National Guard unit may deploy to Iraq next year
By William Cole, Mike Gordon and Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writers
About 200 Hawai'i Army National Guard soldiers are the latest reserve forces from the state to be alerted for possible duty in Iraq next year. All 14 of the unit's Chinook helicopters will be deployed.
The news follows a similar alert last week for about 350 Hawai'i-based Army reservists with the 411th Engineer Battalion.
More Guard and Reserve forces from Hawai'i are likely to be mobilized, but there has been no warning given to one of the biggest units, the Guard's 29th Separate Infantry Brigade with 2,500 mostly civilian soldiers here.
National Guard spokesman Maj. Chuck Anthony yesterday confirmed that Company C, 193rd Aviation, may be mobilized early next year for duty in the Central Command area of responsibility. He said the soldiers include flight crews, administrative personnel and fuel loaders.
"In very generic terms, they'll be ferrying troops and supplies between various military posts or stations," Anthony said.
Guard Chief Warrant Officer Oliver Kaloi of Wahiawa said he is "excited and a little worried" about being deployed. But Kaloi, a pilot instructor who flew attack helicopters in Vietnam, said he and his fellow guardsmen are prepared for whatever they may face.
"There's a little worry that people can get hurt and are getting hurt; that passes through your mind," said Kaloi, 55. "But I will say that to go as a group with guys from Hawai'i kind of eases the anxiousness ... although if anything happens, it'll make it harder because these people you know very well."
Earlier this month, a Chinook helicopter was brought down by a surface-to-air missile west of Baghdad, killing 16 soldiers. Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Bolor, a Maui native, was killed on Nov. 15 along with 16 others when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in the northern Iraq city of Mosul.
Anthony said devices for flares and chaff — metal strips that can be dispersed to confuse a missile's targeting system — are being installed on helicopters.
"Even as we speak, the latest electronic countermeasures are being installed on them," Anthony said.
Kaloi said all soldiers are aware of the possibility that if they go to war, they may not return alive.
"You prepare the best you can and you train the hardest you can and hopefully you come out on the side of life," Kaloi said. "It is in every soldier's mind, but you continue to do your job."
Kaloi said his idea of bravery on the battlefield is a soldier who does his job well, despite being scared.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459, and Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.
