IN THE MILITARY

More troops preparing
for duty in Bosnia

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Nearly 400 soldiers from the Army's 25th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis in Washington state will team up with the Army National Guard to serve six- to 12-month tours in Bosnia as part of the NATO stabilization force through April 2003.

But no 25th Division soldiers stationed at Schofield Barracks will be sent to Europe.

The 25th Division has two brigades stationed at Schofield and one brigade positioned as a rear element at Fort Lewis. That brigade also has been designated by the Army as a medium-size fighting force and will be one of two test units designed to be deployed anywhere in the world in four days.

With the number of Army deployments increasing by more than 300 percent since 1989, the Pentagon has been forced to turn to more missions commanded by National Guard soldiers. The first began earlier this year when the Texas 49th Armored Division served as headquarters for active and reserve troops serving in Bosnia.

Three of the next six Bosnia deployments will be commanded by Army National Guard divisions -- Texas' 49th Armored Division (March 2000), Virginia's 29th Infantry Division (October 2001) and Pennsylvania's 28th Infantry Division (October 2002).

Soldiers from the 25th Division's 1st Lancer Brigade at Fort Lewis will participate in the rotation which will begin Oct. 2000. In the following year another Tropic Lightning company of soldiers from Fort Lewis will travel to Bosnia. They will be under the control of officers from the active Army's 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) from Fort Stewart in Georgia for a year.

The third company of Tropic Lightning soldiers will deploy to Bosnia from Washington in October 2002 and serve under the headquarters from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 28th Infantry Division for six months.

Fifty-four percent of the active Army is now in the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard increasing the necessity to use reserve forces of the military.

Eight more Pacific Army Reservists will join the United Nations peacekeeping force in East Timor on Sunday, linking up with the two civil affairs officers who were called to active duty earlier this month.

All 10 soldiers are members of the 322nd Civil Affairs Brigade at Fort Shafter.

Twelve U.S. Army personnel are in Darwin as well as 15 Pacific Fleet sailors and a half-dozen military planners from Camp Smith's Pacific Command.

Also supporting the mission in Thailand are 10 soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division

A second chapter of the Retired Officers Association -- a national organization which represents the interests of retired military officers and their families -- has been formed and is headed by retired Army Col. Les. S. Ihara, who can be reached at 239-7947.