Tropic Lightning Band hits road
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Army Spc. Carlos Salas is heading off to war armed with an M-16 rifle and a 35-pound tuba.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
For the 22-year-old soldier and about 30 other members of Schofield Barracks' Tropic Lightning Band deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq, the preferred instrument of war is a musical one.
Army specialists Tony Buzzella, center left, and Jo Fegan help pack instruments for the Tropic Lightning Band's deployment.
"When we do parades, changes of command, that (the tuba) is my weapon of choice right there," said Salas, who's from Kansas City and has been in the Army for four years.
Like the rest of the 25th Infantry Division (Light), the band is making history: The unit's departure yesterday represents the first combat deployment for the 45-member band since the Vietnam War.
The musicians are heading to Afghanistan for about five weeks to perform at ceremonies and as a rock band and quintet for some of their approximately 5,500 fellow Hawai'i-based soldiers in the country.
Another week will be spent in Qatar, and then band members will return home. A couple of months later, in November, the unit will head to Iraq for a several-month tour there.
About 4,500 Schofield soldiers are serving in northern Iraq. It's the first time the division has been deployed since the Vietnam War.
Mission of music
Division commander Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson decided to split the band's time between the home front and war zone. It's not too different from the way band members are by mission: half soldier and half musician.
"The intent we got from Gen. Olson was we try and stay back (initially during the deployments) and provide as much normalcy as possible for the families here," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jesse Pascua, the bandmaster.
Pascua, 43, who's also the company commander, grew up in Waipahu, graduated from Waipahu High School in 1979, and went to the University of Hawai'i.
"We'll go up to Afghanistan and Qatar to perform for the troops there, and then we'll come back and perform our musical mission here, which is the usual ceremonies on Schofield, a lot of parades," he said.
In both countries, the band will be moving around a lot to perform for as many soldiers as possible.
A lot of transport will be by air. But traveling by convoy will mean pulling security like any other soldiers — the other part of their job the band members have to be prepared for.
"We in the band are soldiers also. We do the same kind of training that everyone else does," said Staff Sgt. Mark Valentino, 37, a guitar player from Summerville, Calif. "We've all been doing PT (physical training) and everyone's real excited about going over there and performing our mission."
Salas said "it's pretty interesting" to be toting an M-16 and a tuba in full combat gear.
"You're basically a walking duality," he said. "It (the tuba) gets pretty heavy after a while."
The band went through cultural awareness, convoy security and roadside bomb training.
Salas said he's not sure if there's any way to prepare himself for the possibility of an attack.
"I mean, I just think our unit — even though we're musicians — we've been pretty well trained and we're pretty much prepared for anything because we've trained as soldiers first," he said.
Return engagement
Pascua, who joined the Army in 1987 in Hawai'i, was deployed to Iraq with the 4th Infantry Division band for eight months last year before coming back to the Tropic Lightning Band.
The 4th Infantry band was based out of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. Pascua said a rocket-propelled grenade missed a convoy the band was in, but that and some small-arms fire directed at the base were the closest calls he had.
"Everyone's a little nervous, which is understandable, but I kind of know what to expect, even though it's Afghanistan (for the first stop)," the Mililani resident said.
According to division history, the band was part of "Headquarters, Special Troops," activated in 1944 in New Zealand while the 25th was refitting and training after the Northern Solomons campaign.
In Afghanistan, the band also will be playing at the U.S. Embassy, and on Aug. 1 with the Afghan army national band.
"It's a good opportunity for us to give back a little bit to the Army," Salas said. "We've got a pretty good job, so it's just an opportunity to pay back basically the luxuries we've been afforded in the Army as well as in the country. It's just a way for us to say thank you to the troops that are over there who have a harder job than we do."
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
