Posted on Jan 13, 2019
SSG Senior Religious Affairs Nco
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I am PCS’ing in a few months to Hawaii and would like to know what to expect for my family. I keep hearing that the locals aren’t friendly to Caucasian’s, which that is what my husband is. Any input would be awesome.
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CPT Advisor
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Violent surf gangs that also rob banks... I saw it on a documentary called Point Break.
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SPC Cavalry Scout
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Hawaii was awesome. I was there 2011-2014. The locals there don't like the military much, but I am white and as long as you gave respect then you got respect. I never had a problem with them and I spear fished many times in Wainee (local only type area). There was so much to do, but I can tell you it is more relaxed Army wise. Great duty station especially for family!
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SSG Senior Religious Affairs Nco
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Awesome! Thanks!
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SGT Ej P.
SGT Ej P.
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SPC (Join to see) "Waianae" :)
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SFC Casey O'Mally
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There were certain areas of the island that were less tolerant of stupidity by non-natives (not just Caucasians) and more tolerant of stupidity by natives. But the bottom line is that any place I went, I was treated with generally the same level of respect as I gave.
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What should I expect during my next PCS to Hawaii?
GySgt Kenneth Pepper
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I was there 2005-2008. Never had a problem with the locals. Some of my younger troops ran into problems while out too late, too drunk, and acting foolish.
Just remember you are a guest on their island and always show the aloha spirit.
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CPT Signal Officer
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I just left there a few months ago. It was a great experience overall. My wife experienced some rude remarks due to being white while shopping, but I never did. There are some rural parts of the island we were advised to stay away from.

The scenery is gorgeous and the weather is amazing. There's a ton of things to do outside, and we never experienced "island fever". Having said that, the traffic is the worst I have experienced, the roads are terrible, and the cost of living is very high.
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SSG Senior Religious Affairs Nco
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Thank you for that insight. I will certainly keep all of this in mind. SGT Ej P.
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SCPO Jason McLaughlin
SCPO Jason McLaughlin
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CPT (Join to see) - Did you have to pay an electric bill while staying in base housing?
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CPT Signal Officer
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SCPO Jason McLaughlin - They take the average meter reading of your housing block. If you exceed the average, you get a bill; if you use less you get a refund. My wife was a homemaker at the time with our 3 kids so we always got a bill.
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SCPO Jason McLaughlin
SCPO Jason McLaughlin
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CPT (Join to see) - I've heard there were families so desperate for a refund that they would live like cave people, effectively driving down the average....
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SGT Combat Engineer
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Hawaii is great. People are generally friendly. Very laid back. Climate is amazing. Postcard quality scenery all over the place. Everything is crazy-insane expensive, but you used to get a big COLA to compensate (assume one still does).
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SSG Senior Religious Affairs Nco
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I am not sure about COLA. I checked the website and it’s saying that Hawaii doesn’t receive it.
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SSG Senior Religious Affairs Nco
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1SG,

Thank you for clarifying that. I had been getting mixed answers. I’ll get my orders any day now to where I can get more questions answered and be able to do more. 1SG Marc Robinson
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SFC Recruiting Standards Directorate
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I was there from 05-09 with my family and never had a single issue. If you act right you get treated right. Now a group of males hanging out causing a ruckus is a different story.
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LTC Field Artillery Officer
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Edited 7 y ago
Grew up in part of Hawaii....on Oahu, Schofield Barracks for 4 years. My dad was military, so I was young, only in grade school and went to school on post with other military kids. If we'd stayed there long term, I'd of likely gone to a private school in the area, since the public schools are terrible for High School.

There are many problems with the local kids & military kids and it is fairly rough in the public school system. That's one thing to consider if you have older children- home school or private schools are really the only options in my opinion.

On other fronts the weather there is awesome. 60s-80s pretty much every day, with some light rain in the afternoons. We went to the beach, pretty much year round & only got 1 tropical storm in 4 years while I was there. Hawaii just got hit by 2 hurricane's last year- so it may be a while until that happens again.
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SSG Senior Religious Affairs Nco
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Sir,

Thank you for that! School is definitely a concern. I have a 9th grader, 6th grader and a 3rd grader. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about the education system depending on where you are. I guess that we will have to look into the private schools there.
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