Kamehameha graduate learns he's the third Native Hawaiian to become a Navy admiral

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – 51-year-old Rear Admiral Ryan Mahelona, a native of Kāneʻohe and reserve deputy commander for the U.S. Navy’s 10th Fleet in Maryland went back to middle school Thursday at Kamehameha Kapālama.

It’s where he started in 7th grade focusing on academics and athletics with hopes of becoming an engineer. He ended up working in cyber security in San Diego.

Doing online research, Mahelona discovered he’s the third Native Hawaiian to become an admiral in the U.S. Navy. The first was the namesake of the USS Chung-Hoon, Gordon Paiʻea Chung-Hoon and the second was Robert Kihune who will preside over Mahelona’s promotion ceremony onboard the USS Missouri Saturday.

“It’s crazy. It’s hard to believe, right,” Mahelona told Hawaii News Now.

He spoke to students interested in Native Hawaiian leadership and government. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he didn’t think he would be breaking barriers.

“I got more senior, I started to realize that, hey, you know, it’s not that far off. It’s something that is achievable,” said Mahelona.

“You set your mind to what you want to achieve and that’s what happened to me,” he added.

Mahelona stresses the importance of education, culture and aloha.

“I think it was very inspiring and powerful,” said Alazel Antonio, a Kamehameha 8th grader.

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