For Hawai'i-based troops, 'It's not like the movies anymore'
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Marine Cpl. David L. Mattox is preparing himself mentally and physically for the possibility of war with Iraq.
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The physical part has been easy — just some extra off-time workouts here and there.
Lance Cpl. Travis Eiklor of the Combat Service Support Group at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i, removes his nuclear, biological and chemical gear after a vehicle decontamination drill at the Marine Corps Training Area at Bellows.
"The things that we do in the infantry with the Marines, you need to be at a pretty good physical standpoint," the 24-year-old anti-tank specialist said during an exercise this past week at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows.
Getting his arms around the possibility of being in combat has been harder.
"A lot of the Marines that I work with, including myself, we've never actually seen a combat environment," the Kahuku native said. "So to go to someplace where combat actually exists, it's not like the movies anymore — you've got to kind of prepare yourself for the sights and sounds you'll be seeing and hearing, and the utter confusion that may come."
Kane'ohe Bay Marines such as Mattox, who's part of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, say they haven't been told when or if they're going to the Middle East.
But they may not get much advance notice.
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"I know of individual Marines who have gone over rather unexpectedly," said Michael Pavkovic, director of the diplomacy and military studies program at Hawai'i Pacific University. "People have learned just in the past couple of days — 'Oh, by the way, you're leaving on Wednesday for the Middle East.' "
Lance Cpl. Jason Arquitola stands guard at an exercise Evacuation Control Center as "friendlies" are processed for evacuation from the simulated combat area, part of the mission of the Marines' Combat Service Support Group based at Kane'ohe Bay.
Troops and war material have been pouring into the Persian Gulf, although there has been a recent slowdown, and some observers have taken that as a sign war still could be months away. Estimates are that 50,000 or more U.S. troops are in the region.
If there is war with Iraq, it may be waged with 250,000 troops on the ground, at sea and in the air.
Pavkovic said Hawai'i-based forces almost certainly would be involved, including Schofield Barracks soldiers and Kane'ohe Bay Marines.
Pavkovic doesn't expect any large deployments until "it becomes clear that we are going to intervene in Iraq."
"I think you'll see larger numbers of troops being deployed" then," he said.
Hawai'i-based forces have a Pacific, Korea and China-Taiwan focus, but the post-Cold War downsizing of the military from more than 2 million active-duty people in 1990 to 1.38 million people in 2000 makes it more likely local troops would be tapped.
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"They (military planners) are going to have to draw pretty much from everywhere," Pavkovic said.
Sgt. Michael Housch of the Combat Service Support Group holds a cup of clean water, which, not long before, was too dirty to drink. Housch's unit can produce clean water from any water source.
There have been recent small-scale deployments to the Middle East, in some cases for exercises or routine mission support.
Col. Jim Harbison, whose Marine Combat Service Support Group 3 is conducting noncombatant evacuation and nuclear, biological and chemical weapons decontamination exercises at Bellows through Friday, said eight of his Marines — among them electricians, generator mechanics and explosive ordnance disposal technicians — are in Bahrain and Qatar.
Harbison said his 1,000-Marine unit has a Pacific focus, and is not slated for involvement in Iraq should a war occur.
"Could we go? Are we capable of going? Absolutely," Harbison said. "But do I have any specific knowledge of missions? No, I don't."
The 15th Air Base Wing at Hickam Air Force Base has about 200 people in the Middle East for operations Southern and Northern Watch, officials said.
Security forces, engineers, explosive ordnance teams, food-service specialists and firefighters are among the group.
"As far as receiving any additional taskings, we haven't received any," an official said.
About 40 Hawai'i Air National Guard security personnel deployed several weeks ago to Central Command's area of responsibility in the Middle East.
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"The one area where I think you'll see a fair number of Guard involved if a war actually begins would be flying tankers and really providing the large logistical tail for troops that are there," Pavkovic said.
Lance Cpl. Travis Eiklor uses a high-pressure spray of water to rinse a "decontaminant solution" off a truck that had driven into a "hot zone," part of a five-step process to clean contaminated vehicles.
The Air Guard's 203rd Air Refueling Squadron, with its eight KC-135R Stratotankers, likely would be called upon to continue its task of maintaining an air refueling bridge for bombers and transport aircraft coming across the Pacific, as well as for use closer to the battlefield.
Most of the Air Guard 199th Fighter Squadron's 15 F-15A/B fighters at Hickam — which were not used in the Gulf War — also likely would be deployed.
Hawai'i has approximately 3,000 Army National Guard and 2,500 Air Guard members.
More than 100 Air Guard members are on active duty in support of operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom, as well as other operational contingencies.
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Some Army National Guard soldiers are on active duty for homeland security, but the Guard does not disclose the total number.
Lance Cpl. Jason Arquitola, center, and Sgt. Isven Licon, right, stand guard at an exercise Evacuation Control Center. During the exercise at Bellows this past week, Lance Cpl. Mike Odell, left, played the role of a local government official who demanded not to be evacuated with other "friendlies" from an area under threat of combat.
Officials with the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks said none of their units have deployed to the Middle East.
The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, which left Everett, Wash., in July and is in the Persian Gulf, has as part of its battle group three Pearl Harbor-based surface ships: destroyers Fletcher and Paul Hamilton and frigate Reuben James. The Pearl Harbor-based attack submarine USS Honolulu also is part of the group.
Additionally, the Navy's Patrol Squadron 9 out of Kane'ohe Bay, a unit of P-3 Orion aircraft that had a key role flying combat missions and firing land-attack missiles over Afghanistan, deployed with 10 aircraft for Operation Enduring Freedom in late November.
During Operation Desert Storm, about 7,600 Kane'ohe Marines and 500 Schofield Barracks soldiers and reservists were deployed. Hawai'i-based Marines in Task Force Taro were the first to cross the Iraqi-mined Kuwait border.
Altogether, about 550,000 U.S. troops were involved in the 1991 Gulf War.
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The Marines' Mattox, part of an infantry contingent taking part in the Bellows exercise last week, said he has not seen any signs of an imminent deployment.
Amtraks from the Amphibious Assault Vehicle Platoon at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i make their way through the sand and surf at Bellows Air Force Station. The vehicles and Marines aboard them provided security during the evacuation of "friendlies" from a simulated combat area.
"The majority of it just has been the command saying something along the lines of, there's the possibility that we may go, and other than that, we've been focusing on the training that's at hand," he said.
The Kahuku High School graduate, a Marine for six years, is married to an Army sergeant stationed at Wheeler Army Airfield.
"Both her and I know that she may go or I may go, and when we think about it, it's felt right at the heart," Mattox said. "But to tell you the truth, we try not to focus on that — we try to get along with our daily lives and have as much fun as possible."
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
