FORT MCCOY, Wis. — Hawaiian Warrior, Coca Temoananui, flew thousands of miles from the island of Oahu to Fort McCoy, Wis., to represent his unit in the 2012 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition.
Temoananui, an intelligence analyst from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and a member of the 311th Signal Command, trained hard to be a Best Warrior.
He remarked he couldn’t do it without the support from his Ohana, his girlfriend, and his employer, who provided him with time to enhance his warrior skills.
“I work in sales for Target and they have been great to me through this whole process,” Temoananui said. “They gave me the time to prepare for this competition and wished me luck before I left.”
Being in the Army Reserve brings challenges that civilians don’t always have to deal with.
“The life of a citizen-soldier can be quite complex sometimes because of the dual role the Soldier must play,” he said. “Citizen-soldiers must meet the obligations of the job as well as those of the unit. Both can be quite demanding.”
Temoananui added that he couldn’t have gone this far in the competition without a good support group.
“When things start to get a little rough, I turn to my girlfriend, Jessica Manalo,”
Temoananui said. “She somehow knows how to make problems go away.”
Temoananui, the Hawaiian koa, or warrior, likes Japanese Anime. His favorite character is Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is a pirate who accidentally ate a gum-gum fruit which makes his body stretch like rubber.
“Luffy is my favorite character because he is very laid back,” said Temoananui. “He cares about his friends and is always trying to protect them.”
Temoananui, also a laid back individual, loves to surf, which is one of the oldest sports on the planet. Like Luffy, Temoananui said he cares deeply about his friends and couldn’t have made it this far without them.