Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Nicholas Bauer | KANEOHE, Hawaii (March 25, 2022) Sailors and Coast Guardsmen assigned to U.S. Pacific...... read more read more
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PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (March 25, 2022) – Sailors and Coast Guardsmen assigned to U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) and U.S. Coast Guard District 14, worked alongside with the non-profit Papahana Kuaola, to exchange Navy, Coast Guard, and Hawaiian cultures in Kaneohe’s Haiku Valley, Hawaii, Friday, March 25.
The personnel wanted to give back to Hawaiian residents by cleaning the Haiku Valley watershed, controlling erosion, and planting taro.
“I could not be more proud of these outstanding Sailors and Coast Guardsmen performing as model citizens serving our community,” said Rear Adm. Blake Converse, deputy commander of PACFLT. “It is crucially important to reflect on the scientific and technological contributions made by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard in the Haiku Valley, and consider our shared history together with the Hawaiian population. We maintain and enhance force readiness and develop the capabilities we need to protect America when we fully embrace a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and thought.”
PACFLT volunteers Chief Cryptologic Technician Dominic Kimmey, from Elmira, New York, and Lt. Corey Todd Jones, from Amarillo, Texas, kicked off the day with a shared history of the valley and its importance to the Department of Defense (DoD) to the participants.
"The Coast Guard strives to give back to the local communities who make us feel at home," said Rear Adm. Matthew Sibley, commander of Coast Guard District 14's. "Any opportunity to learn or help is a great way to bring us all together and make our communities better."
After service members learned about the significance of the valley to the military, Ka’imi Johnson, Waipao Manager from Papahana Kuaola, explained models of sustainability and environmental health to ensure that Hawaiian culture and native ecosystems are cultivated.
“Today we had the opportunity to work with Hawaii’s taro plants and ensure they continue to grow for generations to come,” said Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Joseph DiRocco, assigned to PACFLT. “In the Navy, we focus so much on our jobs and promotions, but when we go into the community, we get a chance to see the bigger picture.”
Volunteer events provide service members the opportunity to develop new working relationships, build a bond with the local community, appreciate the local culture and improve morale.
The DoD continues its focused work on environmental protection and cultural preservation, with its people and readiness inextricably linked.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, the U.S. entered World War II and quickly devised a radical method to communicate with its Pacific Fleet. The Navy began construction in 1942 of a top-secret, high-powered radio facility in a natural amphitheater of Haiku Valley in the Koolau Mountains and atop Puu Keahiakahoe on the island of Oahu.
High scalers perilously climbed the steep Koolau cliffs to drive steel spikes along the way and afix sections of ladder all the way to the summit. Suspended copper wire then spanned between ridges thousands of feet high above the valley below, where a transmitter station was built to house an alternator powerful enough to produce the necessary signal strength to transmit messages further than ever. Completed the next year, the station served as the primary long-range communication system for the PACLFT until the successful end of the war.
Beginning in 1975, the Coast Guard operated the facility as one of eight worldwide Omega Stations, the first global-range radio navigation system in partnership with Argentina, Norway, Liberia, France, Japan and Australia until the Coast Guard decommissioned the site September 30, 1997, in favor of the burgeoning Global Positioning System.
The DoD remains the preeminent fighting force in the world because it strives to continuously improve how it cares for its people and communities.
For more news from Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, visit www.cpf.navy.mil and
https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/com-pf.
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| Date Taken: | 03.29.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.30.2022 15:17 |
| Story ID: | 417425 |
| Location: | PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Pacific Fleet Sailors, Coast Guardsmen Volunteer to Learn History, Culture and Sustainability, by LT Corey Todd Jones, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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