Kalihi resident Spc. Faaiu Losivale of the 29th Support Battalion reports for active duty today at Kalaeloa. More than 2,000 Hawaii Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers will deploy for Iraq. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Nearly 2,000 members of the Hawai'i Army National Guard's 29th Separate Infantry Brigade mustered this morning on O'ahu and at Neighbor Island armories. An additional 675 U.S. Army Reservists from the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry also gathered today.

"The soldiers are proud to go, it's very upbeat here," said Lt. Col. Howard Sugai, a spokesman for the Army Reserve's 9th Regional Support Command at Fort Shafter Flats. "In fact, it's about time. After 9/11 they were notified they could be called up and nothing happened."

The reservists and their families gathered at Fort Shafter Flats then boarded buses destined for Schofield Barracks, Sugai said. They came from O'ahu, American Samoa, Saipan and Guam.

"Of course there were a lot of tearful goodbyes," Sugai said. "But knowing they will be here for another six weeks makes reporting a little easier."

At the Guard's brigade headquarters at Kalaeloa, about 1,000 soldiers were welcomed to active duty by a first sergeant. He gave them the traditional Army cheer — "ho-ah!" — the group roared one in return.

"They were quite enthusiastic," said Maj. Charles Anthony, Hawai'i National Guard spokesman.

But after that, it was all about checking in. Like the reservists, they, too, were headed for Schofield Barracks later in the day.

"I would not say there is a lot of raw emotion," Anthony said. "They are quietly, professionally going about doing their business."

For the next six months, the troops will be busy transforming themselves from part-time soldiers who served once a month to full-time warriors.

They will train full time at Schofield Barracks until October, when they travel to Fort Bliss, Texas, to join other units for more specialized activities.

Combat certification takes place in January at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, La.

After that, the real work begins.

The brigade will start its 12-month mission in Iraq sometime in February. The Hawai'i soldiers are being sent to Balad, a city north of Baghdad in the volatile Sunni Triangle.