Sergeant Major Ernest K. Tabata

SGM Ernest K. Tabata

Special Forces WHITE STAR, Vietnam,
SF Engineer Instructor
(1930-2015)

Bio

Sergeant Major (SGM) Ernest K. Tabata was born on Oahu, Hawaii, in 1930, the son of Japanese immigrants. He began his military career at age 15 in the Hawaiian Territorial Guard. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1949, and with the 1st Cavalry Division during the Korean War, afterwards with the 11th and 82nd Airborne Divisions.

In 1961, he began his Special Forces (SF) career with 7th SF Group (SFG), and served extensively throughout Asia. He deployed to Laos with WHITE STAR, with three tours of duty in Vietnam, including Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), and four years in the Republic of China on Taiwan. Tabata had tours of duty with the 1st, 5th, 7th and 10th SFGs, and retired from active duty as a SGM in 1981, after thirty-one years of service. He later became the first civilian instructor on parachute status at the SF Engineer Sergeants Course, and was an SF engineer and demolitions instructor for twenty-nine years.

He was named the 2004 US Special Operations Command Bull Simons Award recipient, and a Distinguished Member of the SF Regiment. Passing away in 2015, he was honored by having the SF Engineer Training Facility named for him in 2018. SGM Ernest K. Tabata’s legacy lives today in the SF Engineer Sergeant Course, and the high standards and excellence that he demanded of himself and his soldiers.

PHOTOS

The Hawaiian State flag. CSM Tabata began his 59-year career of service in 1946 with the Hawaiian Territorial Guard. Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1898 and the 50th state in the Union on 21 August 1959.
Then-Private First Class (PFC) Tabata as a young combat engineer in Korea in 1951, with the 14th Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division.
Sergeant First Class Tabata, 7th SFG, at a 60mm mortar range in the Plateau de Bolivens, training Laotian forces during Operation WHITE STAR, 1961.
Then-SFC Tabata, FA 2, Co A, 7th SFG, in late 1961 during a WHITE STAR Mobile Training Team Mission in Laos training the Royal Laotion 52nd Battalion. Tabata is armed with the French MAS 38 machine pistol.
Retired SGM Tabata on a Fort Bragg range c. 2005 checking an SF Engineer Course students demolition charge.
Retired SGM Tabata preparing the conduct a static-line proficiency jump with engineer students. He served as an SF engineer and demolitions instructor for twenty-nine years.
On 7 September 2018 the SF Engineer Training Facility at the LTG Yarborough SOF Complex, Fort Bragg, NC was dedicated to SGM Tabata, commemorating his 59 years of service to nation.

VIDEOS

Retired SGM Tabata interview, conducted in 1997 on Fort Bragg, NC, during his tenure as a 18C Engineer and Demolitions Instructor.

QUESTION 1 You were born in Hawaii, what was your families background?
QUESTION 2 When did you join the Army, and where did you take your initial training?
QUESTION 3 You served with the 1st Cavalry Division as a combat engineer during the Korean War, correct?
QUESTION 4 Your first assignment in SF was on FA 2, Co A, 7th SFG, what was WHITE STAR?
QUESTION 5 Describe your Mobile Training Team mission in Laos in 1961.
QUESTION 6 In 1964, your Detachment was involved in the Montagnard uprising in South Vietnam, what was that like?
QUESTION 7 In Vietnam, you were selected for the SHINING BRASS program, what was that?
QUESTION 8 In SOG you met several SF soldiers from Hawaii, do you remember them?
QUESTION 9 Describe your admiration for a Nationalist Chinese SF soldier during a MFF train-up on Taiwan.
QUESTION 10 You retired from the Army in 1981, how did you return to Training Group and the 18C course as an instructor?
QUESTION 11 What makes SF special?