By Marsha McFadden
Advertiser Assistant Managing Editor

Last year at about this time, during the buildup to war with Iraq, I kept a pretty thick folder of press releases, data sheets, contacts, scribbled notes and statistics on Hawai'i-based troops. The information would become part of our coverage plan for the war — useful as we learned which local units and ships would be called upon.

A number of Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Reserve and National Guard personnel have taken part in Operation Iraqi Freedom. But most of Hawai'i's approximately 45,000 military personnel have remained in the Islands.

Until now.

I began a new folder as the deployment of Hawai'i-based troops to Iraq and Afghanistan unfolded in what seemed like a very short time. In July, soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks were told that 7,000 of them would be sent to Afghanistan in two phases of six months each. By November, things changed in a dramatic shift to yearlong deployments that will ultimately tap more than 8,000 for both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

William Cole

Richard Ambo

For those "citizen soldiers," getting the call means 18 months of active duty away from jobs, spouses, children. And another 350 to 500 Marines from Hawai'i are headed to the region soon.

In the past two weeks, as troops left Schofield in several waves, we've sent reporters and photographers to do stories on formal and informal sendoffs — ceremonies meant to convey good wishes, show pride and share aloha.

And we, too, are sending military affairs writer William Cole and photographer Richard Ambo to the Middle East to cover Hawai'i's troops.

Our decision to fly out with the Schofield soldiers, participating in the military's media "embed" program, is based largely on the numbers. It has come time for the 25th to step up to the plate in a way that it hasn't been called to do since Vietnam. Having our own staff members along will provide invaluable insight into what it's like for all of our military men and women.

As participants in the program, Cole and Ambo will be encamped with Hawai'i soldiers. They will travel with them, eat and sleep with them. They will be there to record courageous acts — both large and small. Along the way, we hope the soldiers will share their hopes and fears as they perform their duties, and that their accounts will help us connect them with folks back here.

The military is an integral and complex part of Hawai'i, in terms of size and scope. But much of what happens behind the gates is left to the imagination: training, missions, ceremonies ... life in general. Ask soldiers about being sent into harm's way, and they often say going off to dangerous territory is what they're trained to do. Cole and Ambo will be positioned to collect firsthand accounts of the troops doing what they're trained to do.

It provides an opportunity to show how the military in Hawai'i matters, and where it fits into the bigger picture beyond these shores. Being there, if even for a short time, gives us the chance to tell the stories of Hawai'i-based military men and women, separated from families and friends ... and a very long way from home.

Reach Marsha McFadden at 535-2426 or at mmcfadden@honoluluadvertiser.com.