Posted on: Thursday, December 30, 2004
113 Schofield soldiers returning
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
The return today of 113 Schofield Barracks soldiers signals the start of the long road home for Hawai'i-based service members in a year that has brought one deployment after another to Iraq and Afghanistan. Soon, the total number of deployed will exceed 15,000.
About 100 soldiers with the 40th Quartermaster Company and 13 with the 84th Engineer Battalion are expected to arrive this morning at Wheeler Army Airfield after nearly a year in Iraq.
Adrienne Eckstein, whose husband, Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Eckstein, commands the 84th Engineer Battalion, yesterday said, "In general, of course, the whole post is anxiously awaiting their spouses coming home. For the 84th in particular, we feel like we're getting very close."
A handful of 84th soldiers who were part of the advance party to go into Iraq returned a few weeks ago. The rest should be back in January.
"I think everybody just feels very ready to have everybody come home, and I think everybody is just a little tired," she said. "But everybody understands what they are doing over there is important."
Eckstein said as the return date nears, the days and weeks left just seem longer.
"The anticipation — you get pretty excited," she said. "You just anticipate your life going back to what it used to be."
The units are the first in a series to return from Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom since the 25th Infantry Division (Light) left early this year on its first combat deployment since the Vietnam War.
The remaining several hundred soldiers with the 84th Battalion, based out of Balad, north of Baghdad, are expected home in coming weeks. Units such as the 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment; 540th Quartermaster Company; and 25th Transportation Company, will arrive home shortly thereafter.
"Hopefully, they'll come home within the next month or so," said Schofield spokeswoman Capt. Kathy Turner. "It's just hard to say until they are actually manifested."
Most of the 25th Division soldiers deployed to Iraq — about 4,400 with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team based in and around Kirkuk in northern Iraq — were to return in early January but recently had their mission extended by about two months.
Since crossing into Iraq by convoy from Kuwait on Feb. 11, the engineer battalion poured 700 cubic meters of concrete at Logistical Supply Area Anaconda in Balad for a maintenance facility, built a new combat support hospital, worked on POW camps, and supported the transportation of engineering and bridge parts, participating in the repair of several damaged bridges.
The battalion also lost two soldiers. Staff Sgt. Oscar D. Vargas-Medina, 32, of Chicago, and Spc. Ramon C. Ojeda, 22, of Ramona, Calif., were killed on May 1 when their convoy came under attack in Al Amarah.
The soldiers returning today will have to turn in weapons and go through brief administrative duties before being reunited with families. They'll get three days off, have to return for additional administrative duties, and then will get block leave.
In addition to the approximately 5,200 Schofield soldiers in Iraq, another 5,800 are in Afghanistan, about 2,000 Hawai'i Marines are in the two countries along with several hundred Guard and Reserve soldiers.
More than 2,000 Hawai'i National Guard soldiers and 700 reservists with the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment are deploying to Balad and the Baghdad area in February and March.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
