The 298th Arty Group (Air Defense) will train primarily at its Sand Island and East Range Nike-Hercules training sites during August 1960 utilizing Nike-Hercules equipment. Training stressed battery drills to include Operational Readiness Inspection, tracking missions, and Air Defense Exercises to increase the speed and proficiency of teams to ready themselves for any firing mission. This organization is 90% complete in qualifying each officer and enlisted men as a basic missileman. This training is additional and is conducted primarily during the individual’s own time so as not he interrupt the unit’s training program. Each member is required to be cross trained in three related tactical positions to add depth in all critical positions in the 298th Arty Group.
Nike-Hercules missiles stand erected on various sites on the island of Oahu ready to defend the 50th state against possible enemy attack. This photo was taken by the Star-Bulletin at Bellows Field.(Picture from the 1961 Annual Report)
Air Defense. The 298th Arty. Gp. (AD) is charged with the Army Air Defense of Hawaii. To accomplish this mission six units of the 1st and 2nd Msl. Bns. are occupying Nike HerculesSites which ring the island of oahu. The Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) is manned and operated around the clock by personnel from Hq. & Hq. Btry., 298th Arty. Gp.
In the event of attack , ArmyGuardsmen could launch deadlyNIKE-Hercnles missiles inmoments. Oahu sites are mannedon a 24-hour basis(Pictures from the 1962 Annual Report)
(2) The 298th Arty Gp (AD ) conducted two periods of annual field training this past fiscal year. Annual field training for calendar year 1961 was conducted during the period 26 July 61 to 12 Aug 1961, while training for calendar year 1962 was held during the period 9-23 June 1962. All periods of annual field training were conducted at the six Nike-Hercules sites. Annual service practice for the six on-site units were conducted from the Dillingham site during November & December 1961. Three of the six units were cited as honor batteries with Btry B 1st Msl Bn 298th Arty establishing a world record for range to intercept against a supersonic RP76 drone aircraft.
System Improvement: The Air Defense system for Hawaii continued its growth to provide increased protection through the addition of new equipment and modification of existing equipment. During this past year, a radar netting and an electronic fire distribution system was added to the defense. This enables instant exchange of data between various radars, Nike Hercules batteries, and the Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) by advanced digital data transmission techniques. The capability of the Nike Hercules batteries is being further increased by the addition of High Power Acquisition Radars/HIPARJ and the Improved Hercules modifications which are presently being installed.
System Improvement: The Army Air Defense system continued its growth to provide increased protection through the addition of new equipment and modification of existing equipment. During the past year, Btry B, 1st Msl En and Btry A, 2d Msl En completed conversion to the HIPAR / Improved Nike Hercules System while Btry C, 1st Msl En and Btry C, 2d Msl Bn were converted to the Improved Nike Hercules System. Radar netting has been further enhanced by moving one of our Radar Tracking Stations to Kokee, Kauai where it is tied to the surveillance radar of the 150th AC&W Squadron, HANG. Another Radar Tracking Station is linked to the Alternate AADCP in Diamond Head where it receives automatic early warning data from the 169th AC&W Squadron surveillance radar relayed through the FAA facility in Diamond Head. Movement of these Radar Tracking Stations to the proximity of our Air National Guard radars now allows the Army Air Defense Command Post and the Nike Hercules batteries to receive instantaneous early warning and take advantage of the increased range of the HANG radars.
Annual Service Practice: The six Nike Hercules batteries conducted Annual Service Practice from the Kahuku Guided Missile Range during May and June. Battery B, 1st Msl Bn, the host battery and first unit to fire regained the world’s record for range to intercept by destroying an RP-76 supersonic drone target at near maximum range. Four of the six units were cited as honor batteries by the US Army, Hawaii testing team. Especially worthy of note is the battalion average score of 99.9% turned in by the 2d Msl Bn which is believed to have established a record for battalion average.
Annual Service Practice: The six Nike-Hercules missiIe batteries conducted Annual Service Practice (ASP) from the Kahuku Guided Missile Range during May and June. The units of the 298th Group are the only National Guard Missile units ever to fire from a tactical site using their own assited tactical equipment.
