{"id":87420,"date":"2026-06-12T08:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T08:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/?p=87420"},"modified":"2026-05-08T23:13:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:13:36","slug":"from-enlisted-airman-to-major-general-a-hawai%ca%bbi-guard-journey-of-purpose-leadership-and-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/2026\/06\/12\/from-enlisted-airman-to-major-general-a-hawai%ca%bbi-guard-journey-of-purpose-leadership-and-service\/","title":{"rendered":"From Enlisted Airman to Major General: A Hawai\u02bbi Guard Journey of Purpose, Leadership and Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Na Koa Exchange: Maj. Gen. Joseph R. Harris II\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A1Gv6JvzXQc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a recent episode of Na Koa Exchange, host Jeff Hickman spoke with Maj. Gen. Harris, former Hawai\u2018i Air National Guard commander, about a career that began with uncertainty and evolved into decades of leadership across the Air National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What followed was a candid reflection on mentorship, service and the unpredictable path of military leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Harris opened the conversation by describing a young adulthood marked by uncertainty after high school and early college struggles. That uncertainty shifted when he met an Air National Guardsman who introduced him to the idea of service in the Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy initial motivation was just to get into something that had some purpose, had some structure,\u201d said Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What began as a practical decision quickly became a lifelong career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Harris moved through enlisted roles, technician work and full-time AGR service, he emphasized that growth came from exposure to unfamiliar opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know,\u201d said Harris. \u201cYou just have to jump in and see what it exposes you to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That philosophy guided his transitions from supply roles to maintenance leadership and eventually to command positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the most formative experiences came during technical training, when a senior NCO challenged him with a performance goal. Harris buckled down and studied, the results reshaped his perception of his own abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt taught me something about myself I didn\u2019t know\u2026 when you work hard, you really can do well,\u201d said Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across his career, Harris emphasized the importance of mentors and transparent leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTry to be the leader you would want to follow,\u201d said Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Harris\u2019s journey reflects the long arc of service in the Air National Guard built not on a single defining moment, but on a series of choices, mentors and opportunities that gradually shaped a leader. His story highlights a central theme of Guard service: readiness is not just about aircraft and missions, but about people, developing them, relying on them and growing alongside them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he steps into the next chapter, his reflections leave a clear message for today\u2019s Airmen and Soldiers: the path doesn\u2019t have to be linear to be meaningful, and leadership is ultimately measured by the people you serve and the trust you earn along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The State of Hawaii, Department of Defense (HIDOD)\u2019 Retiree News does not endorse any of the external hyperlinks listed or posted on this site. This includes linked websites, information, products, or services contained therein. We are a government run website for which transparency and accountability are paramount. HIDOD cannot have the appearance of endorsement and are bound by the HIDOD Social Media Policy concerning political posts being respectful, honest, and accurate. Operational Security will additionally be adhered to. Retiree News does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at linked sites. Some of the sites linked to may limit the number of stories you can access without a paid subscription. All links were provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the HIDOD\u2019s version of Retiree News.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent episode of Na Koa Exchange, host Jeff Hickman spoke with Maj. Gen. Harris, former Hawai\u2018i Air National Guard commander, about a career that began with uncertainty and evolved into decades of leadership across the Air National Guard. What followed was a candid reflection on mentorship, service and the unpredictable path of military [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":87421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"18189,53423,13117,58539,51787,82823","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webmaster-comments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87422,"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87420\/revisions\/87422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dod.hawaii.gov\/retireenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}