Briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
NAVY
Fargo assesses role on Basilan
Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in April one of his first trips as CINCPAC would be to the Philippines to assess the U.S. mission there.
On Friday, he fulfilled his pledge. Fargo received a briefing on construction projects being performed by U.S. and Philippine military engineers on Basilan in the southern Philippines.
Fargo took over as head of Pacific Command, based at Camp Smith, on May 2.
More than 1,000 U.S. troops are in the Philippines helping to train troops there to root out Abu Sayyaf terrorists and build roads and bridges.
An American missionary couple and a Philippine nurse have been held for almost a year by the group believed to have ties to the al-Qaida network.
"Admiral Fargo is here to find out what we are doing and making sure (things are) the way the national leadership wants," Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, the head of U.S. Special Forces in the region, told the Philippine press.
Fargo on May 15 inspected Japanese troops at the Japanese Defense Agency headquarters in Tokyo, with Gen. Shoji Takegouchi, chairman of the Japanese Joint Staff Council.
Ship joins training mission
Family and friends of sailors who serve on the USS Salvor said goodbye to the ship's 100 crew members Friday. The Pearl Harbor-based rescue-salvage ship deployed to the Western Pacific in support of a Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise.
CARAT is a Navy exercise that takes place throughout Southeast Asia each May through August.
CARAT Brunei aims to enhance regional cooperation between U.S. and Bruneian forces in areas such as operational planning and command and control tactics.
The CARAT Task Group includes 1,400 U.S. sailors, Marines and Coast Guard personnel.
ARMY
Wheeler gate to be revamped
The Army plans to realign Kunia Gate at Wheeler Army Airfield to improve safety and enhance the flow of traffic to and from Schofield Barracks' Lyman Gate.
From 1990 to 1999, 83 accidents were recorded in the immediate vicinity of the Kunia and Lyman intersection. Of those, 59 resulted in injuries, the Army said.
The project will involve the construction of a new intersection on Kunia Road, include a new connector road to Wheeler, and provide a direct route between the installations.
The project will include new signal lights, construction of visitor parking, crosswalks to improve pedestrian safety, and a new gate and sentry post for Wheeler.
Construction is supposed to start on the project in September.
ALL SERVICES
Memorial Day service slated
The State of Hawai'i Department of Defense, which includes the Office of Veterans Services, is coordinating the governor's annual Memorial Day ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m. on May 27 at the Hawai'i State Veterans Cemetery in Kane'ohe.
Gov. Ben Cayetano and Maj. Gen. Edward L. Correa Jr. adjutant general of the state of Hawai'i, will make remarks.
The program includes music by the 111th Army Band, Hawai'i Army National Guard and a helicopter fly-by by Company C, 193rd Aviation, Hawai'i Army National Guard.
Leilehua plans golf fund-raiser
Leilehua Golf Course will play host to USO Hawai'i's benefit golf tournament on May 30.
"We encourage all golfers who want to support our servicemen and women to do so by supporting our golf tournament," said USO Hawai'i Golf Tournament Chairman Steve Takekawa. "We've been providing support at our airport centers for transiting service members and dependents for decades. Our recent support for troops as they deploy overseas is just one more way USO Hawaii is helping the armed forces."
USO Hawai'i provided food and drinks to soldiers deploying to Bosnia for peacekeeping duties, in conjunction with Mr. Pizza.
A noon shotgun start is planned for the golf tournament. The $100 entry fee will help finance USO Hawai'i's ongoing support for service members. Contact USO Hawai'i at 836-3351 or Doug Carlson at 735-9120.
