Meet first PH-born major general in Hawaii Army National Guard

Maj. Gen. Roy Macaraeg during his promotion ceremony at Washington Place, Honolulu Hawaii, February 2, 2023. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo by Staff Sgt. John Linzmeier)

Hawaii Governor Josh Green recently hosted a promotion ceremony for Major General Roy Macaraeg, who may be the highest-ranking citizen-soldier of Filipino descent in the history of the National Guard.

Macaraeg was born in the Philippines. His family immigrated to Hawaii from Malasiqui, Pangasinan when he was 10 years old.  He went to Kalihi Elementary school, in a heavily Filipino neighborhood and graduated from Farrington High School in 1991.

He enlisted in 1993 and was a Distinguished Honor Graduate at the Hawaii Military Academy’s Officer Candidate School. He was commissioned as a Field Artillery Officer in 1996.

Macaraeg’s military service career spans three decades. He has held various positions, including posts at the Pentagon and deployments to Iraq, Kosovo and Kuwait.

“My dad was a construction worker, my mom was actually a teacher,” he told Hawaii News Now’s Annalisa Burgos.“Stereotypes…obstacles are along the way. But, you know, it’s just how you deal with them.”

“Growing up, in kind of like an environment where you got to actually share things (he has five siblings), because you didn’t have anything” actually helped him solve complex problems early in life. “Helped me to be resilient,” Macaraeg told Burgos.