Thunder rolled and waves crashed against the fishing boat floating in the Pacific Ocean. For three and a half hours, Lt. Col. Sheena Puleali’i and her father worked tirelessly to reel in their catch as a storm raged above. Their weekend tradition of deep-sea fishing in Hawaiian waters led to their biggest catch yet — a 400-pound marlin.
“The whole thing, it was like a Hollywood movie,” Puleali’i said. “That was definitely a highlight in my childhood.”
Now the Commander of Air Force ROTC Detachment 432 and Director of the Department of Aerospace Studies at The University of Southern Mississippi, Puleali’i reflects on her time in Hawaii. She spent most of her elementary years there while her father was deployed. Her days were often spent outdoors with friends, either riding bikes or hanging out in the park, but some of her favorite moments were on that fishing boat.
Born in Germany while her parents were stationed there, Puleali’i considers Northern California home, where her grandparents lived. As her parents were young and in the Army, she spent much of her early years with her grandmother. It was during this time that she grew close to her grandmother, learning valuable lessons about class, elegance, and never being rude.
Many military children struggle with moving frequently and making new friends, but Puleali’i embraced it. For her, moving was an opportunity for a fresh start. While making friends came easily, leaving them behind was difficult, especially when her family moved during her sophomore year of high school.
“That was the hardest move because I didn’t want to leave him, I didn’t want to leave my friends,” she said, referring to her high school boyfriend. “But despite it being hard, I really did look forward to the new opportunities that would be available to me.”
Puleali’i has lived in 15 different places, including Germany, California, Hawaii, Texas, Japan, Qatar, Korea, Washington, D.C., and Mississippi. Hawaii and Japan remain her favorites. Coming from a long line of military family members — both her parents were in the Marines — the military was not pushed on her, but it was encouraged. When she showed interest in the Air Force, her parents supported the decision, believing it was a good fit for her personality. A significant influence in her life was her father.
“My dad, he was an excellent leader,” Puleali’i said. “His soldiers admired him so much, and I remember thinking, ‘I want to be like my dad.’”
Before joining the Air Force, Puleali’i attended St. Louis University, where she majored in Russian because it "sounded cool." It was there that she joined the ROTC program and tried out the flight simulator, quickly realizing she wasn’t meant to be a pilot. Instead, she pursued a career in intelligence.
The military has many traditions, one of which is the custom of giving coins to soldiers who go above and beyond in their duties. Soldiers collect these coins throughout their careers. Puleali’i’s collection includes a memorable coin from SEAL Team 5, which she received after assisting with an intelligence request during her deployment in Iraq. Grateful for her help, they mailed her a coin.
“There are always hard aspects of the job,” Puleali’i said. “I think the hardest part is losing your friends. There have been a couple of times where I lost some friends in combat, and that’s awful. But I just can’t even imagine what it’s like for their family members, because it’s hard enough on the fellow teammates.”
While the loss of teammates is difficult, they also inspire Puleali’i in her career. At one point, she sought help from the university’s Kinesiology department to improve her cadets' physical fitness scores, inspired by another detachment commander at a California university.
If given the chance to do anything, Puleali’i says she would love to work in Africa to save rhinos and elephants from poaching. For now, she has dedicated her life to serving her country. In the future, she hopes to be promoted to colonel. Once her assignment at USM ends in the summer, she hopes to return to Washington, D.C. If she does not receive a promotion, Puleali’i is considering retirement and possibly pursuing event planning for the NFL or Olympics.
“Looking at everything — all of my actions, all of my experiences — lead me to the life that I have today,” Puleali’i said. “I am pretty proud of my life.”
