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Except for a few "minor growing pains" the transition from weekend warriors to active duty soldiers has been seamless for the 18 Hawaii Army National Guard members who were the first to be called into federal service following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nearly six months ago. Isle Guard’s change
a smooth oneSome of the soldiers' active duty
activities include war gamesBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comOn Oct. 18, just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks in New York City and Arlington, Va., the Pentagon activated the Hawaii Army National Guard's Division Rear Operation Cell for what was to be part of a massive Homeland Defense operation.
During those first frantic weeks, Hawaii Army National Guard Maj. Wayne Yamashita, who normally works as a social worker at Kauai's Samuel Mahelona Hospital, said there was a lot of confusion. "We didn't know where we would be going," said Yamashita, 40, who had never been on active duty during his 15 years in the Army Guard.
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There was even talk that the unit would be sent overseas and even Afghanistan. The last time a Hawaii Army National Guard unit was federalized was in 1968 when the 29th Infantry Brigade was summoned to Schofield Barracks because of the Vietnam War.Three of the unit's soldiers are students who have had to place their education plans on hold.
Maj. Herman Ancheta, who in civilian life is a military planner at Camp Smith, was fulfilling his annual two-week active obligation as a reservist when the terrorists struck on Sept. 11.
He reported in uniform to Schofield Barracks, where he and other members of the 25th Infantry Division watched the events unfold over television.
"I had been in the midst of planning a war-fighter exercise with other members of the division," said Ancheta, who is the executive officer of the small Hawaii Army National Guard unit which normally trains at the Guard's Pearl City armory as part of the 103rd Troop Command.
"We went from planning a virtual event to making plans for an actual emergency," said Ancheta, a 1980 Damien High School graduate.
Yamashita, a 1984 Mid-Pacific Institute graduate, said there was an understandable "period of adjustment" from civilian life to active duty.
Yamashita and the unit's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Placido Valenciano, a physical therapist at Mahelona Hospital, both had to relocate to Oahu. They both share military quarters in the Tripler Army Medical Center housing complex and routinely fly back to Kauai to check on their families.
Capt. Jeff Kawakami, a 1979 Farrington High School alumnus, said there wasn't much of transition for him or his family (he has two boys, ages 4 and 18 months) since he had been employed full-time by the Hawaii Army National Guard before the activation orders were posted.
"There was not much of an adjustment except for the work hours," said Kawakami, 35.
There were a few "growing pains" involving issues such as pay and equipment, Kawakami said, but they were minor and none of his soldiers lost any pay as they moved into wearing camouflage fatigues daily.
Yamashita noted that one of the unit's major duties was manning the 25th Division's emergency operations center around the clock which in some case meant being on duty for 16 hours at a stretch.
Other duties included participation in various Schofield war games such as manning the Division Support Command's tactical operations center during a recent command post exercise at Wahiawa's Area X. Surrounded by razor wire, the tactical operations center was equipped with the latest array of satellite phones and laptop computers which were linked to other sections of the 25th Division by video.
During that two-day exercise, the unit was in charge of the center's operations section whose job was "to serve as an information hub providing the commander with what he needed to know at a moment's notice," said Ancheta, 39. He was able to use the Army's latest technology, which allows its leaders to constantly track soldiers, vehicles and supply equipment using embedded sensors and global positioning system satellites.
During the exercise, Ancheta demonstrated how computers are used to track simulated movements of Army convoys and trucks. Now a click of a mouse can project on a map these different movements, routes and troop and supply emplacements, replacing the time-tested use of grease pens and acetate overlays.
Col. Ray Mason, Division Support Command commander, noted that the logistical exercise, which involved no soldiers in the field and no direct combat operations, was a computer-driven simulation designed to test the unit's ability to maintain the vital flow of "beans and bullets" to a force of about 3,500 soldiers.
Mason explained that the command's function is to provide all the necessary maintenance, water, medical, transportation, food and fuel needs for the 25th Division. He likened his job to a city manager of a community the size of Richmond, Va., where he comes from.
"After Sept. 11," said Mason, a 22-year veteran who saw combat action in 1993 in Grenada, "the president told the nation to be ready ... these exercises are to help the 25th Division prepare for its war time mission."
The command post exercise was the third in the series to test the unit's ability to operate in the field, as part of a joint force in support of a humanitarian mission and as a logistical center. It was developed around a Southeast Asia scenario, loosely using the situation and the terrain division soldiers will face next month as they participate in the annual Cobra Gold military exercise in Thailand.
As of April 3, the Pentagon reported that the total number of National Guard and Reserves on active duty in support of homeland defense and other missions totaled 83,259.