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."