CAPT Mel
Yokoyama, USN (Ret.)
CAPT Mel Yokoyama, USN (Ret.)
Founder and Chairman
Malama Ka’u Foundation, Native Hawaiian Organization (NHO)
Mel Yokoyama retired in 2020 after 28 years of active-duty service. He commanded NIWC Pacific and a Navy aviation squadron, served in Baghdad as Senior Advisor to the Iraqi Minister of Defense, and deployed on multiple aircraft carriers flying ES-3A combat sorties overland Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He logged over 1,000 flight hours in the EP-3E, conducting classified reconnaissance missions along the PRC and across the South China Sea. A Native Hawaiian from Kaʻu (Island of Hawaii) and a DAWIA Level III Program Manager and Engineer, Mel now leads his 501(c)3 Native Hawaiian Organization (NHO), the Mālama Kaʻu Foundation, and its SBA 8(a) subsidiaries—bridging cultural resilience with national security and driving AI outcomes for DoD's primary weapon system, the men and women deployed downrange.
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