Historic Hickam Officer’s Club
06 June 2016 NIP Battle of Midway Week Social at Historic Hickam Officer’s Club

 former JICPAC Commander and PACOM J2 RADM Paul Becker
Our newest NIP chapter extends the warm spirit aloha to former JICPAC Commander and PACOM J2 RADM Paul Becker as he returns to the lovely islands!

Following the opportunity to tour the site of Station HYPO at Building 1 at the Pearl Harbor Navy Shipyard, a social event will be held at what must be the loveliest remaining examples of an officer’s club in existence, and in one of the prettiest places.

Where: Hickam Officer’s Club Garden
2000 Signer BLVD, Bldg 900/90 (near Worthington Ave)
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI 96860
Time: 1700-1900
What: NIP Social, meet and greet with RADM Paul Becker
Price: $10 at the “door,” and includes light pupus and a selection of non-alcoholic drinks. A cash bar will be available for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Spouse attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

During the confusion and chaos of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on that once-tranquil Sunday morning long ago, one of the vignettes that will always stay with me is a story that unfolded in the parking lot adjacent to the stately art-deco styled Officer’s Club.

An Air Corps pilot was avoiding the Mitsubishi A6M Zeros strafing the flight line, desperately thinking how he could get to an aircraft and get in the fight. He had parts of his flight kit with him, including his sidearm, and was startled to see that one of the marauding A6Ms was doing a pylon turn over the channel to the harbor where the Club guards the entrance. The turning Zero dived towards him, alone there in the parking lot. The sensible thing to do would have been to run. Instead, the story goes, the pilot yanked his M1911 Colt from his shoulder holster, stood his ground and engaged the enemy.

That is the sort of heritage that goes with the venue for the NIP Social on 06 June. It is the perfect follow-on to the open house at The Dungeon location of Station HYPO, where the analysts of Joe Rochefort’s team cracked the intentions of the Japanese Fleet, and enabled the warriors of Raymond Spruance’s TF-16 to decisively check the advance of the enemy, and enable the march to eventual victory.

The wall and Air Police checkpoint separating the two sides of Joint Base Hickam-Pearl Harbor are long gone, but no one who served under the palm trees dancing in the makai breeze will forget what it was like to enjoy a marvelous brunch on the patio at the Hickam Club- or the sudden silence that came over the diners as a sleek black SSBN slipped down the channel, bound on deterrent patrol in the vast Pacific.

This is a great opportunity to talk to Admiral Becker, whose entire career embodies the timeless core values of “Teamwork, Tone and Tenacity.” Join him and enjoy the company of shipmates and spouses on the historic waters, and tell stories of the visible and relevant contributions of Naval Intelligence to the Navy and the Nation.

See you there! Aloha!

Mac
(RADM Becker and the legendary RADM “Mac” Showers

Copyright 2016 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
www.navintpro.org

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