More details are expected to be released today.

The soldiers are members of the "Individual Ready Reserves" or IRR — military members who have been discharged from the Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard, but still have a contractual obligation to the military.

Several hundred Hawai'i residents are IRR members, and a spokesman for the Army's Human Resources Command said last month that 198 of them were being considered for involuntary call-up.

No information was available yesterday on how many of those soldiers actually will be called.

"Well," said Robert Nacario, a veteran who transferred to the IRR from the Hawai'i National Guard, "if I have to go — if there really is a legitimate need — I'll have to fulfill my duty.

"I'd rather not," he said. "It's anarchy over there."

President Bush cleared the way for the Pentagon to recall veterans with remaining commitments when he declared a national emergency on Sept. 14, 2001.

After the war in Afghanistan and then Iraq began draining military resources, the Pentagon extended active-duty tours, activated more and more guard and reserve units and began taking volunteers from the IRR.

In January, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorized the involuntary IRR call-ups.

By early May, the Army was screening its records of IRR veterans for soldiers with recent training in select career fields needed for its missions overseas.

Also in May, a memo began circulating through the Army Reserves and Army National Guard, saying that the mobilization of IRR veterans would take place in three phases: a voluntary phase through May 17; an involuntary call-up of IRR soldiers with obligations through the end of May and, beginning in June, a call-up of IRR soldiers who had fulfilled their obligations.

Armed with that information and the names of 1,000 IRR members in the state, Army National Guard recruiters in Hawai'i began calling veterans, asking them to sign up before being involuntarily activated. Other recruiters across the country were doing the same.

In late May, after veterans across the country began to complain about the calls, the Army Reserve and Human Resources Command announced that the recall schedule was inaccurate, and that its release was a mistake. Recalls were pending and would occur at a later date, they said.

"Current plans," a statement released by the Army yesterday says, "call for IRR soldiers to be brought on active duty over an extended period in several phased groups, from July through December 2004. The soldiers will be assigned to designated mobilizing Army Reserve and National Guard units based upon the needs of the Army."

More information will be made available during a press briefing at the Pentagon today, according to the statement.

Like most discharged soldiers, Nacario has moved on with his life. He married a woman in the Philippines and is working toward having her join him in Hawai'i. He has taken a civilian job with the federal government.

"At least I'm glad my job is federal," he said yesterday. "If I have to go, I can get my job back."

All employers, said Carswell Ross, coordinator for the state Office of Veterans Services, are required by law to hire back soldiers recalled to active duty.