Brief History

In 1872, Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield surveyed Pearl Harbor to evaluate its military potential, and for more than a century, Hawaii has played a major role as a headquarters for the U.S. Army in the Pacific.

Following the Spanish-American War, in 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii. With the annexation of the Islands, Soldiers of the 1st New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment and 3rd Battalion, 2nd U.S. Volunteer Engineers arrived in Honolulu on Aug. 16, 1898, establishing Camp McKinley near Diamond Head. The Army's mission was to defend Oahu and the newly established naval station at Pearl Harbor.

Fort Shafter, the first permanent Army post in Hawaii, was established in 1907. As a companion installation, Schofield Barracks began in 1909 on the Leilehua Plain in the central region of Oahu. Between 1908 and 1911, coastal defense guns were placed along the southern coasts at Forts Ruger, DeRussy, Armstrong, Kamehameha and Weaver.

U.S. Army, Pacific (USARPAC)
U.S. Army, Pacific (USARPAC) traces its history back to 1898, when the United States first became a Pacific power and American Soldiers first arrived in Hawaii.

Hawaii soon became a power-projection platform for military operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fort Shafter was built from 1905 to 1907, and in 1921 became the headquarters for the Hawaiian Department.

When Army and Navy forces in Hawaii and the Philippines came under attack on Dec. 7, 1941, Hawaii quickly became a strategic hub. The Hawaiian Department became the Army component command under the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas. As the campaigns progressed, the command was designated U.S. Army Forces, Central Pacific Area (1943 to 44); U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (1944 to 45); and U.S. Army Forces, Middle Pacific (1945 to 47). Its insignia, designed in 1944, depicted the axis of advance across the Central Pacific.

In 1947, the command was redesignated U.S. Army, Pacific.

During the Korean War, USARPAC provided combat forces, training and logistical support. In 1957, the Joint Chiefs of Staff eliminated the Far East Command in favor of a single U.S. Pacific Command, and USARPAC took control of all Army forces in the region.

During the Vietnam War, USARPAC once again provided combat forces, training and logistical support for U.S. Army, Vietnam. After the war, the Army reduced its presence in the region and reorganized.

In 1974, USARPAC was eliminated as a component command, and Army forces in Korea and Japan became separate major commands.

In Hawaii, USARPAC headquarters was superseded by U.S. Army Support Command Hawaii (USASCH), and a Department of the Army field operating agency, U.S. Army CINCPAC Support Group.

In 1979, the Army established U.S. Army Western Command (WESTCOM) as a major command and the Army component of U.S. Pacific Command. WESTCOM took command of Army forces in Hawaii. In 1989, it added U.S. Army Alaska and in 1990 U.S. Army Japan. Also in 1990, WESTCOM was renamed USARPAC.

Since the end of the Cold War, USARPAC has remained engaged throughout the Asia-Pacific region, providing trained and ready, Active and Reserve Component combat and enabling forces and playing a key role in U.S. Pacific Command's theater security cooperation program. It has sent peacekeeping forces to the Sinai Peninsula, Haiti, East Timor and Bosnia. The 196th Infantry Brigade provides training support to National Guard and Army Reserve forces in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa, as well as humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and military support to civil authorities. The 9th Mission Command directs Army Reserve forces through the region. In Oct. 2000, the headquarters reorganized as a multi-component Army service component command.

Since Sep. 11, 2001, USARPAC Soldiers have played a vital role in homeland defense for Hawaii, Alaska, Guam and Japan, as well as in support of operations with our allies elsewhere in the region. In years to come, USARPAC will remain vital to our national security strategy in this dynamic region.

Today, USARPAC's area of responsibility covers almost half of the earth's surface in an area spread across 105 million miles of territory that contains six of the world's largest armies and 60 percent of the world's population. Five of the seven nations that have signed mutual defense treaties with the U.S. are in the Pacific region.

During the past five years, USARPAC has trained, equipped and deployed more than 20,000 Soldiers each year in support of overseas contingency operations and proudly provides more than 35,000 trained and ready Soldiers to deter aggression, advance regional security and cooperation and respond to crises across the Pacific region.

25th Infantry Division (ID)
A rapid strike force of nearly 17,000 Soldiers, the 25th Infantry Division focuses primarily on training for low-intensity conflict throughout the Pacific.

Born of elements of the Hawaiian Division in 1941, the 25th was just more than two months old when Japanese airplanes launched their attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Dec. 7, 1941. From that day until Nov. 1, 1942, Division Soldiers set up and manned defensive positions around Honolulu and the Ewa plains.

The 25th was then ordered to deploy to Guadalcanal to relieve U.S. Marines there. Only 31 days were required to accomplish the mission, which earned the Division its official designation, "Tropic Lightning" (adopted as the official title of the Division on Aug. 3, 1953). Division Soldiers were then dispatched to the central Solomon Islands and later headed for New Zealand and New Caledonia. It was during this time that the Division shoulder patch of a lightning bolt superimposed on a taro leaf was adopted.

From early Jan. 1945 until Jun. 30, 1945, the Division fought in the Philippines. At the end of the war, the Division moved to Osaka, Japan, where it performed occupation duty until 1950.

In Jul. 1950, the Division moved to Korea and handed the North Korean Army its first major setback. After the armistice, the Division stayed as an occupation force until Sep. 1954, and then returned to Hawaii, concluding more than 12 years of duty in the Southwest Pacific and Asia. From then until early 1963, the 25th established and conducted extensive training programs in jungle warfare techniques and Asian languages. The 25th was the only counter-guerrilla trained division in the Army at the time.

