honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 4:39 p.m., Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Hawaii Guard among 8 on alert for Iraq or Afghan duty

By WILLIAM COLE
Advertiser Military Writer

The Pentagon may alert a Hawaii National Guard unit that they should be ready to go to Iraq or Afghanistan beginning late next summer, Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, the state adjutant general and head of the Hawai'i National Guard, confirmed today.

Lee said about 2,200 citizen soldiers with the 29th Brigade Combat Team conceivably could return to a war zone sometime late in 2008 or in 2009.

The unit is among those from eight states that will be alerted, the Associated Press is reporting.

That would be just two years after an identical number of Hawai'i Guard and Reserve soldiers returned from a difficult one-year tour in Baghdad and to a base just to the north that strained jobs and families.

The Hawai'i Guard experienced significant troop departures from its ranks as a result.

The National Guard Bureau goal had been five years between combat deployments. Until Lee got the latest deployment news two days ago, he had been under the belief that the Hawai'i Guard would be eligible for combat duty again in 2010.

"All that is out the window," Lee said, adding that the moved-up deployment notice is "too soon."

NEWS WAS A 'LITTLE BIT OF A SURPRISE'

Lee added that the news was a "little bit of a surprise because they had four (National Guard) brigade combat teams in the queue for 2008, and they've more than doubled that."

"I don't have better background than that," Lee added. "I'm due for a meeting with the secretary of the Army next week. I'll be present to try to figure out what gives here."

Lee said he's received most of the Guard's equipment back from Iraq, "but some of our newer units, with the modularity

of the brigade combat team, I know we don't have all of the equipment."

He estimated the Hawai'i Guard has about 65 percent of its Humvees and trucks back.

"I know we have a shortage of weapons," Lee said, adding that with the probable deployment, "We need all of that now."

On the needs list are night-vision goggles, crew-served weapons and new M-4 carbines.

Asked how hard an early return to combat in 2008 or 2009 would be on Hawai'i Guard families, Lee said, "I don't know yet."

Lee said he "got some indications" in recent days from the National Guard Bureau staff that the alert may be coming.

"I need to find out what is really going on and what type of mission, what do we have to prepare for for the 29th brigade," Lee said.

State Rep. K. Mark. Takai, D-34th (Newtown, Waiau, Pearl City), a captain in the National Guard who commands the brigade's medical company, said, "I think from the standpoint of a legislator, we always expected that the 29th brigade Combat Team would be mobilized once again — but all indications suggested that would be in 2010. Now learning through (the Associated Press) that it's 2008 is very difficult to comprehend. One wonders why this notice has to be delivered through the media instead of through appropriate military channels."

The U.S. military is reaching out to more Guard units in an effort to maintain needed troop levels, ease some of the strain on the active-duty Army and provide security for ports, convoys and other installations.

SPECIFIC BRIGADES NOT IDENTIFIED YET

Specific brigades were not identified, but they will include units from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Illinois and Hawai'i, according to officials who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the orders had not yet been signed and the announcement is not expected until the end of this week.

In August, Lee told The Advertiser that the Hawai'i Army National Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team is required to be in a "ready status" for possible combat duty again in 2010.

At the time, Lee cautioned, "That doesn't mean they'll deploy at that time, but that is the time that they've got to be ready for a possible call." He also said he had not received any calls about any possible acceleration of that schedule.

Some of the units being alerted this week have done tours in the war zone already, and others would be going for the first time.

According to defense officials, seven of the units would deploy to Iraq and one to Afghanistan.

Two of the units will be full combat brigades heading to Iraq — between next summer and into 2009, to serve as part of the rotation with active-duty troops. There are currently 20 combat brigades in Iraq, but under plans mapped out by President Bush and his top commanders, that number will gradually drop to 15 next year, as the U.S. reduces its troop presence there.

Those two Guard brigades would include about 3,500 soldiers each — generally the size of a combat brigade. But the other five going to Iraq will be much smaller brigades that are tailored for specialized support operations, mostly security and detainee operations. Their sizes vary, but some would be about 1,000 troops.

ADVANCED NOTICE ALLOWS FOR TRAINING

The announcement sometime this week will give the Guard units advanced notice of the planned deployment schedule so that they can begin training and preparing. Also, because it looks far into the future, there is always the possibility that plans could change, based on conditions in Iraq.

There are now 171,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, largely because several units are overlapping as some move in and others move out of the country. Once those transitions are complete and the drawdown begins, the level of troops in Iraq could drop to as low as 135,000.

Some of the smaller Guard units would be stationed in Kuwait, where they would provide security for the port there, as well as convoys that move in and out of Iraq.

All together, the Guard announcement would involve about 20,000 soldiers.

A key element of the plan calls for sending the Guard brigades in fully intact units, complete with their own commanders and headquarters, rather than breaking them up and spreading them around, as has been done in Iraq in previous Guard deployments. Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard, has made that a priority, saying his brigades are more effective working as teams.

At the same time, the plan will also allow the citizen soldiers to serve just eight or nine months on the battlefield, as part of a 12-month deployment. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has committed to having Guard soldiers serve in war zones for no more than one year, including the final training time before they leave.

Previously, Guard soldiers would spend up to six months training before going overseas for 12 months — forcing them to be away from home for as long as 18 months. More recently, brigades in Iraq — including some Guard units — saw their deployments extended to up to 15 months on the battlefield.

The new plan would have them spend several months at home training, then the remainder of the year at the battlefront.

As of this summer, more than 185,000 Guard members had served in either Iraq or Afghanistan over the past six years and more than 28,000 of them had been deployed more than once.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.