It's the first combat deployment for the 25th Infantry Division (Light) since the Vietnam War, and the halfway milestone heartens soldiers separated from family, friends and home.

Deployment of local units includes 1,900 Hawai'i Army National Guard soldiers and Army reservists, and about 1,000 Hawai'i Marines who are preparing to head into Iraq. So even as some men and women look forward to returning home, others are just beginning their journey to war zones.

The entire experience is "kind of amazing," said Staff Sgt. Dannie Abbott, 36, of the 25th Division, who's based at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. "It's hard to say if it's gone by quickly, because you turn back and look, and yeah, it went by fast. But when you're on the other end of it looking forward, it's slow."

"All we knew was this was Kandahar," Na said. "Our mind was just blank. All we knew was there were bad people out there and we had to do something about it.

"Now I know the situation," the California man added, "and now it's getting easier."

The turning point also has reminded soldiers of the things they miss at home. Abbott misses his wife and kids. And there are a lot to miss: 10 children ranging from 17 to 5 months old.

"I miss watching my babies run around the house, and just the fact you can walk wherever you want to go. You just go out and do something," the 16-year Army man from St. Louis said.

Na, who's single, misses driving the highways in Hawai'i. "I love cars," he said. Driving in a Humvee doesn't do it for him.

"No, I need to drive," he said.

There have been defining moments, successful reconstruction and personal losses. Seven 25th Division soldiers have been killed in Iraq; three in Afghanistan.

Na, who's with the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, was involved in a firefight and lost a friend — Cpl. David Fraise — who was killed by a roadside bomb in June.

In nearly six months, about 5,500 Schofield soldiers in Afghanistan have helped build and repair 12 schools, dug more than 200 wells and provided security for voter registration while ferreting out insurgents in remote mountain villages.

Most of the 25th soldiers in Iraq deployed in January and took over duties in Kirkuk in February, and the majority of soldiers left for Afghanistan in March. Uncertainty is the only thing guaranteed during their remaining time there.

In a report to President Bush this summer, the National Intelligence Council said security would be tenuous in Iraq through 2005. The worst-case scenario: civil war.

"We don't share the outlook" of the council, said Maj. Neal O'Brien, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division in Tikrit, the higher headquarters for Scho-

field's 2nd Brigade Combat Team. "We're seeing positive results within our entire area of operations," north-central Iraq.

O'Brien said terrorists are responding with "spectacular attacks" because of the momentum generated by the U.S.-led coalition and increasing strength of the Iraqi National Guard and police.

About 4,500 Schofield soldiers are in central and northern Iraq, most centered around Kirkuk. Ethnic tensions among Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and Assyrians remain a flashpoint in the city about 150 miles north of Baghdad.

Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk are conducting near-battalion-size operations with limited oversight from the 25th's "Warrior Brigade," O'Brien said.

Maj. Thomas M. Williams, with the 2nd Brigade in Kirkuk, said security and stability in the cities of Altun Kupri and Daquq, north and south of Kirkuk, improved to the point where the 25th no longer has a permanent presence there.

The 1st Infantry Division and 25th soldiers are expected to be replaced by the 42nd Infantry Division of the New York National Guard in January and February.

The 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry "Gimlets" and the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry "Golden Dragons" remain in Kirkuk, while the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry "Wolfhounds" continue to have perhaps the toughest fight 40 miles to the southwest, in Huwijah, a Sunni Arab stronghold.

The Afghanistan-based soldiers face attempts by insurgents to destabilize the country as the Oct. 9 presidential elections approach.

"Clearly, we're looking to see if they mount anything in order to be effective against the election — it's in (the enemy's) interest to do so," said Col. Richard Pedersen, who commands Combined Task Force Bronco, a multinational force of about 3,500 troops built around the 25th's 3rd Brigade in the southern Kandahar region and extending to Pakistan.

"What they are mostly doing is terrorist activity, subversion, propaganda, intimidation of the people — trying to get the people to support them and reject us," Pedersen said.

"But at the same time, we seek out the people and try to give them a different message to cause them to choose to support the government of Afghanistan and our efforts. And more and more, they're doing it."

In some places, Afghans will stop a U.S. convoy and let soldiers know a roadside bomb is planted ahead.

"They aren't all doing that — don't get me wrong," Pedersen said from Kandahar. "But the nature of it is kind of changing, I think. I would say we have the initiative. We haven't won, but we have the initiative; it's going in our favor. We're going to have to see what (anti-coalition forces do) for the election."

The 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry "Cacti" are in Kandahar and Zabul provinces, while the 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry "Bobcats" are in Uruzgan province. A separate task force that includes the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, is commanded by the 25th's Col. Gary Cheek.

Today, Schofield Barracks soldiers account for 5,500 of the 18,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press reported U.S. troops and helicopter gunships killed 22 militants in Zabul province in the south last week in one of the ongoing conflicts ahead of the election.

Pedersen states one thing unequivocally about Afghanistan.

"The people of Afghanistan want us here," he said, emphasizing the last three words. "I don't want to characterize Iraq, because I really haven't read enough or seen enough to know what's going on there ... but the people of Afghanistan want the United States. They want the coalition forces here, and realize and recognize it brings security and a better way of life for them."

Still, at least 29 Schofield soldiers have been wounded in combat in Afghanistan, and three have been killed.

For soldiers such as Na, the opposition outside Kandahar Airfield and the rigors of combat life are better understood, but the deployment hasn't been easy. "As a matter of fact, I really want to go back (home)," Na said.

He went on leave about a month ago, "and everyone says, 'Oh, Iraq, it's a lot more serious than Afghanistan.' I heard all kinds of stuff like that," he said. "But once you get into the war, you are in war, and nothing could be worse."

Army spokeswoman Maj. Stacy Bathrick said from Afghanistan that most of the 25th soldiers would return in March 2005 as part of a normal rotation. They will be relieved by soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division.