The Hawaii Air Depot Volunteer Corps (HADVC) was a civilian

Paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

unit at

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The HADVC took on a wide variety of roles helping in the routine operations of the airfield. Along with the

Businessmen's Military Training Corps The Businessmen's Military Training Corps was a white and part-Hawaiian militia unit to prevent collaboration of Japanese-Americans as a result of a Japanese invasion of Hawaii. The militia was made up of 17 companies, two thirds of which were ...

(BMTC),

Hawaii Defense Volunteers The Hawaii Defense Volunteers was a predominantly Chinese-American militia in Hawaii and one of three in Honolulu during World War II. The militia also had Filipinos, Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, and Whites. See also *Hawaii Territorial ...

Women's Army Volunteer Corps The Women's Army Volunteer Corps was an organization within the Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) o ...

(WAVC), 1st Oahu Volunteer Infantry, and 2nd Oahu Volunteer Infantry, they formed the Organized Defense Volunteer Regiments. Surprisingly for a civilian militia, they had

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s in their arsenal.

History

The commanding officer of the HADVC was

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Cecil J Murphy. The unit was formed in October 1942 with a total of 1,500 personnel.

Tasks

Tasks and duties that the HADVC conducted included: *

Anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

operations *

firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

*Conducting base security *Chemical decontamination *Providing EMS *Working as aircraft

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...

s *Anti-

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

work *Evacuation duties of non-combatants.

References

Military in Hawaii Paramilitary organizations based in Hawaii 1942 establishments in Hawaii 1945 disestablishments in Hawaii {{paramilitary-org-stub