Btry C, 1st Msl Bn, established a new world’s record for Range to Intercept by destroying a supersonic RP-76 target drone aircraft at a range exceeding that of Btry B, 1st Msl Bn, which established this record in 1964.
Personnel participating in ASP were authorized an additional 5 days of Active Duty for Training this year. In previous years, man days utilized for ASP were deducted from the 15 days authorized for year round training.
System Improvements: The 298th Artillery Group continues co improve its air defense capability through system modifications and the addition of new equipment. Battery A, 1st Battalion, Site 84, Dillingham Field installed an Alternate Battery Acquisition Radar (ABAR) which greatly enhances their target acquisition capability. The AN/ FSQ 38 Fire Distribution System which electronically links the Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) and the Air National Guard’s surveillance radars with the six Nike fire units completed a 1.4 million dollar modification. This modification further automates the entire air defense system, speeds response to an air threat and reduces the possibility of human error. Site 45, Bellows AFS, (Battery C, 1st Battalion) exchanged their basic Nike Hercules system for the more sophisticated Improved Nike Hercules system. Construction of facilities for a dual channel ABAR was initiated. This ABAR will serve both fire units (Sites 32 and 45) of Battery C and will be installed during mid FY 1967. Headquarters, 298th Artillery Group received a target simulator which is a mobile piece of equipment that provides fire control operators with a realistic combat situation of varying complexity.
MEMBERS OF HAWAIT’ S legislature visited the Kahuku HARNG missile site 4 May where they launched and witnessed a Nike-Hercules missile firing, During the noon meal, lawmakers were briefed on the operation of the ADA defense system then toured the missile launching area and the radar control area. The legislators, guests of Maj Gen, Ben Webster, sow the firing from the radar control area. The missile was fired by Battery “D” as part of the units Annual Service Practice.(Picture from the 1967 June The Hawaii Guardsman)
Future Policemen
TEEN-AGE future policemen from Los Angeles are explained the functions of a Nike Hercules system “Acq Radar” by CWO Tokuo A. Kunitomo. Maintenance Officer for Btry C, 1st Bn, 298th Arty, IFC Area, Site 4. (Picture from the 1967 Winter The Hawaii Guardsman)
Nineteen teenage future police officers and their sponsors from Los Angeles got a rare glimpse into part of Hawaii’s defense system when they visited the Army National Guard Nike Hercules Site at Waimanalo.
The teenagers are members of Explorer Scout Post 515, sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Department, in Hawaii for two weeks vacation and sightseeing.
They were accompanied by Officers Roy Van Wicklin and Don Lavery of the Los Angeles Police Department and four Honolulu Policemen, Earl Aku, Danny Baker, Al Matthews, and Haig Kalauokalani.
The missile sites, which are wholly manned by full-time Army Guardsmen, was the highlight of their Hawaii trip, according to Officer Van Wicklin.
“We have visited 22 military installations throughout the country, and this is the sharpest,” Van Wicklin said. He added that “Major Kimura (Major Tom K. Kimura, battery commander of “C” Battery, 1st Battalion, 298th Artillery (AD)) keeps his men sharp.
“The demonstration was outsanding,” the policeman exclaimed after viewing the radar and fire control systems for the missiles.
The youths began their day with a briefing and a visit to the battery’s launching site and missile pads at Bellows Air Force Station.
From there, the Explorers traveled by vehicle high atop the mountain range overlooking Waimanalo to the fire control area where the battery maintains a maze of radar and other electronic equipment. Here they were given demonstrations on target acquisition and simulated missile launching.
The view from atop the range, perhaps as much as the military equipment, was an overwhelming experience, the visitors commented.
The Explorer post specializes in law enforcement and all the members are boys interested in law enforcement as a career, the officers said. Instead of Scout training, the Explorers receive police training at the Los Angeles Police Academy.
While in Honolulu, they visited Governor Burns and Mayor Blaisdell. During a visit with the latter, an “Award of Merit” from the Los Angeles City Council was given to Mayor Blaisdell for presentation to Honolulu Chief of Police Dan Liu.
Modifications to the Nike Hercules system are being constantly applied to upgrade the systems capability to respond to an enemy air attack. In addition, five of the six systems have been replaced with factory rebuilt systems. The one remaining old system will be replaced in FY 69.
