Leilehua graduate a rising star in Army
By William Cole
Military Affairs Writer
From a young age, Col. James T. Hirai encountered the military in just about every direction he turned.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Hirai was born in a military hospital in Japan, where his father served with Army occupation forces following World War II, but spent his youth growing up in Wahiawa in the shadow of Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Air Field, then an Air Force base.
Lt. Col. Don Birdseye, right, who worked for Col. James T. Hirai at Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter, calls the Wahiawa native and soon-to-be brigadier general a team-builder.
His parents later took civilian jobs at Pearl Harbor, and a young Hirai went to Boy Scout camp each year at Schofield, learning survival skills and rappelling.
But he wasn't interested in being in the Army.
"When I was a senior in high school, my counselor, Mr. Fujimoto, asked me what I was going to do, and I said I was going to go to college," Hirai said. "He asked me how I was going to pay for it, but I was very naive, and didn't realize somebody had to pay."
He turned to the Army ROTC program as an answer. It turned out to be a good choice; Hirai, chief of staff for the U.S. Army Pacific, last week was selected for promotion to brigadier general, and is expected to soon add his name to the ranks of Army officers born or raised in Hawai'i who have reached that pinnacle.
On the list is Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki, a four-star general. Hirai's promotion needs to be finalized by Senate confirmation.
Hirai said his success and that of others from the Islands shows Hawai'i can produce business and military leaders.
"I think it says a lot about the good environment I was lucky enough to have here with my family and the community," Hirai, 48, said. "I think Hawai'i is a great place to grow up."
The open-minded society in which he was raised "allows folks to develop in a lot of different ways," Hirai said. The potential downside to his promotion, meanwhile, is the transfer out of Hawai'i likely to accompany it. Hirai's new assignment has not been revealed.
Hirai graduated from Leilehua High School and the University of Hawai'i, and was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant in 1974 through the UH ROTC program.
He was a classmate at Leilehua with Karen Fujiwara, whom he later married. His father and his two children, a daughter who is 17, and a son who is 16, also have attended Leilehua High.
Except for a two-year term at the Army War College in Pennsylvania in 1994 and 1995, Hirai has been lucky enough to be stationed on O'ahu since 1989, maintaining ties with family and the community. Before that, he served in such units as the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.; the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, Wash.; and the 3rd Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany.
When he was assigned to U.S. Pacific Command headquarters at Camp Smith in 1989, Hirai served as a joint exercise operations officer and executive assistant to the director for operations. He commanded the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks from 1992 to 1994. After attending the Army War College, he was again assigned to Camp Smith, where he was speechwriter to the commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Command.
Hirai commanded the Schofield-based U.S. Army Garrison, Hawai'i, between 1997 and 1999 and assumed the position of chief of staff at the Fort Shafter-based U.S. Army Pacific in September 1999.
Joanie Wolf, assistant secretary general staff for the commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific, called Hirai the "epitome" of officer material, but someone who has stayed true to his heritage and ties to the Islands.
"We tease him about surfing," she said.
He has been involved with the Rotary Club of Mililani Sunrise, and is an adviser to the board of the Historic Hawai'i Foundation.
Lt. Col. Don Birdseye, who worked for Hirai for four years, said Hirai is a team-builder who also took quality-of-life issues to heart, playing host to "brown-bag lunches" with subordinates picked at random when he was garrison commander to "just let them talk about the issues they wanted to talk about."
Looking back, Hirai said he's glad he sought an ROTC scholarship and eventual military career.
"I really enjoy what the military offers — challenging work with very, very dedicated people," he said.
