Updated at 2:57 p.m., Friday, October 19, 2007
Abercrombie, Hirono note concerns about deployment
Advertiser Staff
U.S. Reps Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono have written a letter to the Army expressing concerns tied to the Hawai'i's Army National Guard's planned 2008 deployment to Iraq.The letter points out that the brigade is down 500 soldiers — the equivalent of an Army battalion — and expresses additional concerns over the brigade's lack of heavy equipment, such as trucks and humvees, that were left behind in Iraq when it deployed in 2005.
The Army announced today that the Hawai'i' Army National Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team is expected to mobilize in June 2008 and deploy to Iraq in autumn 2008.
"The letter asks what the Army's plans are with the state of their equipment and manpower," Abercrombie spokesman Dave Helfert said today.
"The Army typically mobilizes smaller units but this is the whole brigade combat team. The brigade has never been re-equipped by the Army."