Annual Service Practice:
The firing units of the 298th Artillery Group returned to McGregor Range for the first time since 1960 to participate in Short Notice Annual Practice (SNAP). Under SNAP procedures a unit is given only 48 hours notice prior to their departure for McGregor Range. Once there, they undergo an intensive tactical evaluation to test their overall ability as missilemen. This year’s SNAP gave our units the opportunity to compete with like units from both the Active Army and National Guard using the same evaluation procedures. Our units fared well in this competition by recording a higher than national average score. Hawaii’s high scoring unit was Battery B, Site 2, Kahuku, commanded by Captain Lawrence P. Mosher. This unit was also designated as an Honor Battery.
The 298th Artillery Group (Air Defense) celebrated its 10th anniversary on 15 January 1969 as a Nike Hercules Air Defense unit. They are the only National Guard unit in the United States to provide the entire surface-to-air missile defense of its area and the only Army National Guard unit to man and operate an Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP). They also enjoy the distinction of being the first National Guard unit to be equipped with the Nike Hercules system and, as such, became the prototype for the eventual conversion of Continental United States (CONCS) National Guard units from Nike Ajax to Nike Hercules.
After completing the initial phase of training at Los Angeles, California and Fort Bliss, Texas, the first units occupied training sites at Sand Island and East Range, Schofield Barracks, on 15 February 1960. The move to the six tactical sites started on 15 December 1960 when Site 3 moved to Bellows Field and was completed when the last unit, Site 5, moved to its permanent location north of Barbers Point. The 298th Artillery Group closed fiscal year 1960 with 379 air defense technicians on board with an annual payroll of 1.1 million dollars. At the close of fiscal year 1969, 560 technicians were authorized and the annual payroll amounted to 4.6 million dollars.
SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT
The above increase in manning was brought about by continuous modifications to the Nike Hercules system to upgrade its capability to respond to an enemy air attack. The number of radars in our air defense system has increased from 18 to a total of 28 and the Army Air Defense Command Post has been equipped with a sophisticated fire distribution center which electronically links the entiredefense.
IS THIS THE BAJA MARIMBA BAND? No this group is not from South of the Border but from Waialua, these are the members of Battery A after their return to Honolulu from SNAP. MEMBERS OF A BATTERY, 1st Bn, 298th Arty, from Waialua, Oahu assemble the Nike Hercules missile during Short Notice Annual Practice (SNAP) at Fort Bliss, Texas. (Pictures from the 1969 Spring The Hawaii Guardsman)
It is 0630 hours, Thursday 19 January. the telephone rings in the home of Major Alencastre, Executive Officer of the 298th Artillery Group. “This is Major Polczynski from G3, USARHA W. Report to USARHA W headquarters at 0800 hours for the rolling of the dice.” This is how it begins – a NIKE unit will be selected for Short Notice Annual Practice (SNAP) – by the roll of dice.
SNAP is a complete and comprehensive EVALUATION of a NIKE unit’s ability to build a complete NIKE-HERCULES missiIe; prepare the radar and launch equipment for a live firing; combat high-speed, maneuvering targets which emit radar jamming; and finally firing two live missiles at simulated targets.
At 0800 hours, Major Alencastre meets Lieutenant Colonel Order, USARHA W Air Defense Officer, and together they walk to the Chief of Staff’s office. The Chief, with dice in hand, asks “Well, what do you want?”. “Roll an ace.” The dice are shaken a few times and thrown against the wall. “An ace it is!” Site I (Battery A) is selected for SNAP. The 298th Group Staff is notified and personnel move out to Site I for final preparation, and assistance. Forty-five officers and men from Battery A will depart Hickam AFB at 1230 hours, Saturday, 18 January for McGregor Guided Missile Range, New Mexico for their annual evaluation.
The remainder of Thursday and Friday are spent in final training and the accomplishment of the many administrative details associated with the nine-day active duty period.
Battery A is scheduled to travel via a New York Air National Guard C-97. but word is received that their C-97 is “dead-lined” at Travis AFB, and the unit is forced to fly “commercial” to the West Coast and join up with the C-97 at Travis.
