HONOLULU–U.S Army retired Brigadier General James T. Hirai has been selected as the new deputy director at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

Hirai brings a wealth of relevant experience to the position including assignments as deputy commandant at the Army’s Command and General Staff College; as Army representative to the Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff Education Board; Chief of Staff at U.S. Army Pacific; Commander of U.S. Army Alaska; and most recently as the Chief, Office of Security Cooperation in Afghanistan.

A native of Oahu, Hirai has served in the Pacific on a number of occasions. He was commissioned in 1974 as a Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Military Graduate of the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

“I am fully confident of the contribution he will make to our team,” said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Ed Smith, director of the Asia-Pacific Center. “Our great team just got a little stronger.”

Hirai replaces Dr. Jimmie Lackey who retired from the Center last Fall.