Pacific commander notes need for reserve personnel

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

America is making progress in the war on terrorism, the commander of U.S. armed forces in the Pacific told business leaders yesterday, but Hawai'i's workers who also serve in the National Guard and military reserves are still needed to address global tensions.

Kasey Fitzgerald and Specialist Kody Lane yesterday said goodbye after a deployment ceremony for the Oregon National Guard's 162nd Infantry. Guard members increasingly are being called to duty as war plans accelerate. Associated Press

Fargo's breakfast address was part of an ongoing effort between the military and employers to work out issues that might arise from having 9,000 Hawai'i employees serving in the guard and reserves.

Some 30 percent of Fargo's staff is made up of men and women from the guard and reserves. "I couldn't operate... without that support," he said.

Around the world, 97 percent of "civil affairs" units are comprised of guard and reserve troops who are "rebuilding Afghanistan today," Fargo said. "And they are the people that will rebuild Iraq" if America should go to war there. "They're essential to making sure that we put in place a structure — both a security structure and a civil structure — that will be enduring and give these people a chance."

The good news is 120 nations have worked to dry up $160 million worth of terrorist financing, Fargo said. Key terrorist leaders and some of those responsible for planning attacks on U.S. interests also have been arrested.

"We're making progress," he said. "We really are."

But worries remain. They're "the kind of things that keep me awake at night here in the Pacific," Fargo said.

Fargo outlined the current concerns around the Pacific Command and throughout the world — threats of a possible Iraqi war, terrorist cells in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, North Korea's acknowledgement of a nuclear program and tensions between China and Taiwan and Pakistan and India.

For North Korea, Fargo said, "the stakes are high because this is a North Korean army of a million people, with thousands of artillery rounds within reach of Seoul the capital, obviously a city of over 10 million people. These warheads have chemical capability. ... It's important for us ensure that we maintain the right deterrent posture to ensure that we can avoid conflict on the Korean Peninsula."

Hawai'i has a potential to see 9,000 troops activated, "but it probably won't go that high," Fargo said. "We're only going to activate precisely what we need and for the shortest possible time. Then we're going to return them to their families and to their employers."

J.N. Musto, executive director of the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly, said after Fargo's speech that he was glad that many UH professors, staff and even administrators belong to the guard and reserves.

"Without our guard and reserve, we clearly could not carry on the defense of this nation," he said. "And I like it that way. I'd rather have people who have a connection to the community ... because that makes them closer to our democracy."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.