HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii adjutant general Maj. Gen. Ken Hara has led the state’s emergency management agency for five years, capping a 40-year military career with three combat deployments.

In his first one-on-one interview since he announced he would retire on Nov. 1, Hara sat down with Hawaii News Now to talk about why he joined — and what he would have done differently over the years.

“I’ve been pretty much an infantry guy watching the helicopters fly by and seeing like, Oh, that was a big mistake. I should have stayed in aviation,” he said, reflecting on what he called one of his regrets. “I still wish I was flying.”

“I tried a few times [to get back], but just things didn’t work out. It was like this was my destiny and and ended up being an infantry guy most of my career,” he said.

Hara says he is a man of faith, which had a huge impact on his career.

“How else am I successful as like no skill says not the smartest guy in the room. But you know, I’ve been really blessed and had opportunities that came at the perfect time. Literally all of the stars aligned on how I got my college education and some really, really critical military assignments is pretty, pretty amazing,” Hara said.

The Hilo native graduated from Waiakea High School and enlisted in the Hawaii National Guard, as his father and uncle did. His older brothers also joined, and the Hara military legacy was well-known and respected.

“Initially, I think it was great having older brothers and a father and an uncle that served so many mentors I could go to,” he said. “Oftentimes, it was reverse nepotism, like you have to do better and the standards are higher, just because the last name was Hara.”

“My son swore in in the National Guard that definitely was the proudest moment. The next generation in line following the Hara legacy. So my son is a first lieutenant now in the Army National Guard,” he said.

Hara also talked about how his three combat deployments prepared him for his career, transitioning from infantry to politics, from war on the ground to the halls of politics. “

“Three deployments, the first one to Baghdad, Iraq, second in Kuwait, and a third one in Kandahar, Afghanistan, all three really, really challenging and dangerous missions,” he said.

“The mission kind of shifted from that combat operations to more domestic and Hawaii focused disaster response. So I got a lot of experience in that, you know, not just the war fight.”

“What’s tough, what no one can prepare for is dealing with the politics that I dread during the legislative session, but I can tell you that I am I have a great relationship with every single one of the legislators and they treat me with dignity and respect,” he said.

As Hawaii adjutant general, he oversees Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency and National Guard, and has led the state through back-to-back natural disasters, from hurricanes to eruptions, the COVID-19 pandemic and even the false missile alert.

Looking back, he says he says he’s satisfied with how HIEMA handled the pandemic.

“I don’t think there’s anything, I would have changed, especially for me and what we did. We didn’t know what we didn’t know, we learned along the way. And as we learned, we adjusted,” he said.

“You make decisions, a lot of people aren’t going to be happy about it. But we made decisions based on the information understanding we had at the time,” he said.

“The biggest lesson is, if you’re going to be successful, it’s about the relationships. And try to build that relationship and hopefully forge that into trust before the disaster,” he added.

Hara concluded: “I’m proud of my career. I’m proud what I’ve accomplished. I’m proud of my family and the Hara legacy. But I’m human. I look back because I could have had an easier life. My class, my close classmates, they’re super successful. Living the life,” he said with a laugh.

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Nelson Velazquez homered and drove in the go-ahead run with a double as the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-4 in 11 innings on Saturday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Kansas City scored three runs in the top of the 11th to put the game away after giving up three earlier leads.

In the top of the 11th, Velazquez plated automatic runner Freddy Fermin with a double to center, then scored on Adam Frazier’s infield single. Maikel Garcia added on with an RBI single.

The Royals had gone ahead 4-3 in the top of the 10th on Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly to left, but the Rays tied it for a third time in the bottom of the inning when Jonny DeLuca doubled to left to score Harold Ramirez.

James McArthur (2-2) got the win with two innings of relief, and Nick Anderson picked up his first save. Former Royals left-hander Richard Lovelady (0-3) took the loss.

• • •

Orioles 5, White Sox 3

Ryan O’Hearn, Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg homered in the eighth inning as Baltimore rallied for a victory against host Chicago.

The three-homer barrage across a five-batter stretch created a stunning turnaround after the Orioles had only three singles entering the eighth. Baltimore starter Albert Suarez pitched four shutout innings in his longest outing since April.

White Sox starter Erick Fedde pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings and Gavin Sheets smacked a two-out, bases-loaded triple in the fifth inning for the team’s only runs. Chicago lost for the eighth time in nine games.

• • •

Giants 7, Mets 2 (10 innings)

Brett Wisely had three hits, including a tiebreaking RBI single leading off the 10th inning, as visiting San Francisco mounted another late-inning comeback to defeat New York in the middle game of a three-game series.

Patrick Bailey had an RBI single in the sixth and LaMonte Wade Jr. tied the score with a run-scoring single in the ninth for the Giants, who have won four straight, all after trailing in the eighth inning or later.