It is now 0600 hours, Sunday. Battery A lands at El Paso International Airport, boards a bus and travels forty miles into the desert to McGregor Range. There’s not much talking as the bus approaches the barracks area. The men are tired from their long trip, many of them are thinking about the task that faces them the next three or four days.
As the bus stops, Captain Melvin Ida, Btry A, Commander, softly tells PSG Walter Olaso: “We’re in BOQ 9405. Take care of getting the men situated. A meeting of key personnel will be held at 1800 hours in the BOQ lounge.”
Following a few hours rest, the officers and NCOs gather to make final coordination of the next day’s activities. They talk of early chow for drivers, pickup times and places, and questions they may have for the evaluators. It ends with Captain Ida saying, “I’m confident our men know their jobs – this is OUR year.”
Monday morning, following briefings by the various evaluators, the testing begins and the pressure is “on.” The Assembly section begins to “build-up” a missile as the Fire Control and Launcher sections start the required daily, and weekly equipment checks and adjustments.
There is no question of who does what, who goes where or what toots and test equipment are needed for each specific task. This has been well planned and organized. At 1540 hours, after receiving reports from the Fire Control and Launcher Platoon Leaders, Captain Ida reports, “Sir, my unit is at twenty minute status.” The preparation phase is completed. Now we’ll find out how well the equipment was checked out as the evaluator announces “Blazing Skies”. starting the Operational Readiness Evaluation.
The Battery Control Officer, lLT Thomas Okimoto, shouts “Blazing Skies” and crew no. l runs to their duty stations amid encouraging shouts from crew no. 2. The men are confident and morale is high. They’re professionals and they know it.
Forty-five minutes later, the chief evaluator says, “You’re operational (meaning you’ve passed). Have early chow tomorrow morning and be ready to start at 0700 hours.” There are a few apprehensive handshakes and pats on the back as the men “shut down” the equipment.
After supper, the officers and NCOs gather to discuss how things went and plan for the second day of SNAP.
Tuesday dawns clear and cold with a slight wind from the North. The word from Range Command is “If you’re ready, we’ll run the Tactical Evaluation and finish with the live firing salvos today.” The unspoken thought is “fourteen hundred points.” The entire evaluation is worth two thousand points but fourteen hundred points are condensed into today’s operations Work proceeds swiftly. At 1000 hours, hoods and gloves are put aside as the temperature climbs to forty-five degrees. Someone remarks “Did you hear about the cold weather at home? The TV weatherman said it got down to fifty-two degrees. Sure glad we missed it.”
Equipment problems plague the fire Control crew. The tracking radars are temperamental on Tuesday, but the permanent party personnel are swift to repair them. At lunch, the talk reflects anticipation of the afternoon activities. CW2 Koichi Segawa, the Assembly officer, reports that his operation is going well. The launcher personnel are ready.
Minor problems continue in the JFC area after lunch. One by one they are corrected and finally the f-1 Target Simulator is “hooked” into the system. As final adjustments are completed on the simulator, the tension grows.
At 1400 hours, the T-1 is ready. A beige Thunderbird pulls into the area – the senior evaluator has arrived for the briefing. In a matter of minutes, the first crew is in the vans with Captain Ida and the Tac Evals begin. Thirty minutes later, LT Okimoto and his crew begin the final Tac Eval. An abnormal. indication appears at the end of the evaluation. Unit and Range personnel quickly adjust the Target Tracking Radar. “Battle Stations.” Captain Ida and his crew begin the first salvo firing. The shoot is perfect – A good hit on a highspeed maneuvering target . “Change crews.” LT Okimoto and his crew take their places. “Battle Stations”. The tension mounts. “Five, four, three, two, one, FIRE.” The vans tremble as the four solid fuel rocket motors of the second missile ignite and boost the round down range in excess of the speed of sound. The computer again reveals a good hit and the crew pours out of the vans with a roar.
As the officers and men talk, they mention only minor crew errors. Visions of a good score appear. Tonight they can relax. The critique will be tomorrow. The NCO club is overrun with Hawaiians, and beer and Polish sausage are consumed at a high rate. The beer issue is finally limited when the club runs out of pitchers.
