“National defense is the sacred duty of the young people and all other people.” ~ Kim Jong II “Peace can be contributed by respect for our ability in defense.” ~ Herbert Hoover

1. Clifton M. Hasegawa
President and CEO
Clifton M. Hasegawa & Associates, LLC
1322 Lower Main Street A5
Wailuku, Hawaii 96793
Email: clifhasegawa@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliftonhasegawa
VIA FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN SLIDESHARE AND TWITTER
January 14, 2018
The Honorable Donna Mercado Kim
Chairwoman Senate Committee on Government Operations
The Honorable Clarence K. Nishihara
Chairman Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Afairs
Dear Senator Kim and Senator Nishihara,
As part of the Senate Committee on Government Operations and Senate
Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Afairs investigation of
the false missile alert we recommend your investigation include United States Pacifc
Command, specifcally and particularly, on placement and establishment of ground
and/or shipbased anti-missile defense systems for Hawaii.
Last reported is that Senator Maize Hirono, Senator Brian Schatz, Representative
Tulsi Gabbard and Representative Colleen Hanabusa do not support the use of
defensive missiles to guard against missile-attack on the State of Hawaii. The full
article by William Cole, Honolulu Star Advertiser is provided below.
Respectfully,
Clifton M. Hasegawa

2. “THAAD (Theatre High-Alititude Area Defense) missile system is an easily
transportable defense weapon.“
2007. “Flight testing began at the Pacifc Missile Range, Kauai, Hawaii in January
2007 with a successful intercept test in the high endo-atmosphere. A second successful
test took place in April 2007 with an intercept in the mid endo-atmosphere”.
2009. “Tthen-Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he had directed the deployment” of
THADD missiles in the state and ordered Sea-Based X-Band Radar to sea to “provide
support.”
January 25, 2017 “MDA chose PSCA for future tests based on location and cost. [I]t is
the only facility in the United States that has the unrestricted range capability to
support MDA”s unique mission requirements. Previous THADD tests have been
conducted at the Pacifc Missile Range Facility in Hawaii and White Sands Missile
Range in NewMexico”.
_______________________
Aegis BMD System Intercepts Target Missile
17-NEWS-0009
Aug. 29, 2017
The Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS John Paul
Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a complex missile defense fight test,
resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target
using Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) guided missiles during a test of the coast of
Hawaii today.
John Paul Jones detected and tracked a target missile launched from the
Pacifc Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii with its onboard AN/SPY-1
radar, and onboard SM-6 missiles executed the intercept.
"We are working closely with the feet to develop this important new capability,
and this was a key milestone in giving our Aegis BMD ships an enhanced
capability to defeat ballistic missiles in their terminal phase," said MDA
Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves. "We will continue developing ballistic missile
defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves."

3. This test, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-27 Event 2 (FTM-27 E2),
marks the second time that an SM-6 missile has successfully intercepted a
medium-range ballistic missile target.
Aegis BMD is the naval component of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
MDA and the U.S. Navy cooperatively manage the Aegis BMD program.
Additional information about all elements of the ballistic missile defense system
can be found here.
MDA Media Contacts:
Lt. Col. JB Brindle, 571-231-8374, james.brindle@mda.mil
Chris Johnson, 571-231-8212, christopher.johnson@mda.mil
U.S Department of Defense
Missile Defense Agency
August 29, 2017, accessed January 14, 2018
https://www.mda.mil/news/17news0009.html
____________________
THE STATE OF HAWAII
HOMELAND DEFENSE AND SECURITY
WORKING ON PLANS, ON OWN TIMETABLE
If a missile were to be launched at the islands, the state would have
approximately 20 minutes to respond. The U.S. Pacific Command
in Hawaii would identify the launch within five minutes, giving the
islands' 14 million residents a mere 15 minutes to take shelter.
“We're not concerning ourselves with any rhetoric coming out of
North Korea or Washington. We've got our plans, and we're
working on our plans on our particular time table”. -
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anthony, Hawaii National Guard,
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency
The Missile Defense Agency currently has 37 interceptor missiles
in Alaska and California that the agency claims would protect
Hawaii from a North Korean ICBM.

