GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Members of the Hawaii Army National Guard's 193rd Aviation Regiment took part in rifle and pistol training and requalification at Schofield Barracks last week. Staff Sgt. Jaralba Felix waited to move up to the firing line.
Back to basics
Army reservists go to the
practice range for the first
time since their mobilization
Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Scott Strong is usually one of the last to leave work at 11 p.m. each day and is also required to report back for duty at 5 the following morning.
"Life is pretty hectic," said Strong, a leader of a squad of 10 soldiers who are Army Reserve combat engineers preparing for duty in Iraq. "Morale is solid for now. We're watching each other's back."
Strong, 31, is a member of the 411th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), which was mobilized Jan. 5 and since then has been living at Schofield Barracks C Quad.
Strong is one of several island reservists who felt the need to move up their wedding dates when they learned they would be away for a year.
The 411th is made up of soldiers from Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and Alaska. Nearly 400 of the 600 soldiers in the Army Reserve unit hail from the islands.
Sgt. Leilani Forsgren, 33, reported to the 411th Wednesday as one of 40 soldiers from American Samoa. As a soldier who served with the 229th Transportation Company during the 1991 Desert Storm campaign, she said "you have to be ready all the time."
Last week was the first time soldiers of the 411th and the Hawaii Army National Guard's Charlie Company, 193rd Aviation Regiment, went to the field since they were mobilized. Rifle and pistol training and re-qualification were one of the first subjects.
Capt. Richard Moyers, who was conducting the basic rifle marksmanship training, said the soldiers use either an M-16 rifle or M-4 carbine to hit at least 23 of 40 silhouette targets that pop up for a few seconds at distances ranging from 66 to 990 feet.
"All of these soldiers have completed basic training," said Moyers, "so they know how to handle a rifle. This like a refresher course."
At the Schofield Barracks rifle range, the soldiers had to "zero in" their rifles by firing at a stationary silhouette 82 feet away.
"The instructors check their body alignment," said Moyers, "to see if they have the right sight picture. They check to see if the soldier is squeezing and not jerking the trigger and finally the check their breathing cycle. ... On the average, younger soldiers need to correct how they are sighting their rifles and how they are pulling the trigger."
To qualify, the soldiers fire 20 rounds standing and another 20 from the prone position. They also have to qualify firing their weapons while wearing their protective gas masks and rubber gloves and at night.
Spc. Dorsey Gates, who had to close a Kalihi auto detailing business when he was mobilized earlier this month, said he has no qualms being called to active duty for a year. "I'm proud to serve my country," said Gates, 37.
Although Gates said he didn't expect to be activated, he was prepared.
"I guess I knew that when faced with all these threats of terrorism being in the reserves was not a free ride," he said.
Gates, a carpenter with Bravo Company, wants to stay on active duty with the Army Reserves here, hopefully as a warrant officer when the 411th returns to the islands.
He joined the unit in 1983 but left after three years. He re-enlisted in 2001 because he believed he "needed more structure in his life."
"I guess I matured. I was married by then and I needed stability for my family."
Strong, a 1990 Waipahu High School graduate, said the change from civilian life is still tough.
"I try to keep in contact with my family," said Strong, who was able to move into a new four-bedroom Ewa Beach house on Christmas Day. "But it's hard on one of my sons. The more I call he ends up crying and then I end up crying too."
The Pentagon estimates that by this summer, the number of U.S. troops will have dropped to 105,000 from a high of 130,000 when the Iraqi war began. The number of combat brigades also will have been cut, to 13 from 17.
Forty percent of the total force will be from the National Guard or Reserves.
Already in Afghanistan since August are 62 Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers, all members of Bravo Company, 193rd Aviation Regiment. They are supposed to return home in May.
Another 200 soldiers of the 193rd, members of Charlie Company, were mobilized on Jan. 7 and along with their 14 CH-47 Chinook helicopters will be sent to Iraq within a few months for a yearlong deployment.
Also on the island deployment list are 500 Kaneohe Marines who will be part of the 21,500 troops the Marine Corps will send to the western part of Iraq as part of a peacekeeping operation, in addition to 4,000 Schofield Barracks soldiers.
