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The link in this post shows and article of a private helicopter pilot threatened with arrest. It shows the need for incident commanders within the designated disaster area to be in control yet also have the ability to be comfortable with ambiguity and a volatile environment. A balance must be achieved with accepting risk and executing rescues. In my 31 plus years of experience in Disaster Relief, I experienced many situations with private support coming into a disaster area. Coordination and collaboration are key characteristics of disaster relief that leads to success and saving lives. Disaster Relief is inherently risky. Attempting to create an exclusionary environment in an attempt to achieve no risk in your rescue and recovery is almost impossible. Risk assessment and risk mitigation is key. Leaders who know and understand this will be able to take calculated risk and probably expedite rescue efforts. There is no cookie cutter approach that can be used in every rescue situation. In many cases no right or wrong answers. There will be risk to your rescuers and risk to those in need of rescuing. Leaders must be bold and make a good risk assessment and decisions to ensure safety of the rescuers and rescued is priority. No Risk, No Rescue... Know Risk, Know Rescue. Sometimes you have to accept risk to save lives.

From 1984 through 1985 most of the twenty something American and Canadian young adults of that generation were paying attention to the social and political upheavals of the African continent, through MTV Music Television, the song “Christmas Time” by Band Aid, and the Live Aid music concert. However, before most twentysomethings knew where Ethiopia was on a map, a member of that generation, Neil Dukas, trailblazed his way on a personal and risky journey through the African Continent. He recounts his adventures and misadventures in his book “Sometime in Africa”. Despite the trepidations from his family and friends, Dukas was courageously determined and unmoved to take on the quest to “experience the developing world firsthand”. Dukas recounts the details of his journey through the eyes of a young man somewhat naïve to the dangers that lay ahead but with the excitement of breaking new ground and experiencing Africa in a way that only a few in his generation at the time would even dare to consider.  With the crossing of the Straits of Gibraltar into Morrocco, the center of Africa, and then down the southeast end of Africa, and into South Africa, Dukas does a fine job in describing his journey to attain his goal to see Africa for what it was before potential changes in the political and natural landscape might take place. This book is a must read for anyone interested in getting an intimate glimpse of Africa from 1983 to 1984 as well as the places and people Dukas encountered. Dukas’ journey provides ground truth of the hardships, turmoil, threats, and blessings of the daily lives of everyday people on the continent. The interactions and relationships that Dukas developed during his trek and his descriptions of his experience are artfully written in a manner that readers will be able to visualize in their minds the activities occurring as they read them. The reader will feel like a bystander walking with Dukas and experiencing the multitude of emotions he experienced on his anthropological adventure. In addition, Dukas does a great job in his epilogue of describing and comparing the continent and its turmoil in the 80s to the conditions of today in a way that only one with a strategic frame of reference developed from his education and life experience could. As I completed the last pages of the book, I could not help hearing the music and lyrics of the 1984 song “Africa” written by Toto in my mind. Every word and every lyric now entwined in the images my mind conjured up of Dukas on his adventure through the heart of the continent. Now that song will forever link me to this book and the adventures of Neil Dukas. A young man in 1983 who decided to take some time to do the things we never had and probably never will. I highly recommend this book to those who fit in the category of avid reader to international political scholar.

I na lāʻaeʻoia (In past days of youthful strength) On September 11, 1992, Hurricane Iniki Struck Kauaʻi with fierce winds and torrential rains. The 2d Battalion 299th Infantry, Hawaii Army National Guard was activated that Friday evening and when the storm passed, our battalion was the first to land on Kauaʻi in the early morning of September 12, 1992. The devastation of Kauaʻi was tremendous. I was the Infantry Reconnaissance (Scout) Platoon Leader for the 2/299th Infantry. We staged at Wilcox Elementary School and a few hours after Landing LTC Nishijima, our battalion commander, came to me and gave our platoon a mission to assess the devastation and determine what areas needed to be secured in Lihue and Nawiliwi harbor. With no transportation assets he looked at me and said execute. In addition, since the first lift contained key personnel and several members of each platoon from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, I only had a few members of my platoon on ground. The rest of the battalion was waiting in Hilo, Hawaii to be air lifted. I gathered available personnel from the other platoons, did a quick pre-operations check, and I "borrowed" a HMMWV from Major Yamashiro, our battalion S3, and went off to execute my mission. When I went to the Battalion CP to report my findings, Major Yamashiro was waiting to provide extensive mentorship on proper requisition of a HMMWV. Despite my lack of "requisition savvy", He was pleased with our report and our ability in getting out to the devastated areas as quick as possible. B Company 2-299 Infantry took over our mission a few days later. On September 15, 1992, we were sent to Hanalei, a town located on the north of Kauaʻi to provide security and assistance to the community there. Once we arrived, I immediately linked up with the police and informed them of our command post and our mission. As a civilian police officer from the Big Island of Hawaiʻi I was able to establish a good relationship immediately. With the help of the police, our platoon immediately set up a traffic control point on the only road entering Hanalei; a tactic that was not common for infantry 1992. We screened drivers coming into the area at night as a preventative measure against looting and it worked. Operation Iniki made me realize how important the National Guard is for every state. This was the first of many National Guard Civil Support Operations I participated in throughout my career; my last assignment as the Hawaii National Guard Joint Task Force Commander for COVID-19 mitigation within the State of Hawaiʻi. As Always, I had awesome Soldiers and leaders.

I had the privilege to be invited to watch the Hui Ikaika, a team building competition within the 227 Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB), Hawaii Army National Guard. The Commander, LTC Dale Balsis invited former commanders of the 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB) and the 227 BEB to watch the competition and visit with the troops. Events encompassed a variety of soldier skills and physical fitness challenges. Congratulations to Co A 227 BEB who won the competition. The 227 BEB was established in 2014. It rose from the deactivation of the 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion but inherited the 29th BSTB Lineage and Heraldry. In September 2006 the 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion was formed within the Hawaii Army National Guard. In May 2007 just eight months after inception, we were on the southern border of Arizona for Operation Jumpstart. In 2008 we deployed to Camp Virginia and took command of the mayor's cell for camp operations. In addition, Soldiers of the 29th BSTB and 227 BEB are the core component for the collapsed structure search and extraction and mass decontamination sections of the Hawaii National Guard CBRNE Enhance Response Force Package. These Soldiers have participated in numerous National Guard Civil Support Operations including the 2018 Wainiha floods on Kauai, the Kilauea Eruption that destroyed Leilani Estates on Hawaii island, 2020-2022 COVID 19 Mitigation, and the response to the 2023 Lahaina, Maui Fire. The 29th BSTB/227 BEB Alumni can be proud to see that their legacy continues, as the unit enters into the next era of great power competition and the continued threats of natural and manmade disasters to the State of Hawaii. The people of Hawaii can be confident that the 227 BEB Soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers have the leadership, motivation, and determination to keep Hawaii and our nation safe.

Awesome collaboration with Hui Huliau and the Pacific Intelligence Innovation Initiative (P3I) to jump start career paths for our leeward coast students! https://lnkd.in/ghKQvGqg