4. “NOKO cannot hit any part of the United States with nuclear ICBM
but their progress is alarming and require a multi-pronged response.
- Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz
Source: As Trump And North Korea Hurl Threats, Hawaii Prepares
For A Nuclear Attack. By Carla Herreria. Huffington Post. August
12, 2017, accessed September 5, 2017.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hawaii-response-paln-north-
korea-nuclear-tension_us_598cf7e1e4b09071f698b844?
ncid=engmodushpmg0000006
______________________
The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency developed its Ground-
based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, partly as a response to
the looming threat of North Korea's ballistic missile program.
The GMD is America's only missile defense system established to
defend the nation from unsophisticated long-range missile attacks
and incoming warheads.
The system is designed to defend the entire U.S. And Canada from
distant attackers, but is not capable of short-range defense missions.
North Korean threats against shorter-range targets, such as U.S.
allies like South Korea or Japan, would have to be address with
other defense systems, such as Aegis1
, THAAD2
or Patriot3
, per
CSIS [Center for Strategic and International Studies]
[Clarification Supplied]
Source: Are We Ready For A Nuclear Attach from North Korea?
Experts have Doubts. By Jesselyn Cook. Huffington Post.
August 4, 2017, accessed September 5, 2017.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hawaii-response-plan-north-
korea-nuclear-tension_us_598cf7e4b09071f698b844
1 The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) is Sea and Land based. Certain U.S. Navy
Ticonderoga-class Cruisers (CG) and Arleigh Burke-class Guided Missile Destroyers (DDG). The
land-based vaiant, Aegis Ashore, is deployed in Romania as part of the NATO defense system.
2 Terminal Hugh Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile. Transportable system, intercepts
ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere during final, terminal phase of flight. Locations:
Alaska, Guam and South Korea.
3 Patriot. Originally fielded in Gulf War against Iraqi Scud missiles. Upgraded since. Optimized for
defense against tactical ballistic missiles, remains capable against aircraft and cruise missiles. U.S
deploys Patriott batteries in Bahrain, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, South Korea, UAE.

5. THADD
Amid heightened tensions with North Korea, the United States
announced Tuesday [July 11, 2017] it had successfully tested its
advanced missile defense system by firing a target from Hawaii and
intercepting it near Alaska, Reuters reported.
Placed in Kodiak, Alaska, the Terminal High Altitude Area
Defense (THAAD) thwarted a ballistic missile fired north of
Hawaii, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
Source: Can U.S. Stop A North Korea Attack? THAAD Test
Successful in Alaska, Hawaii. By Greg Price. Newsweek. July 12,
2017, accessed September 5, 2017.
http://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-us-stop-attack-634872
____________________
SENSE & SENSIBILITY
Kodiak, ALASKA and Honolulu, HAWAII are separated by a distance of
approximately 2,534.0 miles in a straight line.
THADD intercepts ballistic missiles inside or outside the atmosphere during its final,
terminal phase of flight.
Prudence and sound judgement dictates a THADD location for Hawaii would improve
Hawaii's homeland defense and security, and ICBM missile-attack response time.
_______________________________________

6. DELEGATION IS AT ODDS WITH EXPERTS ON DEFENSE OF THE STATE
THE FOUR IN CONGRESS DO NOT SUPPORT
USING KAUAI ROCKETS TO FACE NORTH KOREA’S THREAT
By William Cole. Honolulu Star-Advertiser
July 10, 2017, accessed January 14, 2018
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/honolulu-star-advertiser/20170710/281505046254898
Hawaii is now within reach of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles
after the rogue nation’s successful test launch on July 3, some experts maintain.
So what should be done to better protect the state?
Hawaii’s congressional delegation continues to place faith in 36 ground-
based interceptor missiles, mainly in Alaska but also in California, to shoot
down an incoming North Korean missile. The number of ground
interceptors is expected to increase to 44 by the end of the year.
None indicated support, as yet, for an added option increasingly being
discussed: the activation of the Aegis Ashore missile test site on Kauai.
The delegation also emphasized that a new medium-range radar is planned for
Hawaii to better track North Korean missiles. The approximately $1 billion
radar is expected to be operational in 2023.
For extra defense, AN-TPY-2 radars could be brought in, and Aegis Ashore
could be activated in emergencies, experts say.
The Pentagon also could activate a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
mobile missile system, or THAAD, as it did on Guam and is doing in South
Korea. But THAAD is designed for short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles
and not the extreme closing speeds of ICBMs.
Adm. Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacifc Command, told Congress in April
that the existing ground-based system “can be overwhelmed” and that the
defense of Hawaii “could stand strengthening” — potentially with interceptors
in the state as part of a layered defense.