Wednesday morning, the officers wait in the BOQ lounge for the advance copy of the SNAP report and the thirty minute notice of the critique. At 1200 hours a messenger enters the door and hands Captain Ida a brown envelope. Shakily, he opens the envelope, withdraws the report and announces “Ninetyeight point or-e percent!! When the pandemonium that follows quiets, the men file out of the room smiling and remembering Captain Ida’s words, “This is OUR year.”
They board the bus for El Paso and PSG Olaso gives the men their final instruction. “I’ll see you at pay call at 0900 Friday, and at the airport, 0700 hours Saturday. Except for that, you’re on your own.
SP5 AMADEO, MISSILEMAN OF THE YEAR -SP5 John Amadeo, Btry D, receives the 298th Arty Gp Missileman of the Year trophy from Col. John M. Becker, Commanding Officer of the 298th Arty Gp. (Picture from the 1969 Spring The Hawaii Guardsman)
Welcome Home
I must, because of its importance turn from the 29th Infantry Brigade and comment on the recent announcement concerning the deactivation of the 298th Artillery Group. This is an action which is difficult for us to take. We have, as I write 537 full-time technician employees in the Nike missile unit program. They and the drill status members have performed and continue to perform their mission in an outstanding manner. We cannot hope to place more than a handful of full-time employees in other comparable full-time positions in the Hawaii National Guard. This means that many loyal and dedicated members may be forced to seek employment elsewhere and will have to face the many problems which such uprooting and change entail. The problems they face are magnified by the fact that many of the skills they have so diligently mastered are not readily transferable to civilian skills. We will hope that the phase down, when it comes, will be a gradual one but we will, in any event, do all we can to assist each member in meeting his new challenge.
TWO MEMBERS OF BTRY C’S LAUNCHER PLATOON perform maintenance checks on a Nike-Hercules Missile and Launcher. SP5 SIEGFRIED R. AZVEDO stands guard at Btry C’s IFC area. FIRST ASP- CPT Rosario N. Daguio (now Major), CO, Btry D, 1st Missile Bn 298th Arty places a decal on the scoreboard at site 26, McGregor Missile Range after completing the unit’s, first Annual Service Practice in November 1960. THE 298TH AAA BATTALION during summer camp at Dillingham Field sometime in the late ’50s. TEMPORARY SITE-This was the 298th’s first site at Rainbow Island in 1959. This was a temporary site and the units later moved into permanent locations at Waialua, Kahuku, Waimanalo, and Ewa. (Pictures from the 1969 Winter The Hawaii Guardsman)
A major blow to the Hawaii Army National Guard came with the news in October of 1969 that the 298th Artillery Group (Nike) would be inactivated by June of 1970. Actual inactivation was on March 31, 1970. Of some 534 full-time personnel in this program, only 127 could be offered other positions within the National Guard and 407 were forced to find other jobs. While, to many of our employees, this meant hardship to various degrees, other State departments and the community at large helped greatly in securing positions for those affected. The unit was replaced by the 298th Field Depot with very few full-time positions but with nearly equal total unit strength.
The 298th Artillery Group (Air Defense) was officially relieved of its air defense mission in Hawaii on December 9, 1969, after ten years as the only National Guard organization in the United States providing the entire surface-to-air missile defense for its area, and as the only Army National Guard unit manning and operating an Army Air Defense Command Post. The initial announcement of the inactivation of the 298th Artillery Group was received from the Department of the Army on November 28, 1969. Although an initial inactivation date of June 30, 1970 was established, the reorganization date was subsequently changed to March 31, 1970.
The major personnel management activity during the year was the reduction in force in March 1970, which was generated as the result of the inactivation of the 298th Artillery Group and the NIKE Hercules on-site program. A total of 566 positions were deleted from the full-time work force and 12 new positions were authorized in the newly activated 298th Field Depot. There were 271 technicians employed in the NIKE Hercules program on March 31, 1970. A total of 127 technicians were placed in other National Guard positions in Hawaii, California, Nevada, Washington, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The remaining technicians were separated with severance pay.
