Hawaii Chronicles III: World War Two in Hawaii from the Pages of Paradise of the Pacific

The Army in Hawaii

The Army in Hawaii GRANVILLE BROWN E The past year has been one of the most eventful of the Army’s long history in Hawaii. The year has seen the continued expansion of the military forces in the islands, the first all-island blackout, the induction of Hawaii’s first contingent of selective service men into the Army, the boosting of the rank of the commanding general of the Hawaiian Department to that of lieutenant general, and the change of the Army’s top command in Hawaii. The calling of the Territory’s two National Guard units, the 298th Infantry and the 299th Infantry, for a year’s active duty at Schofield Barracks; the sending of the 251st Coast Artillery (AA) of the California National Guard to Hawaii; the formation of the Hawaiian Air Force with a major general in command; and the raising of the rank of the coast artillery commander in the islands to that of major general are equally important high spots in the Army’s history in Hawaii during the past twelve months. Islanders were treated to a sight of military might last May 23 when the Hawaiian Division at Schofield Barracks, augmented by the aerial strength of the Eighteenth Wing of the air corps, staged a colorful review witnessed by some ten thousand spectators at the Inland Post. Units participating in the review included the Twenty-second Infantry Brigade, including the Thirty-fifth and the Twenty-seventh Infantry regiments; the Twenty-first Infantry Brigade, composed of the Nineteenth and Twenty-first Infantry regiments; the Third United States Combat engineers; the Eleventh Medical Regiment; the Eleventh Quartermaster regiment; the special troops; the First Separate Chemical battalion; the Eleventh Ordnance company; the Eleventh Signal company; the Hawaiian Division Pack Train; the Eleventh Field Artillery Brigade, including the Eighth, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Field Artillery regiments; the Eleventh Tank company; 32 First published April 1941. and finally, the massed might of the Eighteenth Bombardment Wing of the air corps. The second division review of the year was recently held at Schofield with an even greater array of military units, including besides those mentioned above, the 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments (formerly Hawaii National Guard) and some seven hundred selective service trainees who had received their training at the Inland Post. Last spring’s division review followed on the heels of the first allisland blackout, which was staged on the night of May 23. When the signal “Blackout Immediately” was given at 8:34 P.M., lights throughout Hawaii, which a moment before had twinkled out their cheery warmth, went dark. In a few minutes Army airmen high over all the major islands of the group reported the blackout complete. When the all-clear signal was given at 9 P.M., high-ranking army chiefs were quick to report their satisfaction with the response of the island community in making the vital exercise a success. The blackout drill came near the end of the annual department maneuvers with the thousands of troops stationed in Hawaii taking part in the operation in close cooperation with the civilian population. The island blackout was also marked by the playing of the “Blackout March,” written by composer Johnny Noble. This composition is the first music ever written in connection with a blackout exercise. On June 18 the Hawaiian Department launched an intensified program of field maneuvers, which are being continued at the present time. The program resumed where the annual department maneuver had left off on May 25. This maneuver was marked by exercises looking toward the repelling of parachute troops and the studying of lessons learned from the war now raging in Europe. Early last October Durward S. Wilson, then commanding the Nineteenth Infantry at Schofield Barracks, was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and later took command of the Twenty-first Infantry Brigade at the Inland Post. About the same time, barracks began rising at Schofield and at the new Camp Malakola near Barbers Point to take care of the two Hawaii National Guard regiments and the 251st Coast Artillery (AA) units that began to arrive from California for duty in the islands. The construction of the barracks city for the Hawaii National Guard units at Schofield was handled by the Third Engineers and was Prelude to War in the Pacific 33 marked by speedy and efficient construction, the camp almost rising overnight. In October the War Department announced...