|
Salute to Hawai‘i’s Troops
A message from The Chamber of Commerce of Hawai‘i
|
| Photo by Rebecca Breyer |
The year 2006 will reflect little change in the heavy burdens placed on the U.S. Armed Forces in Hawaii since Sept. 11, 2001. Hawaii’s military commands faced constant deployments, training, redeployments, and more training, mixed in with the most extensive organizational restructuring of the U.S. Army in history, and major realignment of U.S. forces in Korea and Japan.
Military realignment action nearly hit Hawaii during the U.S. Department of Defense-mandated 2005 Base Realignment and Closure review. The BRAC Commission had proposed to close the all important Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, one of the Pacific’s most important military assets and home to some 4,300 nuclear and ship repair professionals and technicians.
Intervention by the Military Affairs Council and state and county officials led by Governor Linda Lingle and Mayor Mufi Hannemann, local business leaders, and shipyard officials helped to save this drastic proposal that would have left the Navy without a critical forward-based repair facility in the Pacific and the loss of an annual $550 million industry.
Units assigned or attached to the 3rd Marine Regiment on Marine Corps Base Hawaii have recycled on their third and fourth combat deployments, while the units assigned or attached to the 25th Infantry Division have begun their second brigade-level combat deployments to Iraq.
Hawaii’s Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Force units continue to deploy on their relentless patrol of the skies and seas extending from the western shores of our Homeland to North Korea, China, Southeast Asia, and distant points as far west as the Indian Ocean.
They seek the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan, and terrorist cells operating deep in the jungles of the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere.
They search for pirates and smugglers, gather intelligence, and provide humanitarian and disaster assistance.
They protect Americans living and visiting abroad, and serve as ambassadors of freedom and democracy.
They conduct diplomatic missions aimed at deterring acts of war and armed conflicts, defusing nuclear warheads, and stemming the manufacture of ballistic missiles.
They provide security and protection for our allies and partners to establish a rock-solid foundation for today’s thriving global economy.
Indeed, we have much to be thankful for as citizens of the U.S. and residents of our great Aloha State.
And it’s time for all of us to celebrate the cause of peace and security, and the spread of freedom, equality and justice for all.
It is time to show our deepest appreciation for the countless sacrifices being made everyday, at home and abroad, by the young men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.
|
