take care of those housekeeping activities were taken out of HIANG hide. We never did a ceremony under my tenure because we never had official orders to de-activate.”
The Bureau’s direction finally came in a May 23, 2014 letter. It said in part, “HQ 201st Combat Communications Group will be inactivated on 1 Jun 2014.
In a July 9, 2014 memorandum, Brig Gen Ryan Okahara, the current HIANG commander, realigned the remaining 201 CCG units. The 201st Intelligence Squadron and the 297th Air Traffic Control Squadron became part of the 154th Operations Group. The 154th Mission Support Group gained the 291st, 292d and 293d Combat Communications Squadrons. The 154th Communications Flight now has the Eagle Vision 5 UTC mission.
Since this reorganization, the 293d Combat Communications Squadron received a notice of inactivation. Up to several weeks ago, the inactivation date was September 30, 2015. This date has since slid to December 31, 2015.
In a recent meeting, Brig Gen Okahara discussed the HQ 201 CCG inactivation ceremony. It is his intention to hold a ceremony, perhaps a joint inactivation ceremony with the 293d Combat Communications Squadron.
Retiree News will post another update as more information becomes available.
Save the Date: National Guard Birthday Ball
What: National Guard Birthday Ball
When: Friday, December 11, 2015
Where: Hilton Hawaiian Village
Retiree News will post additional information as the event gets closer.
The University of Phoenix, which runs an online college popular among military veterans, is under federal investigation for possible deceptive or unfair business practices, its parent company the Apollo Education Group told shareholders Wednesday.
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
During July, the following postings received a high number of viewings.
Taps: Ronald E. Bright First Sergeant Ronald E. Bright served for 30 years with the Hawai‘i Army National Guard. He was a member of the 111th Army Band. During his tenure, the band transitioned to a very entertaining show band. The members sang and did song and dance routines. And there were those Christmas concerts…..
TAG Promotion Ceremony Governor David Y. Ige hosted a ceremony yesterday for Brigadier General Arthur “Joe” Logan promoting him to the rank of Major General. The ceremony was held at Washington Place and there was a reception following to the pinning.
Congress OKs new ID cards for all veterans Congress on Tuesday approved plans to offer new veteran ID cards to honorably discharged service members, in an effort to more easily prove their military service.
Taken from a State Department of Defense press release
Honolulu, Hawaii- More than 80 members of the Hawaii Air National Guard (HIANG) from four different units, have returned home from deployments. Approximately 40 members of the 292nd Combat Communications Squadron, based in Kahului, Maui, and two other HIANG units returned home today from the U.S. Central Command’s Area of Responsibility (CENTCOM AOR) after a six month deployment. Augmenting the 292nd Combat Communications Squadron were several Airmen from the HIANG’s 291st Combat Communications Squadron, based in Hilo, Hawaii and the HIANG’s 154th Force Support Squadron, based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The HIANG Airmen provided base communications during the deployment such as satellite telecommunications, computer networking, telephone, and mobile radio services as well as some other base support functions. Previously, the 292nd Combat Communications Squadron deployed Airmen to various locations within the CENTCOM AOR in 2006 and 2009.
More than 40 members of the HIANG’s 154th Security Forces Squadron returned to Honolulu International Airport this weekend following a six month deployment to the CENTCOM AOR, which encompasses the area of Southwest Asia and most of the Middle East. The Security Forces Airmen provided base and perimeter security as well as fly-away security teams from an undisclosed location. The 154th Security Forces Squadron has deployed unit members more than 12 times to the CENTCOM AOR since 2001.
Due to operational security reasons and host nation sensitivities, the HIANG is not disclosing the host nations where the airmen deployed.
All of the Airmen who deployed are part of the 154th Wing, the largest Air National Guard wing in the nation. The Hawaii Air National Guard is comprised of approximately 2,500 airmen whose federal mission is to be trained and available for active duty operational missions.
Ryan Ozawa posted a great article about the new Extreme Tsunami Evacuation Zones. The post provides a background on extreme tsunamis. There is a link to the City & County of Honolulu’s website where the new extreme evacuation zone maps are posted.
http://www.hawaiiweblog.com/2015/07/27/xtez-extreme-tsunami
Ryan Ozawa is a self-described “Geek dad in paradise” who covers technology for Hawaii News Now, HI Luxury and Hawaii Information Service. He and Burt Lum are hosts of a weekly Public Radio show called Bytemarks Café.
Military Retirees, Annuitants and Former Spouses –
The July 2015 Retiree Newsletter is ready for your review. It contains important information about reporting for the Affordable Care Act, auditing your account, updating your email addresses, and protecting your account from fraud.
To access the newsletter, please click on the link below. You will find a list of topics for the newsletter, and you will also have easy access to previous newsletters after you click the link. The links to the newsletter were consolidated into one link for your convenience.
http://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/newsevents/newsletter.html
If you would like to contact us, please visit AskDFAS (https://corpweb1.dfas.mil/askDFAS/askRA.jsp). There you will find a list of Frequently Asked Questions organized by category as well as an option to submit a personalized question.
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Barack Obama’s pick to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Marine General Joseph Dunford Jr., who is currently commandant of the Marine Corps, is expected to take over Oct. 1 for General Martin E. Dempsey, who will retire after a 41-year Army career.
Special thanks to Carol Service, retired Hawaii Air National Guard member for sending in this information.
Based on the potential benefits of proper hydration such as reduced bladder cancer risk, how many cups of water should we strive to drink every day?
The pūpūkahi is the State of Hawaii Department of Defense monthly newsletter. Printed versions of the pūpūkahi have been the “command information” newsletter for decades, however, it was suspended in 2009 due to budget cuts.
Click here to read the July 2015 digital pūpūkahi
The Civil Air Patrol has been performing critical missions since World War II. Most recently, CAP was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal award on behalf of the members who bravely served during World War II.
It’s normal to feel tired, but if you constantly feel like you’re dragging, it may be time to take a closer look at your routine.
