80 more Schofield troops ordered to Middle East
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
About 30 soldiers from Schofield Barracks are making their way to Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson said yesterday.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
"The first task force we sent out last week, I got a note this morning, and that task force has already joined the 3rd Infantry Division Mechanized, and is on the march to Baghdad as we speak," said Olson, the commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division (Light).
Julie M.F.L. Ceder bids aloha to her husband, Spc. Gene W. Ceder of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, who was deployed to war. Eighty Schofield troops are headed for the Middle East.
Olson made his comments at a send-off at Schofield for 80 other soldiers deploying to Kuwait and elsewhere in the Middle East.
"This group of courageous soldiers ... will be (joining) that effort, which to date ... is achieving extraordinary success," Olson said.
The Army's 3rd Division had surged 100 miles into Iraq yesterday. The 30 Schofield soldiers that deployed to the region March 12 included an armor officer, about five helicopter pilots, chemical operations specialists and 18 combat engineers.
The majority of those deploying yesterday and during the next several days are infantry from the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 27th Infantry Regiment, but there are 13 units and 12 job specialities among the group.
Sgt. Shannon Adkins, 23, a "scout" with A Troop, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, watched the massive U.S. air strikes on Baghdad on television yesterday morning, and later prepared to deploy to the region.
Part of a ground reconnaissance unit, Adkins' job calls for him to range out ahead of larger Army elements.
"We're forward of the division," said Capt. Chris Seeber, the commander of A Troop. "We find the enemy ... and basically start a fight."
Adkins, who was going to get out of the Army in five months but re-enlisted instead and volunteered for the overseas mission, said he wasn't nervous and the adrenaline hadn't kicked in — yet.
"I'm normal — maybe when I hit the ground over there, that stuff will take effect, but not right now," he said.
Adkins acknowledged his job could be a particularly dangerous one.
"I'm going to be alert, I'm going to be on my game. If I don't do my job, somebody else could die," he said.
Aubrey Deleon, 20, Adkins' girlfriend, said she was "terrified for him. But I know he has to do his job to serve his country."
"I was just shocked and scared for him when I found out because I know what he does," said Deleon, who is from Waipahu. "I was just praying this war wouldn't happen."
Sgt. 1st Class Robert W. Hawkins, 31, had two duffels, his plywood-cased M-4 carbine, his rucksack and a small assault pack ready to go on the lawn outside Conroy Bowl, where several hundred Schofield soldiers and fellow unit members gathered for the send-off.
Soldiers in the field normally carry 90 pounds to 100 pounds on their backs, Hawkins said. He said he watched a 3rd Infantry element on the move yesterday morning on TV.
"I was taking a look at the environment, the terrain — getting an idea what it's going to be like," Hawkins said.
Spc. Derrick Styles, 21, who has been in the Army for 18 months, and is headed to the Middle East on his first deployment, said he was experiencing "all the emotions mixed into one." His wife and their 13-month-old son were with him.
"I'm not sure exactly where we're going to be, so I can't speculate on what it's going to be like," said Styles. "I'm definitely excited. This is why I joined the military — to do my job."
Michael Pavkovic, director of the diplomacy and military studies program at Hawai'i Pacific University, said the piecemeal deployment of soldiers from the 25th Division represents something of a departure from usual practice, which typically involves more complete unit deployments.
"Let's say instead of sending a battalion or regiment, what we're doing is sending individual soldiers and augmenting existing deployed units," Pavkovic said.
Hawai'i-based attack submarines, meanwhile, added to their involvement in the war being called Operation Iraqi Freedom with Tomahawk cruise missile strikes Thursday from the Pearl Harbor-based attack submarine USS Columbia.
The Aegis guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain and two U.S. submarines, the Columbia and Providence, along with two British submarines, launched about 20 of the long-range missiles. On Wednesday, the attack submarine USS Cheyenne out of Pearl Harbor also launched Tomahawks.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-5459.
