Commander's Message
From the desk of the Commander, Col Stacy Haruguchi
10 SEPTEMBER 2022
Aloha,
Thank you to those who attended our Wing Conference and Banquet in September. The outpouring of support for Col Lonergan and me was quite humbling and a great honor.
I would like to once again thank our former Wing Commander, Col Lonergan, for her service to the Civil Air Patrol, the Hawai'i Wing, and the State of Hawai'i. It is comforting to know that she will remain active within the Wing as our Inspector General and as a mentor as I begin the journey as your new commander. She took us through the unprecedented challenge of the COVID pandemic. There was no formal training on how to deal with the situation, but the resilience of the Hawai'i Wing kept us going through the use of Zoom, Teams, Kahoot!, and other innovations.
I am also blessed to have Col Roger Caires, another former Hawai'i Wing Commander as my Vice Commander, and Maj Martin Guiles as my Chief of Staff. Their experience and knowledge will go a long way toward reinvigorating the Wing.
We are now in the process of trying to return to normal through activities such as airlift weekends, orientation flights, aerospace education gatherings, and emergency services training.
To assist us with our missions, National Headquarters provided us with a Cessna T182 at the end of September. The aircraft is being reassembled in Hilo and we hope to have it fully operational toward the middle or end of October. We are also in the process of attempting to get a Cessna 172S, fresh off the assembly line. Although there are no guarantees, we have received the endorsement of the Pacific Coast Region staff so that we can compete at the national level for the aircraft. The Cessna 172 will play a key role in orientation flights as well as flight training for cadets and senior members.
As we knock off the rust from roughly two years of limited activity, we need to hit the books and ask our more experienced members for help to get things going, again. The next 6 to 9 months will still be challenging as we reintroduce airlift weekends and try to relearn all the planning factors and fun involved with these larger group events.
I look forward to meeting and working with all of you to rebuild a better Hawai'i Wing.
