Report Title:

COMMENDING AND HONORING THE 80^TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE uNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS.

WHEREAS, the UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS program has been an active and integral participant for 80 years in the development of leaders for the military and the State, including members of Congress such as United States Senators Hiram L. Fong and Spark M. Matsunaga, territorial and State Cabinet members, legislators, and leaders in lower and higher education, and the private sector; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii National Guard and the United States Army Reserve, Hawaii have looked to the UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS to educate and develop its leaders to become commanding generals and other senior officers; and

WHEREAS, the UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS detachment is the only senior Reserve Officers Training Corps unit in the nation to be awarded a battle streamer after having been called to active duty on December 7, 1941; and

WHEREAS, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS cadets have led the nation in leadership development and tactics through winning such awards as the Warrior of the Pacific trophy which is annually awarded to the Reserve Officers Training Corps unit with the best score at its summer camp, and which the UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS detachment won 16 times; and

WHEREAS, since 1967, students from other four-year universities in the State were permitted to enroll in the program and commissions have been offered to graduates of Hawaii Pacific University, Brigham Young University of Hawaii, and Chaminade University, and the program has been further expanded by offering the first two years of the program at America Samoa Community College; and

WHEREAS, the UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS continues to excel under its current cadre and staff under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Takao, Professor of Military Science, ranking 1^st in the United States west of the Mississippi River and 4^th in the nation overall; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that this body hereby honors and commends the graduates and cadre of the UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ARMY RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS on the 80^th anniversary of the founding of that proud institution, and for their outstanding contributions to our State and nation, and extends to them its warmest aloha and best wishes for continued success in all future endeavors.