Posted on: Thursday, December 2, 2004

Hawai'i-based troops' war duty extended

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

At least 5,500 Hawai'i-based soldiers and Marines deployed to Iraq will have their combat tours extended by about two months, the Pentagon said yesterday.

The troops now slated to stay into March include the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. About 1,000 Kane'ohe Bay Marines with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, are part of that unit and are now fighting in Fallujah.

Also, the Pentagon said 4,400 soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team out of Schofield Barracks will remain in Iraq into March, meaning many of the Hawai'i soldiers will be there for about 13 months.

The Pentagon plans to have about 150,000 troops in Iraq by the Jan. 30 elections to counter an expected spike in violence by insurgents. That would be about 12,000 more troops than are currently in Iraq and would be the biggest U.S. force there since the war began in March 2003.

"The timing, as you look closely through the timing of when the people (are) rotating in and how they're rotating in, the ground commander believes that the most experienced troops are the ones he needs to stay there longer during this critical time surrounding the Iraq election," said Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez, director of the U.S. Army's operations section, in announcing the extension.

For the Hawai'i-based soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team headquartered out of Kirkuk, 150 miles north of Baghdad, the redeployment schedule home has taken a dip and a turn.

As late as last month, Army officials with the 2nd Brigade's higher headquarters in Tikrit were sticking with a rotation that would have seen the soldiers return home starting in early January. They officially arrived in Iraq during a transfer of authority at Kirkuk Air Base on Feb. 19.

Some families had homecoming plans in high gear, had moved back to Hawai'i expecting a return the first week of January, and are on a waiting list for housing after spending most of the duration of the deployment with relatives on the Mainland.

"For us, I guess we kind of expected it (the extension) to happen," said Hilary Breault, a Family Readiness Group member for Company A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment. Her husband, a 26-year-old specialist, is in Kirkuk.

"I've talked to other wives who have real issues with it," she said. "But it's the military, that's all I can say. Nothing's ever guaranteed to stay the same."

Through much of the deployment, Breault wasn't expecting her husband home until February or March.

"So it's basically back to what we originally thought," she said.

Breault talked to her husband about the extension yesterday morning by phone.

"You know, he seemed OK with it, but I know he's not," she said. "But at the same time, he is coming home (in March). So I'm going to suck it up and deal with it."

Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson, the 25th Infantry Division (Light) commanding officer who is serving as commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76 in Afghanistan, offered encouragement to the soldiers in Iraq.

"Our family members have given our 2nd BCT soldiers enormous support throughout their deployment," Olson said. "Now more than ever, our 2nd BCT soldiers need love and support from their family members."

Not part of the extension are Schofield soldiers in Iraq who are attached to other headquarters, including the 84th Engineer Battalion; 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment; and soldiers with the 45th Corps Support Group.

About 5,200 Schofield soldiers are in Iraq; another 5,800 are in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan soldiers are expected to return in March.

Capt. Kathy Turner, a Schofield spokeswoman, said those elements in Iraq outside the 2nd Brigade Combat Team "are still on track for a year," although details of when they will come home are not yet known.

Eleven Schofield soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and 12 have been killed in Afghanistan.

Rodriguez said the 116th Brigade Combat Team, an Idaho National Guard unit with 4,300 soldiers, is on its way to Iraq. The Guard unit was expected to replace Schofield's 2nd Brigade, but Rodriguez said the 116th will be part of the additional troop buildup.

The Pentagon said the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which was expected to leave Iraq in January, now is scheduled to depart in mid-March.

Cara Dennis, whose husband, Jeremy, is a sergeant with 1/3 in the Fallujah area, said that "the only thing I heard was our guys may not come back until May or June sometime."

"I told my husband I don't even listen (to the news) because there's so many times they say, 'They'll be back, they'll be back,'" she said. "I said, 'Call me when you're on a plane or, better yet, when you land here in Hawai'i ,' because, otherwise, you get your hopes up too much."

Sixteen 1/3 Marines have been killed in Iraq, including 15 of them in the Fallujah area.

Dennis said she heard from her husband on Nov. 17. "They've been busy," she said. "From what I hear, he's been doing OK. Other than that, I don't know much."

The deployment extension means that more than 16,000 Hawai'i-based troops could be serving simultaneously in Iraq and Afghanistan with the deployment of more than 2,500 Hawai'i Army National Guard and Army Reserve members to Iraq in February and March.

The expansion will be achieved by extending the tours of about 10,400 troops already in Iraq and by sending about 1,500 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., this month.

About 3,500 soldiers of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry, also will be extended until March. These are the soldiers who originally were told they would be leaving Iraq in November.

About 160 soldiers of the 66th Transportation Company, based in Germany, were due to depart Iraq in early January but instead will stay until early March.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459. The Associated Press contributed to this report.