7. A salvo of several Alaska based missiles would have to be launched at each
incoming North Korean rocket.
Riki Ellison, chairman of the nonproft Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance,
says Hawaii is the most under defended state in the nation. He questions
how many of those missiles the U.S. Northern Command would allot for
Hawaii if Alaska and the West Coast also were threatened.
Harris told Congress, “I’m advocating for a defense of Hawaii radar. I’m (also)
advocating for a study to see if it’s worthwhile to put interceptors in Hawaii to
improve Hawaii’s capability against North Korean missiles.”
Ellison advocates activating Aegis Ashore at the Pacifc Missile Range Facility in
times of emergency. The missile-fring site and its radar were put in place to
test defensive land-based sites for Romania and Poland. Japan also is interested
in Aegis Ashore for its own defense.
Under a new administration and with the North Korean threat rapidly evolving,
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in May directed the start of a Ballistic Missile
Defense Review to evaluate the threats posed by ballistic missiles and develop
a missile defense posture.
Past Pentagon policy called for only the radar installation in Hawaii. Navy and
PMRF ofcials, meanwhile, are concerned about maintaining uninterrupted
missile testing and good community relations on Kauai.
Heightened security with an activated Aegis Ashore is seen as potentially
fencing of the community from the base, which is the third-largest employer
on Kauai.
Members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation commented on the matter last
week in emails to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

8. U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa said the priority sequenced in the National
Defense Authorization Act for 2018, which was passed by the House Armed
Services Committee, “is to assess the siting and functionality of (a medium-
range) radar in Hawaii frst. In addition, because Alaska is a known good
interceptor site, the NDAA authorized more missiles for Alaska.”
Although some experts disagree with her estimation, Hanabusa said there is
“no indication that North Korean missiles have the precision or range to hit
Hawaii.”
“In my opinion, what is unfortunate about the North Korean missile test is that
the U.S. tends to react to Kim Jong-un’s missile tests instead of focusing on
China and Russia, two adversaries which actually do have missiles and the
capability to attack and strike the U.S.,” she said.
Allies, radar
Making Aegis Ashore operational on Kauai would compromise PMRF’s critical
training and test mission, Hanabusa added. It would also “change the
relationship between the base and Kauai. As such, I remain confdent that our
best next step” is to assess the siting and functionality of the new radar for
Hawaii, she said.
Harris, however, told Congress that missile testing and the activation of Aegis
Ashore could coexist.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said the United States “must work with our allies, as
well as China and others with a stake in regional stability, to pressure North
Korea to return to direct talks aimed at freezing its nuclear and ballistic missile
programs.”
Schatz also said continuous improvement is needed to the ground-based
defense system in Alaska and California, “which is the most capable way to
defend Hawaii, Alaska, and the continental United States against rogue missile
threats from North Korea.”

9. The Missile Defense Agency’s planned construction of a new defense radar for
Hawaii will improve the ability to detect, track, discriminate and intercept
North Korean missiles and make it more difcult for Pyongyang to credibly
threaten the United States, he added.
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said the United States “must strengthen the defense
of Hawaii” against the growing North Korean threat, and that she worked with
Hanabusa to pass provisions in the NDAA “that prioritize and authorize funding
for a permanent radar in Hawaii to strengthen the defense of Hawaii, as well as
increase ground-based interceptors in Alaska.”
“Missile defense experts and military leaders agree that right now these steps
will most efectively strengthen our missile defense for the people of Hawaii,”
she said.
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, meanwhile, said “stronger diplomatic and economic
eforts must lead our response to North Korea’s recent actions.” She added that
she “will continue to work with our military leaders to ensure that the resources
necessary to protect Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. mainland are available,”
including enhancing the missile defense system with advanced sensors and
interceptor missiles.
Ellison, with the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said emergency-activating
Aegis Ashore, which costs $450 million, is the obvious choice for the additional
protection of Hawaii.
Hawaii also needs an AN/ TPY-2 radar, the Sea-Based X-Band Radar at sea
more, and accelerated deployment of the new medium-range radar, he said.
“Hawaii, out of all our 50 states, no question by a long shot, is the most
vulnerable (to North Korean attack),” Ellison said.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser. Press Reader. July 10, 2017, accessed January
14, 2018 https://www.pressreader.com/usa/honolulu-star-advertiser/20170710/281505046254898