"We have no indication that we would be tapped before five years," said Maj. Chuck Anthony, spokesman for the Hawai'i National Guard. "But some states will have to be re-mobilized sooner than five years. The presumption is that those would be the ones that were sent in first."

Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, head of guard forces in Hawai'i, will hold a briefing on the changes this afternoon at Honolulu International Airport.

Gates announced several changes:

-- Involuntary mobilizations for reserve forces won't exceed one year at any one time.

-- The standard for involuntary mobilizations is planned to remain at one mobilization every five years.

-- New compensation for individuals required to mobilize early or more often.

-- Governors and state adjutant generals will oversee a hardship waiver program for military families.

About 2,000 members of the Hawai'i Army National Guard — most of them men and women with full-time civilian jobs who wear their uniform once a month — were mobilized in August 2004 and deployed to Iraq for 12-months, from January 2005 to January 2006. They were demobilized in February 2006.

Under Pentagon policy at the time, guard members were limited to 24 months of mobilization every five years.