The alert has lawyers, doctors, nurses — even an elementary school principal — gearing up for war.

Sgt. Maj. Cal Sagara, a Vietnam veteran a month shy of his 58th birthday, is one of the noncommissioned officers who'll be leading the way. Just don't call him "Gramps."

When the Waipahu man deployed to Bosnia two years ago, a 22-year-old specialist said, "Uhh, Sergeant Major, can I call you ... Grandpa?" he recalls.

"I said, 'No, Pops is about as close as you are going to come, but not Grandpa,' " Sagara said with a laugh.

Sagara isn't even the graybeard of the unit, whose civilian-based skills help restore government and key services. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Bretschneider, who was a combat medic in Vietnam, already is 58, Sagara said.

The average age of enlisted soldiers in the 322nd is 24, and Sagara said his deployment — which he could have avoided — has less to do with age and more to do with a continuing desire to help younger soldiers and foreign people in need.

"My wife has accepted the fact I have chosen to join the unit and I volunteered to mobilize because I feel that I can provide experience and expertise to the younger soldiers," said Sagara, who works for the Office of Youth Services.

Sagara could have maintained his "Individual Ready Reserve" status and waited out a retirement age of 60 after 33 years in the military.

The brigade commander, Col. Jose Uson, 49, said a mobilization would draw expertise from a number of fields, lawyers included.

"We've got a bunch of them," Uson said. Elementary school principal Cal Nomiyama is included in the likely call-up, he said. There's a doctor from The Queen's Medical Center, as well as a couple of nurses. There are administrators in government, health services, transportation, communication and engineering.

Uson, who works for a defense contractor at Camp Smith, said feelings are mixed over the news.

"It's mostly positive. They are excited about it," he said. "There are a few that are apprehensive because of family situations, jobs."

If mobilized, the 322nd would receive orders for 18 months, which would include a 12-month deployment, or a year of "boots on the ground," said Lt. Col. Howard Sugai, spokesman for the regional readiness command.

The 18-month mobilization also allows time, before and after the mission, for preparation and demobilization. About 400 Hawai'i reservists with the 411th Engineer Battalion in Iraq since early last year are expected back home in late March.

The alert for the 322nd was no surprise.

"I think we've been waiting for this for about a year," Uson said, adding the 322nd would be one of the last civil affairs units to deploy.

Sagara transferred to the unit knowing it likely would be activated. He's been attached to the 322nd for the past year and was activated in June to prepare the unit for eventual mobilization.

He feels six months spent in Bosnia and Kosovo two years ago helped prepare him for what's ahead.

"Even though it was a peacekeeping mission, it prepared me, made me stronger inside, to where I know I can do the job," he said.

He expects all the soldiers to be working outside of base camps. "Basically, when we do civil affairsitype missions, we go out in teams to villages, to cities and we help locals with nation building," he said.

Uson said any additional training after activation will be short. The soldiers will be with higher headquarters for perhaps two to three weeks, will move to a new location for a few weeks to receive equipment, and will be on the ground shortly thereafter.

The alert status requires the soldiers to suspend all current programs and make sure they are prepared to deploy, Sugai said.

"It requires them to focus on personnel and equipment readiness," he said. "Are our shots and X-rays up to date? What is the status of any medical problems that need to be resolved? Are wills and powers of attorney in place?"