Chaves told battalion troops late last month that he believed Army regulations required all units under the command of the 29th Infantry Brigade to wear the brigade's arm patch.

But when Army Chief of Staff Peter Shoomaker visited Schofield Barracks last week, he was asked by former 100th Battalion member Shizuya Hayashi if current soldiers in the battalion could be allowed to wear their own unit's arm patch to Iraq — and possibly into battle there as well.

Maj. Chuck Anthony, a spokesman for the Hawai'i Army National Guard and the 29th Infantry Brigade, said Chaves continued to discuss the matter with Shoomaker and that Shoomaker recently sent Chaves an e-mail message saying he would support any decision Chaves made about the arm patch.

"Gen. Chaves interpreted the message to mean that he now had the authority to allow the 100th Battalion to wear their own patch," Anthony said. "It appears that the Army chief of staff granted an exception in this case."

The patch the 100th Battalion's 600 soldiers will wear is the same one second-generation Japanese-Americans wore into battle as members of the battalion during World War II.

The six-sided patch is bordered in red and features a hand holding a torch against a blue background.

The 100th Battalion leaves in October for additional training in Texas, is scheduled to arrive at Fort Polk, La., in January and to depart for Iraq in February or March.