When Ron Freitas was 17, he wanted to join the Air Force. His mother said no, so he joined the U.S. Coast Guard instead.
Now, 30 years later, the West Hawaii native is retiring after a career of flying in helicopters, intercepting trafficked drugs, and executing search and rescue missions. It is a job that has taken him around the globe.
“Right out of boot camp, I flew from San Francisco to New York, New York to London, London to Bahrain,” he recalled. “From there, I jumped on a Navy helicopter, flew to a Navy destroyer, flew to another Navy destroyer, and then the Coast Guard helicopter picked me up, took us to our ship, and we spent six months in the Persian Gulf.
“That was a big first step for someone coming out of Konawaena High School,” he added.
In the years since, he has spent time in Port Angeles, Wash., as a flight mechanic, Kodiak, Alaska, doing fishery patrols in the Bering Sea, a couple of years in Puerto Rico, and then back to Washington where he made the rank of chief.
He then served as command master chief — one of the highest possible enlisted ranks — at Air Station San Francisco for five years before being restationed to Cape Cod, Mass., where he has spent the past five years.
Freitas, who is Native Hawaiian, grew up near Miloli‘i and feels his upbringing contributed to his success in the Coast Guard.
“Where we grew up, there was no running water. We had one electrical outlet in the house … so at a very young age, we grew up resilient, learned how to adapt, how to survive. We actually went fishing for food. That’s how we provided for ourselves,” he said. “And so, just those basics that my mom, who was a single mom at the time, raising three kids, just how to adapt and survive, really helped me in the Coast Guard.”
While Freitas said it wasn’t an easy career, there were highlights — including getting to salute on the field at a San Francisco 49ers game — and people he met and worked with along the way that will stick with him.
“I think the thing that comes to mind is just the people and the camaraderie in the military itself,” he said. “You know, you depend on one another, you depend on each other … .”
He said his desire to support his family was a driving force throughout his career. He has been with his wife, Cathy, who is also from the Big Island, since before he joined the Coast Guard.
“The only thing that kept me going was I wanted to provide for my wife, and then kids came along, and then I wanted to provide for them. And 20 years, 30 years, went by very quick.”
Freitas said he has witnessed many changes in the Coast Guard and the military more broadly over the years.
“The military that I joined is very different then today’s military,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s harder to serve in today’s military, specifically with the government shutdowns and an uncertainty that our military members face, it seems like, every other month. So, that part is getting tough.”
His final tour ended May 15, and he is now driving across the country with his family to move back to Washington state, where he plans to spend his time in retirement.
While he’s not sure exactly what is next, he has plans to enroll in an education program for military members to help transition to civilian life and develop skills to pursue new opportunities.
“We’ll see where that takes us,” he said. “I change my mind every other week. One week I want to be a sushi chef, one week I want to build stone walls. I just don’t know yet.”
Whatever it ends up being, he’s looking forward to it.
“The great part is I’m free to choose what I want to do right now,” he said.
Email Grace Inez Adams at grace.adams@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
