CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, one of the warships in a 12-vessel battle group, pulled into Pearl Harbor this morning for a brief port call.
Isle marine Chances are good Honolulu policeman Patrick Sterling won't be by his wife's side when their child is born in April. He'll be in the Middle East, joining more than 4,500 Marines deployed to active duty in a showdown with Iraq.
reservists ordered
to Persian Gulf
A 40-man unit will join 4,500 Marines
Police and fire departments plan for shortages
already deployed to active duty
in the crisis with Iraq
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comAs a Marine reservist, he always knew he may be deployed at any moment to a war zone, the 32-year-old North Shore resident said. With a child due soon, his wife is concerned for his welfare.
"However, we're all squared away," Sterling said.
"We're all sad about it. We're dealing with it. ... Everything will be just fine."
Maj. Mark Hashimoto, who also received his mobilization orders for the Persian gulf, has two infant children. His wife, too, understands his duties to his country.
"My wife is an extremely patriotic American and a tremendous supporter of what I am doing. She has given me all the reassurances that everything on the home front will be taken care of, so while I will miss her a lot, I will be able to concentrate on what I have to do."
Hashimoto is a military planner employed by the Department of Defense at Camp Smith.
Sterling is a staff sergeant and team leader in the 4th Force Reconnaissance Company, which received its orders Jan. 14, and is scheduled to deploy to the U.S. Central Command area of operations in the Middle East in the near future. His unit was the first island reserve outfit that received mobilization orders for possible combat action in the Persian Gulf.
The 40 Marine reservists belonging to the 4th Force Reconnaissance Marines joined the more than 4,500 Marines called to active duty within the past week and 3,600 others who were previously activated. Also tabbed for duty in the Middle East are 250 Marines from the 1st Radio Battalion out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.
PHOTOGRAPHER'S MATE 2ND CLASS INEZ LAWSON / U.S. NAVY
At sea aboard USS Carl Vinson, an aviation ordnanceman clears the catapult area prior to a launch. The Carl Vinson has been training for the past week in waters off Kauai in the Pacific Missile Range Facility.
Sterling has been with the Police Department for 10 years and is assigned to the Specialized Services Division.
Other members of his unit are mechanics, students, a Honolulu firefighter, federal employees and a civilian firearms instructor.
Nationwide, 15,718 reservists were called to active duty recently, boosting the total to 94,624, the biggest number since the Gulf War.
A total of 106,000 U.S. reservists served on active duty in the Persian Gulf region during the 1991 war.
Hashimoto, a 1982 Punahou School and 1986 Stanford University graduate, said morale in his 22-member unit is "very high."
Hashimoto, a platoon commander in the 4th Force Reconnaissance Company, said he fully supports any decision President Bush will make concerning Iraq.
Hashimoto, 38, said he enlisted in the Marines in 1992 after obtaining a master's degree in business administration from UCLA and served on active duty for six years because of the Gulf War. "I was interested in the military, and I wanted the opportunity to serve my country before I got too old," said Hashimoto.
Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson battle group pulled into Pearl Harbor this morning for a brief port call.
The Navy would not say how long the Carl Vinson or any of the other warships in the 12-vessel battle group would remain here, but the port call will mean that there will be at least 7,000 sailors in Honolulu this weekend.
CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER'S MATE DANIEL E. SMITH / U.S. NAVY / 2002
The USS Carl Vinson renders honors as it passes by the Arizona Memorial. The Carl Vinson and its battle group are expected to pull into Pearl Harbor this morning for a brief port call.
The Vinson will be accompanied by the cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyer USS Lassen, both home-ported in San Diego; the frigate USS Ingraham from Everett, Wash.; and the fast combat support ship USS Sacramento from Bremerton, Wash.
The Carl Vinson, with 75 combat and support aircraft and a crew of more than 5,000 sailors and aviators, left San Diego Jan. 17 and has been training in waters off Kauai in the Pacific Missile Range Facility for the past week, awaiting deployment orders.
Past plans have called for the Vinson battle group to replace the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier battle group, which would be sent to the Persian Gulf to join three other carrier groups.
If that occurs, the Vinson would be needed in the Pacific as a deterrent against any actions contemplated by North Korea.
On Jan. 23, 2002, the Vinson battle group returned from a previous deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, during which the aircraft carrier launched the first airstrikes of the war on terrorism.
The latest troop call-up came after President Bush promised in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night to deliver new intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons programs and vowed to use the full force of the military to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if necessary.
The weekly Pentagon announcement on Reserve and National Guard troops on active duty gave the following new totals: Army, 64,741; Air Force, 14,627; Marine Corps, 8,729; Navy, 5,476; and Coast Guard, 1,051.
Tens of thousands of part-time U.S. troops have been called to active duty for the war on terror since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and many are now being sent to the Gulf region, along with more than 100,000 U.S. regular troops and heavy arms in a buildup for a possible war with Iraq.
State Department of Defense