They check on your mechanical aptitude The first step towards a new career They test your non-verbal reasoningAnd then they counsel you (Pictures from the 1970 Spring The Hawaii Guardsman)
The inactivation of our NIKE sites will result in the elimination of 564 full-time technician positions from the Hawaii Army National Guard program. This will require our Department of Defense to complete an extensive reduction in force (RIF) prior to April, 1970. Federal Civil Service Regulations, governing reductions in force, are now being applied to our technicians. Our policies for conducting a reduction in force were published in Civilian Personnel Regulation (CPR) 40/51-351, dated January 20, 1970. This regulation established the procedures to insure that RIF actions are carried out in a fair and orderly manner. The regulation also expressed the Adjutant General’s concern for the welfare and morale of effected technicians and outlined his responsibility for the continued effectiveness or the organization. Although Civil Service Regulations recognize “excepted service” employees (such as technicians of the National Guard), these regulations give technicians very few rights to assignment under a reduction in force. Our Department policy, however, does provide rights to assignment, reassignment, and retreat whenever possible.
The Department’s reduction in force plan covers five areas. They are: (1) determination of the positions to be effected; (2) determination of which technicians will lose their jobs or will be required to change jobs; (3) determination as to whether technicians who are to lose their jobs have rights to other positions; ( 4) issuance of notices to effected technicians about the specific action that is to be taken and their rights to appeal; (5) assistance to displaced technicians in finding new jobs.
Determining Which Jobs Are Effected. The Department established the geographical or organizational within limits, which technicians will compete for retention. This is known as the “competitive area.” The competitive area for the NIKE reduction in force includes all Army Guard technician positions on the island of Oahu. The Department has also prepared “competitive levels” and “retention registers” for all positions within the competitive area. These competitive levels were established by grouping positions of similar grade and function in the same level-GS-3 stenographers are listed with other GS-3 stenographers, GS-2 typists with other GS-2 typists etc. Retention registers were also prepared. The technician’s tenure (type of appointment) and length of service (service computation date) were used to make up the registers.
Determining Who Will Lose of Change Jobs. Technicians to be effected in the various kinds of Jobs were ranked on the retention register according to tenure and service computation date. Tenure Group included permanent technicians whose appointments carried no restrictions or reservations. Tenure Group II included technicians serving trial periods or who were occupying obligated positions, or who had been temporarily upgraded. Tenure Group III included technicians who were serving under temporary appointments. Each tenure group is divided into two sub-groups. Sub-group A included technicians who have been restored following active duty tours. Subgroup B included all others. The selection began with technicians who had the most recent service computation date in the lowest ranking tenure group.
Rights to Other Positions. When a technician in Tenure Group I or II is released from his own job, he is entitled to a reasonable offer of assignment if there is a job occupied by an incumbent whom he can displace by “bumping” or “retreat.” He may also be offered an assignment to a vacant position for which he can qualify. A suitable position is considered to be in the same or lower grade within the same competitive area for which the effected technician is fully qualified and able to do the work without undue interruption of the operational mission. He can “bump” if the job is occupied by a technician with a more-recent service computation date and is in the same or lower tenure group. He can “retreat” to the job he was promoted from, or one like it, if the position is occupied by a technician with a more recent service computation date and is in the same or lower tenure group. If there is no job to which the technician has a right or for which he is qualified, he will be separated. A technician who declines a reasonable offer and is not entitled to another offer will also be separated.
Issuance of Notices. Each technician effected by a reduction in force is entitled to be notified of the pending action. He may receive a General Notice that some action must be taken to reduce the work force or he will receive a Specific Notice of the impending action. A General Notice will normally be issued when specific individual actions cannot be determined. Such a notice was issued on December 19, A Specific Notice is the official notification of the action that is to be taken. It contains the effective date of the action; the technician’s tenure group; his service computation date; a description of the competitive area; his rights to appeal and his rights to examine the records and regulations pertinent to his case. The effected technician must receive his first notice (General or Specific) at least 30 days before the date set for the final action. If the first notice is a General Notice, the Specific Notice must reach the technician at least five days before the date set for the action. The Civilian Personnel Office has prepared specific actions to be taken to reduce our work force. Procedures have been established to insure that the reduction will be as fair and orderly as possible. An effected technician who believes that in his case, the regulations have been improperly applied may appeal the action to the Adjutant General. The instructions for appeal are cited in CPR 40/51-351.
