CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sixty-two helicopter maintenance specialists from the Hawaii Army National Guard will be going to Afghanistan later this month for a deployment that likely will last through Christmas. Among those being deployed is Staff Sgt. Norman Nakai.
Isle Guard views Afghan
duty with mixed feelings
The Pentagon says it was the Hawaii Army National Guard's turn to provide soldiers for duty in Afghanistan. Sixty-two helicopter maintenance specialists of B Company of the Hawaii Army Guard's 193rd Aviation have been mustering at Wheeler Army Air Field since Monday preparing for their new mission. They will be the first large element of the Hawaii Army Guard to participate in possible hostile actions since the 29th Infantry Brigade was activated for duty in Vietnam in 1968.
Sgt. Gilbert Pascua, one of the unit's supply supervisors, admits that "it scares me."
Pascua, a 1986 Waipahu High School graduate, will be participating in his first major deployment since joining the Army Guard 13 years ago.
"The Guard and the Reserve are now a large chunk of the military," said Pascua, 34. "I hear a lot about rotations. So we as an unit are doing our part in that rotation."
About one-fifth of the Hawaii Guard unit, which specializes in maintaining the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH47 Chinook helicopters flown by the 25th Division, will leave Wahiawa later this month and probably will be away through Christmas. The unit will be attached to the 10th Mountain Division.
Staff Sgt. Norman Nakai, who has been in the military for 14 years, said his 12-year-old son, Thomas, is old enough to know why his father will be away and that there is still fighting going on in Afghanistan.
"He's worried for me," said Nakai, a helicopter engine mechanic. "He tells me to be safe, and I tell him that I will do my best so that I will be back to take care of him."
Spc. Roselani Moniz, who graduated from Waianae High School last year, acknowledges that her parents do not say much about her leaving, "but I know they are worried."
Spc. James Tactacan, a CH47 helicopter mechanic, said his parents also told him "to be careful."
Tactacan, a 1999 Campbell High School graduate, said he wants to go since "this will be a new experience."
"I will just do my job," said Tactacan, 21, "and be a soldier and perform my duties the best that I can."
Nakai, 35, said that unlike many members of his National Guard company, he knows what to expect.
"I have been in the service since I left high school," said Nakai, who enlisted in the Army in 1986 and remained on active duty for seven years.
"I was stationed in Korea during the 1991 (Gulf) war," said Nakai, a 1986 Castle High School graduate, "so I missed the last one."
"To me this deployment is just another phase of my military life."
The Pentagon said the total number of Reserve and National Guard personnel placed on active duty as of yesterday was 204,100. By service, this breaks down to 138,649 for the Army National Guard and Army Reserve; 9,337, Naval Reserve; 32,858, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve; 20,379, Marine Corps Reserve; and 2,877, Coast Guard Reserve.
