482nd weapons loader takes his work home... all the way home

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Ray Sarracino
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii --  When Hilo, Hawaii native Master Sgt. John Kawachika left home to join the military in 1987, he didn't anticipate that things would end up the way they did. After boot camp and tech school, the weapons loader's active-duty career brought him around the world on duty stations from Asia to Florida. 

Now, his latest military adventure has brought him back to where he grew up, about 4,800 miles east of Homestead, where he's helping the 93rd Fighter Squadron train with the F-15's of the Hawaii Air National Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron for exercise Cactus Aloha, a Dissimilar Aircraft Combat Tactics (DATC) training exercise. 

Sergeant Kawachika's first stop on his globe-hopping itinerary was the now-closed England Air Force Base, La. for his first tour. There he began learning his craft in which he continues to excel. After Louisiana he spent time in South Korea, traveling regularly between Suwon and Osan. Then it was on to a stint at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., and finally closing out his active duty career was a tour at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida's panhandle. 

Not content with saying goodbye to his Air Force career, upon leaving active duty he accepted a position at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla. as an Air Reserve Technician (ART) in the weapons flight in 1996. For those in the know, the Air Force Reserve's ART program allows people to work in the civil service, while maintaining a military career as a reservist. ARTs serve as full-time counterparts to reservists in a unit, and then serve in a military capacity during unit training assemblies (UTAs) and deployments. 

Although he is still a reservist with the 482nd Fighter Wing, Sergeant Kawachika moved from the ART world to a new challenge in August of last year, when he took a job with the Miami-Dade Fire & Rescue Department in South Florida - a position that keeps him busy, yet still affords him the opportunity to remain part of the military. 

Master Sgt. Kawachika is proud of his Hawaiian heritage and his Japanese ancestry, which he feels brings a unique perspective to his duties with the 482nd. The married, father-of-two also stays busy raising his sons who are in his words "hapa haole", meaning half-foreigner, because of life away from the islands. 

As this Hilo native closes in on 20 years of military service in a place almost 5,000 miles from home, he says that "Hawaii no ka oi," ("Hawaii is number one") and that he hopes to return to Hawaii permanently in the future. For now, he's just happy to be part of the Homestead team, helping the 93rd sharpen its skills in the air, and on the ground.