Posted on: Monday, October 11, 2004
Island troops could get 2-year reprieve
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
When approximately 10,000 Schofield Barracks soldiers return early next year from Iraq and Afghanistan, there may be extra incentive — beyond sun, surf and sand — to being stationed in Hawai'i.
Contrary to rumors that the 3rd Brigade might make back-to-back deployments to Afghanistan, 25th Infantry Division (Light) Command Sgt. Maj. Franklin G. Ashe said those soldiers — along with the 2nd Brigade now in Iraq — likely will stay home.
"Nobody in the 25th is scheduled to deploy back to back," Ashe said from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. "Right now — and remember — things change, but right now, nobody in the division is scheduled to deploy for two years once we get back."
That's if everything goes as planned, he said, adding, "the enemy has a vote."
With so many Army units deploying, returning and deploying again to Iraq or Afghanistan, two years of stability will make Hawai'i a sought-after assignment.
"That's one of our retention tools — the fact that, 'Hey, re-enlist to stay in Hawai'i and the 25th while we undergo transformation,' " Ashe said. "You're not going to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan for a couple of years as we re-set the division and transform it."
The selection of Hawai'i's 2nd Brigade for a $1.5 billion Stryker brigade means the division will need to re-tool and train at home. Initial operating capability is expected by 2007. The 291 20-ton Stryker vehicles that are at the heart of the transformation plan are expected to start arriving in 2006.
The 2nd Brigade will be increased to about 3,500 soldiers as part of the new fast-strike unit.
The 3rd Brigade, meanwhile, is scheduled to undergo its own transformation in fiscal 2006. The Army's 33 maneuver brigades are being recast as 43 to 48 "Units of Action," with artillery and reconnaissance that previously were division-level assets.
"So (the 3rd Brigade will) transform as well during or after the 2nd Brigade's transformation to a Stryker brigade," Ashe said. "But the other thing is, it's going to take most of the division to get 2nd Brigade squared away to a Stryker brigade team, and that's going to have a direct effect on 3rd Brigade and all its support elements."
The 1st Brigade of the 25th Division is based at Fort Lewis, Wash.
Because of its Pacific focus, the 25th Infantry Division (Light) had the reputation as a force that didn't deploy for Middle East wars. The last time "Tropic Lightning" soldiers fought in combat as a division was in the Vietnam War.
Most of the 5,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers in Afghanistan will be returning in March 2005 as part of the normal rotation, Army officials said. They will be replaced by the Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C.
The 173rd spent a year in northern Iraq at the start of the war, and handed off the mission to the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade on Feb. 19.
About 4,300 soldiers with the Idaho Army National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team are expected to replace a similar number of Hawai'i's 2nd Brigade troops in January.
Col. Lloyd Miles, who commands the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Iraq, which is based at Kirkuk Air Base, said the exact return date is not known.
"They (the 116th Brigade Combat Team) are still going through train-up and mobilization, and then, of course, they'll begin to arrive in the theater I'm sure sometime in early winter to begin the transition," Miles said from Tikrit.
He added the return date "really depends on what happens here nationally."
Iraq's election is scheduled for January, and Miles — like other commanders in Iraq — is expecting a surge in violence as militants try to disrupt the process.
"If, in fact, the situation is such that the troops are needed, obviously, we will be here until the situation is dealt with," Miles said.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
