Spc. Takumi Abe, 21, of Honolulu, stood nearby dripping with sweat.

"We haven't been through anything like this before," said Abe, who is getting married next week. "This is pretty intense. It's all about teamwork. You have to think about the fear when you go in a building. We take it very serious."

The mock battle yesterday started with the loud explosion of a simulated bomb followed by the rapid fire of M-16 rifles and the barking of commands. Quickly, the soldiers attacked the opposing forces. The soldiers charged from building to building in a cinder block city set up on Schofield Barracks.

Abe and 107 other members of the 1st Battalion 487th Field Artillery, 29th Separate Infantry Brigade have been training for the past two weeks.

Soon they will leave their families, jobs and lives in Hawai'i behind to serve their country. The Army wants them as prepared as possible.

The brigade of 2,000 soldiers reports for active duty Aug. 16, the first step of a yearlong deployment in Iraq.

In October, they will travel to Fort Bliss, Texas, and in January, the soldiers will need to earn their combat certification at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.

The brigade's 12-month mission to Iraq will begin sometime in February or March when the Hawai'i soldiers arrive in Balad, a city north of Baghdad in the Sunni Triangle. They will replace the 81st Brigade of the Washington Army National Guard.

Just like iraq

Piepenhagen, who recently returned from an 11-month tour in Iraq, said the training was based on the real-life experience of soldiers who have fought there.

"This entire building here was rigged up with booby traps," he said. "They tripped very few of them and were very good at spotting them. They did not lose momentum. They kept pushing through just like we trained them to do and knocked out the (opposing force)."

After the battle, Sgt. Gary Rodrigues, 38, of Waimanalo; Spc. Philip Cole, 24, of 'Ewa Beach; and Sgt. Manuel Tacub, 43, of Waimanalo, leaned against a wall, hot and dusty, their ears ringing and shirts drenched with sweat.

During the training drill yesterday at Schofield Barracks, some of the citizen soldiers with the Hawai'i Army National Guard 1St Battalion, 487th Field Artillery, took part in a simulation that involved firing at snipers.

"In our case, we are very fortunate that we belong to an infantry brigade," said Tamashiro, who works for the state Department of Human Services. "What you'll see today is the quality and the character of the soldiers in this unit. The soldiers were asked to learn a different (Military Occupational Speciality), and they took the challenge with enthusiasm, motivation and a willingness. Our motto is hiki no, can do."

A second family

Sebastian Feary, 19, son of the late musician Mackey Feary, is a part of the unit and joined the National Guard to help pay for college. Now he is thinking about a career in the Army.

"I love these guys. It is a second family," Feary said. "We all work real well together and support each other. But I'll miss L&L's chicken katsu plate. My mom, too. Going to Iraq is going to be hard on her."