Brig. Gen. Darryll D.M. Wong, head of the Hawai'i Air National Guard, had a second star added to his uniform yesterday as he became the first Air Guard major general to command the unit in the Hawai'i National Guard's 58-year history.

Gov. Linda Lingle, along with Wong's wife, Tiki, pinned the additional star on his jacket in a ceremony in the state Capitol's executive chambers. Lingle described Wong, who grew up in 'Alewa Heights and graduated from the University of Hawai'i, as an "outstanding individual from our community."

"I think of the Air Guard as our first line of defense in protecting the people of the state," Lingle said. Wong's four children — Tasha, Talia, Tyler and Taryn — helped pin the additional star on his shirt epaulets.

State Adjutant Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee — the only other two-star general in the Hawai'i National Guard — said the Air Guard nationally, with about 107,000 troops, is about one-third the size of the Army Guard, which has about 350,000 citizen soldiers.

But in Hawai'i, the Air National Guard has 2,400 personnel and is nearly equal in size to the Army Guard, making it a major air unit.

The command was authorized to have a major general, and "General Wong had demonstrated his leadership as head of the Air National Guard worthy of his promotion to a second star," Lee said.

For the Army Guard to also have a two-star commander, it would have to have more than 10,000 soldiers, "and that's not going to be in the cards," Lee said.

Wong, 55, went to Maryknoll School, was a UH ROTC graduate in 1972, and flew in C-141 Starlifter cargo aircraft at the tail end of the Vietnam War. The pilot with Aloha Airlines got his first star with the Air Guard in June of 2003.

The Air Guard is partnering with the active duty Air Force at Hickam Air Force Base in bringing to Hawai'i a squadron of eight C-17 Globemaster IIIs, the latest generation of cargo aircraft. The first aircraft is expected to arrive in February.

Mississippi is the only other state with C-17s in the Air National Guard. Hawai'i is an "associate" unit in partnership with the active duty Air Force.

"What (having C-17s means) is we can fly there faster with more payload," Wong said. "It breaks the paradigm of bringing a lot of (cargo) to an intermediate stop and then breaking it up (for smaller planes to fly). It can go from Point A right into the fight."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.