As those who have put themselves in harm’s way to serve their country can attest, heroes come in all shapes, sizes and job descriptions.
Take 58-year-old Volcano resident Tim Ohashi, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services Division.
A father of two and a federal employee for three decades, Ohashi volunteered last year for a four-month deployment to Joint Base Balad in Iraq to assist the U.S. Air Force Safety Office’s efforts in reducing the incidence of birds striking and potentially damaging military aircraft.
Ohashi arrived in June, just as U.S. forces were ramping up preparations for the planned withdrawal at the end of the year.
"I’d go out in the morning in one of the shared vehicles and shoot feral pigeons and doves," Ohashi said. "Then I’d go out again in the evening and do the same thing."
If the job lacked the pulp romance of fierce combat with shadowy insurgents or the rah-rah glory of liberating a town from warlords, its real-life implications were readily appreciated by every pilot who relied on Ohashi’s efforts to assure their safe takeoffs and landings.
In fact, "bird strikes" are a huge concern for the Air Force. In 2010 the Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard Team recorded 4,723 bird strikes to military aircraft, resulting in $22,341,664 in damage.
The consequences can be much worse. In 1995, 24 people were killed when an E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft crashed after ingesting Canadian geese into its engines.
"Even a small bird can cause a fighter jet to crash," Ohashi said. "These things are all engine."
His interest in wildlife was fostered during a portion of his childhood spent on Molokai. Still, nothing in his scientific background prepared him for the decidedly unnatural phenomenon of enemy mortars raining down on the Balad airfield, where he did much of his work.
"It happened just about every day, but it’s not something you really get used to," Ohashi said, laughing.
He also worried about attracting the wrong kind of attention from the people he was trying to protect.
"We were very clearly marked as Safety Office (personnel), but still, you get a little worried about someone seeing you walking around the airfield with a gun and mistaking you for something else," he said.
Ohashi completed his duty in September. Other wildlife biologists continue to perform similar missions in Afghanistan and Qatar.
"Being there made me really appreciate the military personnel who have been deployed multiple times," Ohashi said. "It’s hard and I respect their efforts. I just tried my best to do my part while I was there."
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Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.
