FernandezPeople who settle in Guam have lots of reasons for doing so: their career takes them to the island, family ties make it easy to stay or return, or Guam offers a familiar culture for people from other islands in the Pacific.
Royden “Keala” Fernandez, can claim each of those contributed to his current career and life in Guam.
Originally from Hawaii, and with a career with the U.S. military and contracting under his belt, Fernandez founded the UXO Academy of Bombs and Bullets Guam or BNB on May 11, 2021, and is BNB’s CEO. Fernandez and his wife met in Hawaii, and she is Guam born and raised.
Since the requirement was introduced for military construction contracts to have UXO or unexploded ordnance clearance and given the current construction boom in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, there is a shortage of qualified employees for such clearance, he said.
Due to World War II history, the islands of Micronesia are littered with such dangerous objects.
“I developed that company to create my own employees to create resources,” he told the Journal. “I wrote a curriculum under the guidelines of the Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board,” Fernandez said.
The company trains individuals in Guam at one of only three such facilities, the other two located in the U.S. mainland, he said. BNB holds two or three courses a year, but Fernandez said he is now “in discussion with educational facilities in Guam,” to solidify a training relationship.
He also wanted to offer an additional route to construction jobs for the island’s young people. “I wanted to open the school to train locals, because it’s another career path to the industry,” he said. The UXO Academy “is in growth mode,” he said.
BNB is continuously training, and re-training, he said. The academy offers annual re-certification, courses for MEC awareness, and training in the 3Rs of industry safety: Recognize UXO/MECs; Retreat to a safe location; and Report to your supervisor or local authorities.
Fernandez is also the CEO of Oia’i’o Halo Hui MEC Remediation Service, which works with contractors to meet the requirements of their contracts. “I have a team of nine guys right now,” he said.
The MEC industry can be lucrative, even for a small business. Fernandez said he has already reaped “gross revenues of more than $2 million from 2020 to date.”
Fernandez is also looking at the potential for his group in the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as Palau. He has visited Palau to gauge potential needs. “I flew out there on my own dime,” he said.
Fernandez grew up in a modest but almost idyllic environment in the Waipi'o Valley of the big island of Hawaii on family land, though he was born in Hilo. “I used to hunt and dive. We had no running water, no electricity — we lived off the farming of taro.”
Unexploded World War II ordnance found by the 36th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel on May 21, 2013. Photo courtesy of Andersen Air Force BaseHe attended the Honoka'a Elementary School and high school until 8th grade. “Then I went to a Hawaiian academy — the Kanu O Ka 'aina Charter School — one of the first charter schools,” he said.
What his upbringing gave him as a kānaka maoli, or native Hawaiian is a respect for culture, he said. “I can relate in Guam,” he said to the CHamoru strong feelings about land. He enjoys living on the island. “It’s like a melting pot — a lot of different nationalities.”
Fernandez joined the U.S. Navy at 17 years of age after graduation, attending Boot Camp at the Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes Chicago, and technical training school at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Calif. He was then assigned to the USS Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship. After six months, he was a petty officer, third class.
On Sept. 11, 2001, the ship was at sea and Fernandez was in active-duty status. “We were on the border of Djibouti. Our mission was to transfer Marines from ship to shore.” After his tour, Fernandez returned to Hawaii and began accumulating experience and qualifications, such as his journeyman’s license in carpentry, working on large commercial and residential projects from 2004 to 2009. He worked in the U.S. mainland for Tetra Tech, training as a UXO technician “on the civilian side of DoD,” he said. In 2010 he came to Guam to assist Unitech Environmental Guam at a time of high expectations. “Everybody thought the buildup was here,” Fernandez said.
He returned to the U.S. mainland until 2016, acquiring further experience. “There’s different requirements to advance,” Fernandez said. He then went to Afghanistan as regional manager for Tetra Tech for the three U.S. military’s hubs in Bagram, Kandahar and Fenty in Jalalabad. “I was running the demolition team for three years.”
From 2019, Fernandez worked for Relyant Global in Guam, involved as a manager in projects and operations in the ordnance field, particularly in MEC. “We did all the big projects,” he said. Those included the Apra Harbor Medical and Dental Clinic, Black Construction Corp.’s hangar at Andersen Air Force Base, and the Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz Urban Combat Training Complex in Yigo.
“On May 30, 2020 I started my first company,” he said.
While Fernandez works in the most dangerous area of munitions work, he is committed to the professional area.
His industry will have longevity in the region, Fernandez said. “When I die, my companies will still be going for generations.”. mbj
