It would be the first deployment for the 540-soldier battalion, which also has companies in Alaska and Guam, since World War II.

"We’re at the first threshold here," said Lt. Col. Howard Sugai, a spokesman for the Army Reserves 9th Regional Support Command at Fort Shafter Flats.

Sugai said almost all the soldiers have jobs outside the Army. "Obviously, because they are an engineering unit, a lot of them are in the construction trade — we have a lot of carpenters, plumbers, electricians. we have people that can build bridges," Sugai said.

The mobilization, if ordered, would be for 18 months, and would provide three months of training and 12 months of possible duty in Iraq, but Sugai said neither mobilization nor deployment is a given at the moment.

Sugai said the soldiers possibly could report to Schofield Barracks in January for additional equipment and weapons training.

The 25th Infantry Division (Light) is sending 4,500 active duty soldiers to Iraq in February, and 3,500 soldiers to Afghanistan in April.