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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Hawai'i's Guard prepares for training, Iraq duty

Hawai'i Army National Guard truck drivers Spc. Troy Manandic, left, of 'Aiea, and Spc. Wienee Jacobe, of 'Ewa Beach, haul their gear as they report for the first day of active duty to prepare for deployment to Iraq. They will undergo training first.

Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

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By William Cole
Advertiser Staff Writers

KALAELOA — Separately, they've worried, planned and steeled themselves for the moment that came yesterday.

About 1,000 citizen-soldiers from the Hawai'i Army National Guard's 29th Separate Infantry Brigade came together in formation at Kalaeloa, about 240 reported to Fort Shafter Flats, and others gathered elsewhere in Hawai'i as well as in Saipan, Guam, American Samoa, Oregon and California.

Spc. Jacob Dalton, of 'Ewa Beach, holds a special dog tag he had made with a photo of himself with a female friend. He reported for duty yesterday.

Truck driver Spc. Henry Po Ching of the 29th Support Battalion tests his gas mask seal yesterday during duty preparations.

Spc. Bryan Hinkle, of 'Ewa Beach, snapped to attention with the 29th Support Battalion in formation yesterday.

Photos by Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Altogether, about 3,600 Guard and Reserve members officially gave up their civilian lives and jobs yesterday and will spend the next 18 months on active duty, including a year in Iraq, in the first combat duty for the Hawai'i-based brigade since the Vietnam War.

The newly activated soldiers will report to Schofield Barracks throughout the week for billeting and the start of intensive training that will take them to Fort Bliss in Texas in October and the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., in January before heading to Iraq in February and March.

"It feels different today, that we're actually here," said Spc. Barry Asberry, 20, from Hau'ula, a water treatment specialist with the 29th Support Battalion. "It's just the realization we're actually getting deployed. The realization is starting to sink in."

Those mustering at Kalaeloa — one of several reporting locations on O'ahu — are giving up a variety of civilian jobs. About 2,000 Hawai'i Army National Guard soldiers are being pulled out of civilian life.

Pfc. Levi Barboo, 25, from Kane'ohe, was a student at Windward Community College.

"I was supposed to go to UH. So much for that. Thank you, Army," he said jokingly.

Sgt. Carlito Rabanal, 50, works at Aloha Stadium in food and beverage concessions.

Sgt. Roger Pulido, 27, from Kalihi, works at City Mill on Nimitz Highway as a sales associate.

Spc. Moana Louis, 23, from 'Ewa Beach, takes care of her two kids, ages 1 and 2.

"I wish I didn't have to go, because I'll miss my kids," said Louis, who joined the National Guard six years ago for college assistance and commissary use.

"I'm sad that I have to leave," she added. "But it was my decision, I guess. This is what I signed up for."

Louis, who is an administrative secretary with B Company, 29th Support Battalion, said she's "kind of scared."

The brigade is replacing the 81st Brigade, based in Balad, in the so-called Sunni Triangle, where insurgency against U.S. forces has been fiercest.

At least five soldiers attached to the 81st have died as a result of injuries received in Iraq.

Louis said she worries about "all those crazy guys over there — the guys shooting off mortar rounds (at U.S. soldiers), and the masked men cutting off heads."

In addition to the Army Guard soldiers, the 29th brigade includes about 575 Army reservists in Hawai'i, and from Guam, American Samoa and Saipan, in the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, the famed "Go For Broke" regiment of World War II.

There are two sets of sisters with the 29th Brigade heading to Iraq, several sets of brothers, a husband and wife, and at least two Vietnam veterans.

Spc. Norman Santiago Jr., 43, has a rank that soldiers usually achieve at half that age. Santiago also typifies the age diversity within the National Guard brigade.

Santiago was in the Army for 12 years, part of it as an active-duty infantryman, and got out in 1990.

He joined the 29th last month to go to Iraq with his son, Spc. David Basques, and to put to use the infantry training he received but never used.

"I got out with no obligation to serve again," said Santiago, who now works in security. "My son is going to be going far away from home with nobody, but me being in maybe will make him more relaxed. We're going to the same place, so I should see him every now and then. Like I told him — I'll be keeping a close eye on him."

Reservists with the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry gathered with their families at Fort Shafter Flats and then boarded buses for Schofield.

"Of course there were a lot of tearful goodbyes," said Lt. Col. Howard Sugai, a spokesman for the Army's 9th Regional Support Command. "But knowing they will be here for another six weeks makes reporting a little easier."

Soldiers with the 29th Brigade from the neighbor islands will be staying at Schofield Barracks, and all the deploying soldiers will get billeting there. But O'ahu-based Guard soldiers can go home in the evening, said Guard spokesman Maj. Chuck Anthony.

Before leaving for training in Louisiana, the troops are expected to receive a several-week break before Christmas and will be able to come home at that time, but will have to pay their own airfare.

Louis said it helps that she can go home at night, at least for the time being.

"Any time with my family is good," she said. "Even if it's just an hour."

Advertiser staff writer Mike Gordon contributed to this report. Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.