Technicians who are offered positions at a lower grade will be authorized “saved pay” in accordance with paragraph 5-7 of NGS 51 Technicians who are in WageBoard positions and are being demoted to General Schedule positions are not authorized “saved pay.” Technicians who are separated will be authorized severance pay if they: were employed during the 12-month period prior to separation; have not declined an offer of an equivalent position within the competitive area; and are not entitled to an immediate annuity under any retirement system to which the Federal government has been participant. The Civilian Personnel Office will advise separated technicians of the amount and duration of severance pay entitlements. Technicians who are offered and accept positions on the mainland or on neighbor islands will be authorized transportation allowances. Travel for a technician and his family, as well as for household goods, will be paid by the Federal government. Payment of per diem allowances, temporary lodging and minor miscellaneous expenses may also be authorized.
A separated technician may elect Federal retirement rather than separation if he meets the requirement for retirement. A technician must have been covered under the retirement system for at least one year prior to separation. He may qualify for a Discontinued Service Retirement, Optional Retirement, or a Deferred Retirement. There are a number of other requirements that must be met in order to qualify for retirement. The Civilian Personnel Office will assist anyone interested in retirement as an alternative to separation.
Assistance to Displaced Technicians. At the present time, there are over 400 technicians who will be effected by the reduction in force. Efforts have been made by the 298th Artillery Group, Civilian Personnel Office, Federal, State and City employment agencies to assist displaced personnel in finding new jobs. The National Guard Bureau has authorized 100 percent fill of all positions in our Army and Air technician program and has asked all States to assist in placing our technicians. A number of our NIKE technicians have already been offered positions in the Hawaii National Guard and technician jobs in other States. Many have resigned and accepted non-civil service employment within the community.
The inactivation of the NIKE units and the decisions that must be made as to whom will be released or reassigned to other positions will be extremely difficult and distasteful. It will not be possible to find jobs for every technician effected by the reduction. We can only do our very best and be as fair as possible in conducting the reduction in force and assisting displaced technicians in finding new jobs.
We fired our missiles during annual service practices at Mokuleia and Kahuku. We tracked thousands of aircraftThe missile era endsTen years ago, we built six missile sites(Pictures from the 1970 Spring The Hawaii Guardsman)
The United States Department of Defense announced phase-out of the Army National Guard NikeHercules on-site air defense program in Hawaii is rapidly nearing completion. This ends a 15-year era of Army air defense for the Hawaii Guard. The last 10 of these years, were spent in the Nike-Hercules Missile on-site program.
The Hawaii Guard started in the business of Army air defense in September 1955 when the 483rd FA (Field Artillery) Battalion was converted into the 158th AAA (AntiAircraft Artillery) Battalion. A year later, the 298th AAA Group was organized from units of the 158th and the 298th Infantry Regimental Combat Team. In May of 1959, the Group received orders to assume a 24-hour on-site air defense mission. To perform this mission, six units were equipped with the Nike-Hercules surface-to-air missile system and the Group Headquarters manned and operated the Army Air Defense Command Post. Incidentally, they were the only Guard unit to ever operate a command post.
From May 1959 through December 1960, members of the Group underwent intensive service school and troop and package training at Fort Bliss, Texas. During this period, the Hawaiians learned to operate and maintain the complex radars, computers, Nike-Hercules Missiles, and test and handling equipment. At the end of troop and package training, the units returned to Hawaii. The brand new equipment issued to them at Fort Bliss soon followed and the 298th Artillery Group became the first National Guard organization to receive the Army’s newest nuclear capable, air defense Nike-Hercules Missile system.
During 1960, the Group manned temporary sites on Sand Island and at East Range until the permanent sites on Oahu were completed. Operational Readiness Training continued until early 1961 when the Group assumed an active airdefense role with six Nike units ringing the island of Oahu. These units maintained an around-the-clock alert responding to unknown and potentially hostile air craft; tracking planes in distress; and even helping in oceanographic surveys.
The training continued and during the succeeding years, the Guard was molded into a highly efficient and very proud military unit by its Commander, Colonel John M. Becker. There were many accomplishments but one of the most significant was the world distance record set by Battery B, 1st Missile Battalion, for the longest successful Nike-Hercules missile intercept of a target. This was accomplished during a live firing conducted at the Kahuku Guided Missile Range. The crew that set and still holds the record was headed by CW3 Albert Kunitomo.
