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John Michael Angelo Cole Caneda Sr., 51, of Hilo, an auto body mechanic and an Army National Guard veteran, passed away on May 12, 2015. He was born in Kailua. He is survived by wife Charmaine, son John M.A.C. Jr., daughters Tasha A.S. and Chantel M., brothers Lino Jr. and Al, sister Joann C. Olevao and two grandchildren. Visitation: 5 p.m. Thursday at Nuuanu Memorial Park & Mortuary. Services: 6 p.m. Additional visitation: 6 p.m. May 26 at Dodo Mortuary. Services: 7 p.m. Casual attire.
General Mark Milley, an Ivy League graduate and career grunt, has been nominated to be your next Army chief of staff. Milley took command of Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in August after serving as commanding general of III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas.
On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days. The single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department — the Department of Defense. Each of the military leagues and orders was asked to drop sponsorship of its specific service day in order to celebrate the newly announced Armed Forces Day. The Army, Navy and Air Force leagues adopted the newly formed day. The Marine Corps League declined to drop support for Marine Corps Day but supports Armed Forces Day, too.
Armed Forces Day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of May.
Ten years ago….
+ TSgt Peter Kali journals his trip to the C-17 “First Rivet Ceremony
+ Capt. Kris “JAG” Sills talks about Cope Tiger
+ Five new First Sergeants are on board
The May 2005 issue of the 154th Wing’s newsletter, the Kūkā‘ilimoku, featured these stories and more.
Read more 2005 05 Kukailimoku
Many current Reserve and National Guard members, particularly those who are younger and have fewer years of service, are likely next year to face a difficult choice of retirement plans.
It will be a decision as complex as the one being prepared by Congress for their active duty counterparts. More details of that choice are emerging as architects of the new plan answer questions posed by military associations, veterans groups, congressional staffs and individual reservists.
Frank M. Kawana, 66, of Mililani, a foreman and a veteran of the Navy and Hawai‘i Air National Guard, passed away on April 15, 2015. He was born in Honolulu. He is survived by wife Merle, sons Ryan and Jon, mother Fukue, sisters Katherine Kawana and Colleen Wold, and a grandchild. Private services. Condolences: http://www.borthwickoahu.com
Members of the 93rd Weapons of Mass Destruction, Civil Support Team teamed up with local responders to prepare for coordinated disaster response capabilities.
Story and video by TSgt Andrew Jackson
Last December, hackers stumbled upon a treasure trove: Security problems with the site of social networking application maker RockYou allowed anyone to access a massive list of passwords belonging to its users.
Hackers discussed the site’s weak security extensively in an online forum. The conversations were found by security firm Imperva, which warned the company. Not, however, before one of the hackers made off with nearly 33 million unencrypted passwords from the site. The thief posted the list of passwords, without usernames, to the forum and mocked the company for the lax security around the credentials.
“Pretty nice list with plain text passwords,” the hacker wrote, according to news reports. “It’s so lame, and I’m sure that more than half does work for MySpace and other sites.”
Credit card hackers looking for new ways to drain money from consumers’ bank accounts and evade increased bank security measures have discovered a clever side door—the Starbucks mobile payment app and gift cards. Criminals are hijacking consumers’ coffee accounts, draining the stored value of their cards, and then using Starbucks’ auto-reload function to hack consumers’ associated debit and credit cards.
The Army and Air Force continue working to take back missions and aircraft from the Army and Air National Guard. The Pentagon has recommended the National Guard give the active-duty Army its Apache attack helicopters in exchange for unarmed Black Hawks.
The nation’s governors on Tuesday urged Congress to reject any personnel or equipment cuts from the Army National Guard, as lawmakers craft the defense bill that authorizes spending and activities in 2016.
“The nation’s governors call on Congress to maintain Army National Guard (ARNG) aircraft, personnel and force structure,” said a statement by the National Governors Association (NGA), which represents all governors.
Harley-Davidson announced they are offering their Riding Academy FREE to all former and current United States military members.
Learn More and register: Riding Academy Offer
More about the Riding Academy
High cholesterol, high blood pressure, and other factors increase your risk for a heart attack.
US Northern Command boss Admiral Bill Gortney raised the force protection condition level for all Defense Department bases and activities from alpha to bravo late on May 7, NORTHCOM spokeswoman Army Major Beth Smith told Air Force Magazine. The move came the same day FBI Director James Comey warned that thousands of ISIS sympathizers could be living inside the United States.
Smith said the increase in threat level was not “tied to any specific threat,” though she acknowledged Comey’s announcement played a role in Gortney’s decision. “Due to the current conditions our commander thought it was prudent to raise the threat condition level to remind [troops] to stay vigilant,” said Smith. There are five force protection conditions—normal, alpha, bravo, charlie, and delta. Alpha has been the baseline since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Bravo means there is an “increased or more predictable threat of terrorist activity,” said Smith.
Though most DOD installations were at alpha before the threat level was raised, individual commanders have the authority to implement additional security measures. The Pentagon was doing so “for some time,” said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Tom Crosson. The 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks was the last time the threat level was raised. It remained at bravo from September 4-14, 2011. Smith could not say how long the threat levels would remain raised this time, citing operational security concerns.
The United States has four threat levels above “normal” for military installations. Here’s an explanation of each level:
FPCON ALPHA: (Threat level low) This condition applies when there is a general threat of possible terrorist activity against personnel and facilities, the nature and extent of which are unpredictable, and circumstances do not justify full implementation of PFCON BRAVO measures. However, it may be necessary to implement certain measures from higher PFCONs resulting from intelligence received or as a deterrent. The measures in thisPFCON must be capable of being maintained indefinitely.
FPCON BRAVO: (Threat level medium) This condition applies when an increased and more predictable threat of terrorist activity exists. The measures in this FPCON must be capable of being maintained for weeks without causing undue hardship, affecting operational capability, and aggravating relations with local authorities.
PFCON CHARLIE: (Threat level high) This condition applies when an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating some form of terrorist action against personnel and facilities is imminent. Implementation of measures in thisPFCON for more than a short period probably will create hardship and affect the peacetime activities of the unit and its personnel.
PFCON DELTA: (Threat level critical) This condition applies in the immediate area where a terrorist attack has occurred or when intelligence has been received that terrorist action against a specific location or person is likely. Normally, this PFCON is declared as a localized condition.
