Four island residents are wanted to sit on the Kaua’i County Draft Board, tasked with deciding which young Kaua’i men would put on a uniform for the next war. The four new members will replace Colleen Iwai, Eugene Jimenez, Victor
Four island residents are wanted to sit on the Kaua’i County Draft Board, tasked with deciding which young Kaua’i men would put on a uniform for the next war.
The four new members will replace Colleen Iwai, Eugene Jimenez, Victor Punua and Peter Yukimura, all of whom will finish 20-year term limits by October, according to 1st Lt. Jill Trahan, detachment commander for the Selective Service System in Hawai’i.
The remaining member is Cayetano “Sonny” Gerardo, a former Kaua’i County civil defense official.
The wartime responsibility of the local draft board, comprised of citizen volunteers, is to determine whether a draftee receives a deferment, postponement or exemption.
A draft has not existed since the Vietnam War, but men between the ages of 18 and 26 across the nation, including Hawai’i, are required by federal law to register with draft boards.
The recruitment of new board members has little to do with Hawai’i registering men for any upcoming war involving the United States, said Ed Nakano, state director for the Hawai’i Selective Service System.
“The Selective Service is maintaining the status quo so that in the event of a national crisis, including war, our boards are ready to go,” Nakano said.
A prospective board member must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old and not an active or retired member of the military or reserves.
Board members undergo a 12-hour course of instruction, usually offered on the mainland, followed by a four-hour block of instruction conducted in Hawai’i each year.
Ten five-member draft boards operate across the state. An 11th one will be created when the board governing Molokai and Lanai are separated to accommodate the needs of both islands, Trahan said.
Additional information is available from Nakano at (808) 247-1594 or Trahan at (808) 839-1739 and Jilljoy@juno.com.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