In 1968, the Group began to participate m SNAP (Short Notice Annual Practice) at the McGregor Guided Missile Range in New Mexico. At McGregor, units of the achieving an average score which exceeded the average of all other active Army and National Guard units in CONUS. In 1969, the Group repeated its SNAP performance with Battery A leading the way by placing third highest in the nation with a score of 98.1 percent. During the past 10 years, the Group has fired 113 missiles and attained an enviable rate of effectiveness.
In January of this year, the 543 full-time technicians of the Group began dismantling the equipment they so proudly emplaced, operated, trained on, guarded and maintained for so many years. All of the equipment will be inventoried, packed and turned into designated Army depots. Some of it will be relocated in other areas of the world.
Hawaii can be proud of the sustained operational excellence attained by the 298th Artillery Group during the past 10 years. This era will be considered a s one of the more significant chapters in the history of the Hawaii National Guard.
News was received in September that the 298th Artillery Group (Nike) of the Hawaii Army Guard would no longer have the mission of ground-to-air active air defense and would be inactivated. Inactivation was first programmed for June 1970 but was later moved up to 31 March 1970. This proud outfit had 534 full-time personnel assigned, and much effort was devoted to relocating them to other jobs. The HANG was authorized to go to 100% Air Technician manning and 24 NIKEmen became HANGmen.
Reunion, restorations reminders of our past pages 4, 5ON THE WAY TO WORLD’S RECORD — In the late 1960s, the Hawaii National Guard held an open house to show off a scale model of the new Nike Hercules missile system at Bellows Air Force Station. The missile’s tail sports the old Hawaii Guard patch.(Pictures from the 2001 October – December Pūpūkahi)
One of the Hawaii Army National Guard’s most honored units will hold a luncheon reunion at the Wahiawa Armory at noon on Feb. 16, 2002. Members of the 298th Air Defense Group will gather at the building that served as their headquarters during the late 1960’s. “The armory holds a lot of memories for us,” said retired Lt. Col. Kerwin Keys, who served as the organization’s staff administrative assistant. Keys is serving on a steering committee with other retirees including Bill Duncan, George Honjiyo, Tom Kimura, Lester Nakaichi, Gerry Silva and Larry Siu.
The 298th included six Nike Hercules missile under the command of sites located around Oahu, as well as a command center located with the liquid-fueled Ajax system. it intercepted and shot down an unmanned target drone deep under-ground in the Kunia facility, just across from Wheeler Army Airfield. Keys said, “We were the first Army Guard unit in the nation to take on the complete Army air defense responsibility for an area. We were first to go on site with the solid-fueled Nike Hercules system, while Guard units on the mainland were still working with the liquid-fueled Ajax system
“Just as important,” Keys said, ”we were first to operate the Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) for an area. We directed our firing batteries from the underground Kunia facility Data from the Hawaii Air National Guard radars at Mount Kaala on Oahu and Kokee on Kauai was tied into our AADCP, and that allowed our operations officers to run the intercepts.”
Before the units went on site they trained together at Fort Bliss, Texas. For several years, they fired their annual service practice from two of the Oahu sites initially, they launched their missiles from a site at Dillingham Air Force Station. Later, they fired from a Kahuku site, using temporary launchers on land now occupied by the Turtle Beach Hilton. “I remember those days well,” said a former launcher platoon leader. “A large bull used to graze nearby so on firing days you checked the bull’s whereabouts before you checked the launcher equipment.”
During one of those launches, Bravo Battery under the command of Capt. Alvin Cabrinah, set a world distance record when it intercepted and shot down an unmanned target drone about 100 miles offshore. The record was never broken. Eventually, service practice was moved to McGregor Range in New Mexico
Former members of the Group can get more information about the reunion by calling members of the steering committee. The event will be catered, and costs are being kept to a minimum. Committee members and their phone numbers are: George T. Honjiyo -262- 6290, Kerwin R. Keys -488-4144, Lester Nakaichi -735-2334, or Lawrence W.J. Siu -247-0262.
Those who served in the 298th AD Group at any time are invited. The committee would like to hear from them, or from those who know their phone numbers, email or mailing addresses, so that they can be contacted.
