GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
U.S. Rep. Ed Case talked with members of the 411th Engineer Combat Battalion yesterday during their lunch break at Schofield Barracks. Case was the first politician to visit the reservists since they were mobilized on Jan. 7.
Case visits isle soldiers
bound for IraqThe lawmaker tells reservists at Schofield
that Iraqi citizens favor the deployment
U.S. Rep. Ed Case gave the local reservist members of Alpha Company a bit of congressional support yesterday.
Case, who was part of a six-member delegation to Iraq last year, told the soldiers from the Big Island and Maui that "the people in Iraq want us there."
They are among the nearly 200 Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers of the 193rd Aviation Regiment and 600 Army reservists of the 411th Engineer Combat Battalion who reported to Schofield Barracks on Jan. 7 and live at Schofield Barracks in C Quad preparing to be deployed to Iraq next month.
The 800 Army National Guard soldiers and Army reservists are part of the largest combat movement since World War II. More than 110,000 soldiers moving into Iraq to replace soldiers who will have been there for more than a year.
The 411th will be part of the 25th Infantry Division's March 18 farewell ceremony at Schofield Barracks. More than 4,500 soldiers from the division's 3rd Brigade, along with support and other personnel, will be sent to Afghanistan for a year. Brig. Gen. John Ma, commander of the 9th Regional Support Command, said the Army Reserve is working on a smaller luau for the 411th just before it leaves Schofield.
Nearly 400 of the 600 soldiers in the 411th are from the islands. The other soldiers are from Alaska, Guam, American Samoa and Tennessee.
Yesterday, Case (D-Rural Oahu, Neighbor Islands) also lunched with members of Headquarters Support Company of the 411th, made up mostly of soldiers from Oahu.
While munching on a cracker covered with peanut butter, Case asked Sgt. Michael Kamau and Sgt. 1st Class Richard Uyesato about the impact the one-year activation will have on their civilian jobs.
Uyesato said he is not concerned because he works for the state Agriculture Department, which is required to keep a position open for him when he returns in a year. Kamau said his situation is about the same since he works for the County of Hawaii.
Ma, who accompanied Case on the lunchtime visit at Schofield Barracks' land navigation course, said: "The soldiers look like they are motivated. They are having good training."
1st Sgt. James Luster had enjoyed a rare day off -- Super Bowl Sunday with his family in Aiea.
"It was only the third time we've had any time off," said Luster, 47, who is the head noncommissioned officer of the 411th Support Company.
After spending 29 years in uniform -- seven of them with the active Army -- Luster said: "I actually thought I would never see the day I would go into combat. I got close when I was with the 84th Engineer Battalion at Schofield. We were placed on standby for Desert Shield, but we never went.
"Now the 84th has gone to Iraq."
