Hawai'i-based troops back as war awaits

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

Lagi Simeaota's most wished-for Christmas gift arrived on an Aloha Airlines flight early yesterday morning: her brother-in-law, Sgt. Shen O.

Sgt. Alika Naluai kisses his 3-year-old daughter, Kauialoha, as his wife, Paoakalani, gathers their belongings at Honolulu Airport. Naluai, of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, spent the past two months training in New Mexico in preparation for his deployment to Iraq. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

"It's awesome. He wasn't sure he was coming and we have a very small family," Simeaota said. "This was going to be our Christmas gift — to see him."

More than 1,500 Hawai'i-based National Guard and Reserve soldiers are coming home for the two-week break before heading to Fort Polk, La., for combat certification in early January and the Balad area north of Baghdad in Iraq in February and March.

Hawai'i soldiers are expected to make the 450-mile trip by convoy from Kuwait. With roadside bomb attacks increasing in Iraq, the Army has been criticized for not producing armored vehicles fast enough.

But Army officials in Washington said that by March, all Humvees and heavy trucks will have some armor.

Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, the head of the Hawai'i National Guard, returned Sunday night from a trip to Iraq and Kuwait. "I've been told ... if they (Hawai'i Guard and Reserve soldiers) have to go north in a convoy, it would be in armored vehicles, so that was good to hear," he said.

Tough, cold, training

The bleary-eyed 100th, 442nd soldiers arrived at 6 a.m. yesterday on the Aloha charter that was scheduled to leave El Paso at 12:01 a.m. with a stop in Oakland. Some were heading on to American Samoa last night.

Sgt. Randy Ramento, 29, of Kane'ohe had a big camouflage assault pack on his back counter-balanced by his 2-year-old son, Josiah, in his arms.

His wife, Pia, older son, Tico, 12, his mom and dad, three brothers and a sister all greeted Ramento at the old Circle Rainbow Air terminal at Honolulu International Airport.

"It's nice to be home with family, have Christmas with them, go shopping, spend whatever minutes I can with them," Ramento said.

Ramento said training was "really hard," mainly because of the cold weather at Fort Bliss in Texas and at McGregor Range.

More than 2,000 Hawai'i Army National Guard soldiers, 700 soldiers with the 100th, 442nd, and units from California, Oregon and Minnesota — all part of the 29th Separate Infantry Brigade — were activated in August. The Hawai'i soldiers have been training in Texas and New Mexico since early October.

"It's really cold, dust storms, fine sand," Ramento said.

Temperatures were near freezing. Ramento, who was living in a tent, said soldiers were wearing "whatever you could get, gloves, jacket liner."

But he said morale was high.

"The 100th has a history. That's what keeps you driving on," he said. "When we go to training, we're really tight as a battalion, and we watch each other's backs."

Pia Ramento had brought along a several-foot-long cardboard sign reading, "Welcome Home Sgt. Ramento, All U Baby," with family photos affixed to it.

"It's really good," she said of the two-week break, adding that the excitement level has been really high. "Everybody's been expecting them. They can't wait. It's been rough, but you do what you gotta do."

Tico said: "It's kinda hard without him. You can't do as many things. I have a little brother to look after, and I have to help my mom."

Issues over morale, equipment and training were raised while the 29th was at Fort Bliss, with some soldiers saying they were under strict lockdown with little time off.

Hawai'i Guard officials said the Spartan conditions were intended to simulate those the soldiers will encounter in Iraq.

"I believe the training is just right," Lee said. "There have been some comments about long training and all that, but that's how it is (in Iraq)."

In Balad, Lee visited approximately 200 soldiers with Charlie Company, 193rd Aviation who have been ferrying troops and supplies. All 14 of the Hawai'i Guard's twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook helicopters are in Iraq.

Charlie Company already has flown five times its usual annual 1,200 flying hours, and has flown more mission miles than any other active-duty or Reserve unit, Lee said.

Lee on Sunday night saw off nine Hawai'i Air National Guardsmen with the 297th Air Traffic Control Squadron deploying to Mosul in Iraq.

'We'll be prepared'

In the Central Command area, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, the U.S. force makeup is more than 50 percent Guard and Reserves, and the percentage is expected to increase, Lee said.

Sgt. Vansant Lefotu, 25, was one of the 100th, 442nd soldiers who'll be heading on to American Samoa. Lefotu, who was scheduled to take another five-hour flight last night, said he paid $1,700 for round-trip airfare. The soldiers have to be back in Texas on Jan. 2.

"Two weeks is worth it to me," said Lefotu, who is married and has a 3-year-old daughter.

"It's a short moment to spend time with family, friends, relatives, before we go to Iraq, so we need to spend every minute with them," he said.

He expects it to be tough in Iraq — and cold.

"The only thing is the weather for us in the Islands. It's too cold (in Iraq)," he said with a laugh. "Anything else, I think we'll be prepared for."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.