Capt. Paunga will take command of combat engineer company

Ft. Hood, TEXAS — American Samoa native son, U.S Army Capt. Alaimoana Tu’avao Paunga will take command of his unit in July.

Capt. Paunga is a graduate of South Carolina State University where he was also commissioned as a U.S. Army Officer into the Corps of Engineers. He is currently stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, assigned to 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade. And he will take over the command of the 87th Combat Engineer Company — Armored in July 2022. 

The team of Capt. Paunga and 1st Lt. Eric Mattia competed recently in the 15th Annual LTG Robert B. Flowers “Best Sapper Competition” and placed 1st out of 50 teams across the U.S Army.

Born in American Samoa in 1994, Capt. Paunga is the son of Alaimoana Paunga Sr from Ha’ano Ha’apai in Tonga and his mother is Luisa Paunga from Felemea Ha’apai in Tonga  and Nu’uuli, American Samoa.