After Wisely’s 10th-inning single against Sean Reid-Foley (1-2), Bailey ended up walking with the bases loaded and Mike Yastrzemski laced a three-run triple two outs later. Starling Marte belted his sixth homer of the season in the second and Brett Baty hit a tiebreaking solo shot in the seventh to account for the Mets’ runs.

• • •

Tigers 2, Blue Jays 1

Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer, Reese Olson recorded his first win this season in his 10th start and host Detroit topped Toronto.

Olson (1-5) was forced to leave his previous start at Kansas City with a right hip contusion after being struck by a line drive. He limited the Blue Jays to one unearned run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Tyler Holton pitched the ninth for his first save this year and the second of his career.

Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios (5-4) allowed two runs and seven hits while striking out five in seven innings. Davis Schneider drove in Toronto’s lone run with a double.

• • •

Twins 5, Rangers 3

Alex Kirilloff blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to help Minnesota rally for a win against Texas in the second game of a three-game series in Minneapolis.

Twins starter Chris Paddack allowed two runs and four hits in five innings. Cole Sands (2-0) threw two innings of scoreless relief before Jhoan Duran pitched the ninth to earn his sixth save for Minnesota, which has won four in a row following a seven-game losing streak.

Rangers starter Michael Lorenzen allowed one run and three hits over six innings. Ezequiel Duran homered and Leody Taveras had two hits and an RBI for Texas, which has lost six in a row and 12 of its past 14.

• • •

Nationals 3, Mariners 1

Four Washington relievers combined for four hitless innings as the Nationals defeated visiting Seattle, sending the Mariners to their season-worst fourth consecutive loss.

Dylan Floro (1-0) got the victory and Kyle Finnegan pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 14th save. Keibert Ruiz went 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and a run for the Nationals, who scored two runs in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie. The Mariners tied it in the fifth, as Julio Rodriguez led off the frame with a 433-foot solo shot to center field on a 1-2 sinker from Nationals starter Trevor Williams. It was just the third home run of the season for Rodriguez and snapped an 0-for-17 slump.

• • •

Pirates 4, Braves 1

Mitch Keller was effective through 6 2/3 innings and Nick Gonzales extended his hitting streak to six games with an RBI double to help Pittsburgh defeat visiting Atlanta.

Keller (6-3) allowed one run on six hits to go along with no walks and four strikeouts to earn his first career win against Atlanta, improving to 1-3. David Bednar tossed a scoreless ninth for his 11th save of the year.

Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez (2-2) went 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and five hits. His night came to an end when the game went into a rain delay that lasted nearly 30 minutes in the bottom of the fifth.

• • •

Athletics 3, Astros 1

JP Sears combined with four relievers on a four-hitter, Brent Rooker continued his hot month of May with a two-run double and Oakland finally got a win over visiting Houston.

Sears (4-3) allowed just one unearned run over six innings. He pitched with a lead since the bottom of the first, when Rooker, who entered the game with 19 RBIs in 21 games in May, ripped his double.

Mauricio Dubon collected two hits for the Astros, who had beaten the A’s in their first five meetings of the season. Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti (2-5) was charged with three runs on five hits in five-plus innings.

• • •

Brewers 6, Red Sox 3

Milwaukee received a solo home run from Brice Turang and scored five runs in the third inning en route to a victory over host Boston.

Joey Ortiz headlined the third with a two-run double that drove in Gary Sanchez and Sal Frelick to increase the Brewers’ lead to 5-0. Six consecutive batters reached base with two outs in the inning.

All five runs were scored against Boston starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (2-3), who left the mound with one out in the fourth. He gave up seven hits, struck out three and walked three.

• • •

Yankees 4, Padres 1

Aaron Judge crushed his 17th home run and Marcus Stroman pitched six scoreless innings as visiting New York ran its winning streak to five games, knocking off San Diego.

Judge, who has 11 homers in May, pulled into a tie for the major league lead with his two-run shot in the first inning. It was his fourth straight game with a homer. He also doubled and scored twice as the Yankees won for the 11th time in 13 games. Stroman (4-2) lowered his ERA to 2.76. He surrendered three hits and walked one with five strikeouts.

Fernando Tatis Jr. broke up the shutout bid with one out in the eighth with a home run to center field, just out of the reach of Judge. It came against right-hander Luke Weaver, who walked the next batter but got two groundouts to end the inning.

• • •

Reds 3, Dodgers 1

Spencer Steer hit a first-inning home run for the second consecutive day and Hunter Greene worked six strong innings as Cincinnati earned a victory over visiting Los Angeles.

Will Benson also hit a home run as the Reds won consecutive games for the first time since April 23-24 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cincinnati evened the season series with Los Angeles 3-3 with the finale Sunday. Greene (3-2), a Los Angeles-area native, gave up one run on five hits over six innings with one walk and five strikeouts. He worked out of multiple jams, including a bases-loaded situation with nobody out in the second inning while only giving up one run.