Gentle Readers,
I am out of airspeed and good ideas this morning- not that there isn’t stuff worth talking about as a sit-in is held on the floor of the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court hands a tie vote to the President which means his executive action on deportation of undocumented workers (is that how I am supposed to refer to people who are not legally in this great land?) and the presumed nominees of the two major parties back up dump trucks in order to slime one anoter.
It is going to be a long summer indeed. In that vein, and having just returned from the Islands myself, I thought I would pass along an account of the triumphant return of shipmate Paul Becker to The Gathering Place: the lovely island of O’ahu in the Hawaiian chain. Paul has overcome great odds to be there, and we at The Daily applaud the way he lives his life.
Also, Microsoft Word, curse it, dumped this account as it was a stroke away from completion the first time, so here we go.
NIP Hawaii Welcomes RADM Paul Becker With Spirit of Aloha
Chapter commemorates 74th Anniversary of Battle of Midway at Hickam Officer’s Club at Pearl Harbor
Jennifer of the NIP Hawaii Chapter reports from the lovely Islands that there was a great turn-out at the NIP Social commemorating the return of RADM Paul Becker, a virtual kama’ainia due to his pervious commands at the Joint Intelligence Center- Pacific (JICPAC) and as J2 for the Pacific Command at Camp H. M. Smith. Admiral Becker discussed the contributions of the intelligence professionals at Station HYPO and on the staff of ADM Chester Nimitz in providing the critical analysis that enabled the great victor at Midway, seventy-four years ago, and reiterated his themes of Naval Intelligence excellence; “Teamwork, Tone and Tenacity.”
Jen noted that the Chapter was pleased to have the Admiral there in the garden of the Hickam Officer’s Club for the MIDWAY celebration and to be able to acknowledge him and his tremendous intelligence career.
Admiral Becker also participated in the recognition of the Chapter’s Hawaii Naval Intelligence Award winners for their accomplishments. Congratulations, gentlemen!
Many thanks go out to the NIP and Navy event planners, who made things happen on board USS Missouri (BB-63), at the location of the former Station Hypo, the Pacific Aviation Museum, and the Pacific Fleet HQ at Makalapa Crater. All put in a tremendous amount of time and energy to ensure the contributions of intelligence to the pivotal naval victory are remembered, and tribute paid to our history and heritage. Congratulations to Ms. Perez (NSA-H), ENS Thorp (NIOC), LT Long (SOCPAC), LTjg Hotelling (PACFLT) and LT Peterson (JIOC) for producing several memorable events.
Also, congratulations go to CAPT Rielage, who occupies the Fleet Intelligence position once held by RADM Eddie Layton during the battle. He has recently be published in the Naval Institute Proceedings with a compelling article assessing realistic training on Chinese Navy multi-mission platforms.
Dale has also graciously agreed to mentor JO’s who are interested in publishing in the NIP Quarterly or other military publications. If you are on island and interested in this great opportunity, please contact LCDR Gabriel, the Hawaii Chapter Professional Development Chair. Other interested writers can contact the Quarterly editorial board directly at nipwebeditor@gmail.com.
The next NIP Hawaii social is in the works for the beginning of August, as the chapter welcomes San Diego NIP colleagues (and the world) as Hawaii hosts the ships and sailors participating in the theater’s largest maritime exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016. This iteration of RIMPAC will feature the largest cast of participants ever, and will undoubtedly be equally successful.
NIP Hawaii looks forward to seeing you all there!
Copyright 2016 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com