In early 1963, the Division sent Soldiers to Vietnam in response to a request from the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), marking the Division's initial participation in the conflict. The remainder of the Division deployed to Vietnam in late 1965 and early 1966.

After returning from Vietnam in early 1971, the Division was reduced to one brigade with strength of about 4,000 Soldiers. In mid-1972, the 2nd Brigade was reactivated, and troop strength was increased to about 12,000 Soldiers. In Feb. 1973, the 29th Brigade of the Hawaii Army National Guard and the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry of the U.S. Army Reserve, were designated to serve as the Division's third round-out brigade, in case of national emergency. This relationship lasted until Oct. 1986, when the Hawaii Army National Guard and Army Reserve assumed a partnership affiliation with the Division.

In 1995, the Division underwent another reorganization and reduction because of defense downsizing. First Brigade and its direct support units were inactivated and moved to Fort Lewis, Wash., where they were again reactivated as a detached brigade of the 25th Infantry Division (Light).

Today, the Tropic Lightning Division is composed of four brigade combat teams—two in Hawaii, one in Alaska and one in Fort Lewis, Wash.; the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade; and attached units.

The major ground reserve force for the U.S. Pacific Command, the Tropic Lightning Division trains in Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia.

Early in 2004, the 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii, deployed more than 8,500 Soldiers to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, to perform rotations in support of the nation's war with Al-Qaeda. While in theater, the Division contributed to the security of Iraq and Afghanistan while rebuilding the infrastructure in both countries. The Division's efforts contributed to successful elections in both countries, which helped pave the way toward peace and stability.

8th Theater Sustainment Command
The Headquarters, Headquarters Company and Special Troops, 8th Field Army Support Command (8th FASCOM), was constituted Feb. 5, 1968, and activated Mar. 1, 1968, in Korea. Field Army Support Commands provided logistical support to the Field Army units of Vietnam, as the Army recognized the need for a centralized logistics organization. The unit was inactivated Jun. 21, 1971, at Fort Lewis, Wash., and was redesignated Apr. 14, 2005, as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 8th Theater Sustainment Command. The former 45th Corps Support Group was inactivated Jan. 11, 2006, and reorganized as the 8th Theater Sustainment Command (Provisional).

Tripler Army Medical Center
The origins of Tripler Army Medical Center date back to 1907 when several wooden structures at Fort Shafter were used as a hospital. The facility was named in 1920 after Brig. Gen. Charles Stuart Tripler, in honor of his contributions to Army medicine during the Civil War.

At the start of World War II, the hospital at Fort Shafter had 450 beds.

Plans for a new Tripler hospital atop Moanalua ridge were drawn in 1942 and construction was completed in 1948. The architecturally distinctive coral pink structure, nestled on the southern slopes of Oahu's Koolau range, was dedicated Sep. 10, 1948, and has become a familiar landmark on the island of Oahu.

U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii
The U.S. Army in Hawaii traces its history to the District of Hawaii, a command formed in 1910 as a sub-element of the Department of California. The District headquarters was initially based at Schofield Barracks. In 1911, the Hawaiian Department replaced the District, and then reported directly to the War Department in Washington.

Initially headquartered in the Alexander Young Hotel in downtown Honolulu, the Department moved to its permanent home at Fort Shafter in 1921. That same year, the distinctive red octagon insignia bearing the letter "H" was adopted by the Hawaiian Department. The colors symbolize ancient Hawaiian royalty, and the eight sides represent the principal islands of the Hawaiian chain. The Department was the senior headquarters for the Army in Hawaii.

After the outbreak of World War II, the Hawaiian Department was charged with a variety of logistical support and installation functions and was also renamed the Hawaiian Department Service Force. In 1943, the organization was renamed again to become the Army Port and Service Command. Its commanding general was given responsibility as commander, U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Area, in 1944, under the operational control of the commander in chief, Pacific (CINCPAC).

In the years after World War II, the old Hawaiian Department headquarters was formally abolished, and Headquarters U.S. Army, Pacific (USARPAC), was established in 1947. Installation support functions under USARPAC were accomplished by several short-lived organizations until 1957, when a new dual command was created—U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii, and the 25th Infantry Division—under one commanding general at Schofield Barracks. These two elements were separated once again in 1960 into two commands, with U.S. Army, Hawaii (USARHAW) assuming the installation support role.

U.S. Army, Hawaii was discontinued Dec. 31, 1972, and the U.S. Army Support Command, Hawaii (USASCH), was established Jan. 1, 1973, to succeed USARHAW as the command responsible for installation services. It was temporarily headquartered at Schofield Barracks. When USARPAC was eliminated as a major command in 1973, USASCH was returned to Fort Shafter and became the senior Army headquarters in Hawaii, once again providing installation and base support, as well as action as the Army command element of CINCPAC, the Pacific joint command. When the U.S. Army Western Command was created from USASCH in 1979, to become the major Army element in CINCPAC, USASCH reverted to its traditional role as an installation and base support service command.

On Mar. 1, 1992, U.S. Army, Hawaii was re-established and was comprised of the 25th Infantry Division (Light), USASCH, 45th Corps Support Group (Forward), and the U.S. Army Law Enforcement Command (Prov). The commander, 25th Infantry Division (Light) and U.S. Army, Hawaii replaced the command, USASCH, as the installation commander. On Jan. 6, 1994, USASCH was redesignated as U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii (USAG-HI) and is headquartered at Wheeler Army Airfield.  read more...

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