SAME Honolulu congratulates Brigadier General (Retired) Paul Chinen on being recognized as the recipient of the 2015 Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies (HCES) Lifetime Achievement Award.

BG Chinen retired from the U.S. Army in October 1994 as a Brigadier General, Corps of Engineers, after completing 31 years of active duty service. Prior to his retirement, he commanded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Ohio River Engineer Division, Cincinnati, Ohio followed by the North Atlantic Engineer Division, New York City, NY.

He commanded at all levels of command, beginning as a platoon leader in the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division; Company C, 70th Engineer Battalion, Vietnam; Battalion Commander of the 27th Airborne Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, NC; and Group Commander of the 36th Engineer Group, Fort Benning, GA.  BG Chinen served two tours in Vietnam, 14 months with the 70th Engineer Battalion, and 12 months with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

After retirement from active duty, he then served 10 years as the Program Manager for the U.S. Navy, NAVFAC Pacific Remediation Contracts I & II, totaling approximately $375 million in contract value. Under these contracts, environmental remediation construction projects were performed throughout the Navy’s Pacific area of responsibility, which includes Hawaii, Guam, Midway, Johnston Island, Wake, Okinawa, and Japan.

Joining Earth Tech, BG Chinen became the Program Manager for the front-end work for Navy’s Comprehensive Long-term Environmental Action Navy (CLEAN) contract.  He was the Program Manager for CLEAN II ($144 million over a 10-year period) and CLEAN III ($100 million over a 10-year period).  Concurrently, BG Chinen managed the Earth Tech Hawaii Region Office.   BG Chinen held this position until his final retirement in early 2008.

BG Chinen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Seattle University and a Master’s degree in Structural Engineering from Iowa State University.

BG Chinen’s military schooling includes the Basic and Advanced Engineer Officer courses, Airborne and Ranger training, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.  He is a qualified Master Airborne Paratrooper.

BG Chinen is a native of Kailua, Hawaii and is married to Yvonne Frick Chinen.