comscore William Cole | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The latest from

William Cole

blank
William Cole was a military writer in Hawaii since 2001, first with the Honolulu Advertiser and since 2010, with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser until retiring in 2021.

 

In 2004, he embedded with U.S. Army 25th Infantry soldiers on their first major deployment to Iraq, reporting from Kirkuk, Hawija, Tall Afar and Halabja on the Iranian border. During the same year, Cole also reported from Afghanistan on the deployment of a separate 25th Infantry brigade, reporting from Bagram Air Base and Orgun-E in Paktika province on the eastern border with Pakistan.

 

In June of 2005, he traveled to Kuwait and Iraq to report on a deployment by the Hawaii Army National Guard. In Iraq he reported from Camp Victory in Baghdad and Logistics Supply Area Anaconda north of Baghdad. That fall, he accompanied a Hawaii-based Army Chinook helicopter unit to Afghanistan and then Pakistan to report on earthquake relief humanitarian assistance flights to remote Pakistani areas.

 

Cole received seven first-place awards, including the top public service category award, in the 2010 Hawaii Publishers Association Pa'i awards for a four-part series on a fateful U.S. Army battle in 2008 in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of nine U.S. soldiers.

 

Cole has observed operations while underway on U.S. Navy ships including aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers, submarines, joint high speed vessels and littoral combat ships; traveled extensively by Army and Navy helicopters; and flown into and out of combat zones and other mission areas on Air Force C-17, C-5 and C-130 aircraft.
Contact William Cole

Email

Select your preferred viewing style.
Headlines Only
Most Recent
Honolulu Star-Advertiser logo
Unlimited access to premium stories for as low as $12.95 /mo.
Get It Now
U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS JONATHAN HARPER
                                Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak’s first HC-130J Super Hercules arrived in Kodiak, Alaska, in 2018. Air Station Kodiak received five HC-130J aircraft to replace the five HC-130H planes that were stationed there.
Coast Guard acquiring new aircraft, $45 million hangar at Barbers Point

In late October the Honolulu-based Coast Guard cutter Kimball returned home after a 66-day patrol to the Bering Sea and Arctic during which it shadowed four Chinese navy ships — a guided missile cruiser and destroyer and intelligence and auxiliary ships — operating as close as 46 miles off the Aleutian Islands. Read more

Email icon

Don't miss out on what's happening!

Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. Best of all, it's FREE to sign up!

By clicking submit, you agree to Star-Advertiser's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
WILLIAM COLE / WCOLE@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Yutaka Aoki, consul general of Japan in Honolulu, spoke at Thursday’s “Lives Remembered” ceremony on Ford Island, which memorializes U.S. and Japanese dead from the Dec. 7, 1941, attack.
U.S. and Japan continue to heal wounds of war in Ford Island ceremony

At the end of Pearl Harbor anniversary events, after the veterans who fought back that day and fought during World War II are rightly honored, after the 2,403 American service member and civilian casualties from the day of infamy are memorialized, there is another remembrance. Read more

COURTESY U.S. MARINE CORPS
                                Hawaii Marines from 1st Battalion, 12th Marines provided security on Aug. 15 as a Marine KC-130J loadmaster deployed a robotic missile launcher truck at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.
Marine Corps restructuring continues at Kaneohe Bay

More Hawaii Marines are on the move as the Corps continues a wholesale reorganization to focus on becoming a fast-moving, island- hopping, missile-firing force capable of striking enemy ships at sea to aid the Navy in a possible conflict with China. Read more

US NAVY / OCT. 3
                                The Hawaii-based guided missile destroyer USS Chafee, right, sails in formation with the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain and Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Winnipeg in the Philippine Sea as part of a flotilla that included four aircraft carriers.
Hawaii is linked to Taiwan-China tensions

Taiwan’s president said over the weekend that her country will not bow to pressure from China, while Chinese President Xi Jinping said that “peaceful reunification” is sought, but complete reunification “must be realized.” Read more


Honolulu Local Business Guide

Scroll Up