Wyatt Olson

Wyatt Olson is based in the Honolulu bureau, where he has reported on military and security issues in the Indo-Pacific since 2014. He was Stars and Stripes’ roving Pacific reporter from 2011-2013 while based in Tokyo. He was a freelance writer and journalism teacher in China from 2006-2009.

@WyattWOlson

olson.wyatt@stripes.com

Taiwan scrambled fighter jets on Friday, May 20, 2022, in response to 14 Chinese warplanes entering its air defense identification zone, including an H-6 bomber, as shown in this file photo from the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense.

China sends 14 warplanes into Taiwan’s air-defense zone as Biden arrives in Asia

Taiwan scrambled fighter jets Friday in response to 14 Chinese aircraft entering its air defense identification zone, an incursion coming the first day of President Joe Biden’s five-day visit to Asia.

Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, speaks with reporters during the Land Forces of the Pacific symposium at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

War in Ukraine casts shadow on land forces symposium in Hawaii

Army Spc. Wyne Lyndon Jacob Abonita, 22, of Yokosuka, Japan, and Pvt. Valsin David Tate Jr., 23, of New Orleans, were killed in a car crash in Anchorage, Alaska, Friday, May 13, 2022.

Army identifies two paratroopers killed in multivehicle crash in Alaska

The Air Force has requested $115 million for the hypersonic AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon in its budget proposed for fiscal year 2023.

Air Force successfully fires hypersonic weapon after multiple failures last year

All schools in Hawaii, even those within military bases, are administered by the Hawaii Department of Education. U.S. Army Hawaii said in a Facebook post Thursday evening that base leaders had become aware of the allegations against a teacher at an Army base school only earlier in the day. That teacher has since been barred from campus after Army officials became aware of the misconduct allegations against him.

Teacher barred from grade school on Hawaii Army base over misconduct allegations

A teacher at an elementary school on a Hawaii Army base has been barred from campus after Army officials became aware of misconduct allegations against him, according to U.S. Army Hawaii.

Army infantry staff sergeant identified as victim of bear attack in Alaska

Staff Sgt. Seth Michael Plant, 30 was taken to the hospital at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where he was declared dead, the Army said in a news release Thursday.

John Lee Canley posed for a portrait July 9, 2018. Canley was awarded the Medal of Honor during a White House ceremony, October 17, 2018.

Vietnam War gunnery sergeant awarded Medal of Honor in 2018 dies at age 84

John Lee Canley, a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who was belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor in 2018 for his actions in the Battle of Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam, died Wednesday. He was 84.

Contractors with Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command collect water samples at Red Hill Elementary School in Aiea, Hawaii, March 11, 2022, as part of long-term monitoring of drinking water from the Navy’s water system that was contaminated by jet fuel.

Hawaii sets fall deadline for Navy to submit plan for closing Red Hill fuel tanks

The Navy has waived the right to contest a revised emergency order issued by the Hawaii Department of Health last week that set a Nov. 1 deadline for submitting a plan for permanently closing the Red Hill underground fuel storage facility.

Maj. Gen. Joe Ryan, right, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, and Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Haynie point out derelict cars abandoned by soldiers in a resale lot at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, in this screenshot from a Facebook video posted May 9, 2022.

Hawaii Army commander implores soldiers to help curtail abandoned-vehicle blight

Army Garrison Hawaii is tackling anew the seemingly perpetual problem of abandoned vehicles on installations by kicking off the weeklong Operation Clean Sweep on Monday.

MH-60S Seahawk helicopters train in June 2020 at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va.

Sailor in special warfare unit dies after hard helicopter landing in Virginia

The sailor, who was not identified by the Navy pending next-of-kin notification, was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit, the service said.

Visitors to the Fun in the Field event at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, pose by a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, launcher on April 23, 2022.

Guam’s THAAD missile defense battery will relocate to new Marine Corps base

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, which has been on Guam for almost a decade, will move from Andersen Air Force Base to Camp Blaz, the nearby Marine Corps base still under construction.

A Navy contractor checks the water flow rate in a carbon-filter system on April 18, 2022, as a part of monitoring at the Navy’s Red Hill well in Hawaii.

More than 100 residents file claims for compensation over Red Hill water contamination

Another 102 current and former residents of military housing in Hawaii have filed claims seeking compensation for maladies and hardships they say were caused by the Navy’s petroleum-contaminated drinking water, their attorneys said Friday.

Paratroopers from the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division assigned to U.S. Army Alaska, parachute onto Donnelly Drop Zone near Fort Greely, Alaska, March 11, 2022.

US Army Alaska to be reflagged as airborne division amid surge in troop suicides

U.S. Army Alaska will be redesignated the 11th Airborne Division with the aim of instilling a better defined “sense of identity” for soldiers as the service grapples with troop suicides in the state, the secretary of the Army told lawmakers Thursday.

Robert Passanisi, a staff sergeant who served with Merrill’s Marauders in Burma during World War II, died April 26, 2022, at this home in Lindenhurst, N.Y., at age 97.

Merrill’s Marauders veteran and Ranger Hall of Fame inductee dies at age 97

Robert E. Passanisi, who as a 17-year-old doctored his birth certificate in 1942 so that he could join the Army and ended up in Burma as one of Merrill’s Marauders, died on Tuesday at his home in Lindenhurst, N.Y. He was 97.

The Army dedicated 20 new barracks at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii’s Big Island on April 26, 2022, replacing Korean War-era Quonset huts such as those standing in the foreground.

Modern barracks are replacing Korean War-era Quonset huts on Hawaii live-fire range

The Army this week unveiled 20 newly built barracks at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii’s Big Island, the first phase of construction to replace the roughly 100 1950s-era Quonset huts.

The USS San Diego steams off the coast of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, July 14, 2016

Marine Corps identifies combat engineer who drowned Sunday in Hawaii

Pfc. Isaac Romero had completed his first year as a Marine the day before he drowned Sunday just off a beach on the Hawaii base where he was stationed, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

A concept drawing shows the configuration of a $120 million elementary school to be built on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, with a completion goal of late 2026.

DOD gives Hawaii $96M to replace overcrowded grade school on Marine Corps base

The Defense Department on Monday announced a $96 million award to Hawaii for construction of a new elementary school at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Oahu.

Raleigh Nayes poses with his rifle in this undated photo taken during World War II.

With death of 99-year-old Wisconsin veteran, four Merrill’s Marauders remain

Raleigh Nayes, 99, died Thursday in Chippewa Falls, Wis., just one day after the Army veteran had received the Congressional Gold Medal for his role in fighting with the famed Merrill’s Marauders in Burma during World War II.

Assault amphibious vehicles head toward the shore at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, July 14, 2016.

Hawaii-based Marine dies swimming in sea off Oahu installation

A private first class stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii died Sunday while swimming in the ocean near the installation on Oahu, the service said Monday.

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