Families fear
isle Guard
not equipped

U.S. Rep Ed Case promises
anonymity as he investigates

Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers at Fort Bliss, Texas, who are preparing for a yearlong mission in Iraq have not been issued proper cold weather gear or proper training equipment, family members say.

The complaints have gone to U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who yesterday wrote to Maj. Gen. Bob Lee, who heads the Hawaii National Guard as adjutant general.

Case told Lee that family members of soldiers in the 29th Infantry Brigade -- which includes Army Reservists of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry -- lack:

"Training for any war is difficult and especially so given the harsh and unique conditions of Iraq and Afghanistan," said Case, who spent a few days in Iraq last year and was in Afghanistan and Pakistan just before Thanksgiving.

Lee acknowledged that the training for the more than 2,200 soldiers from Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Saipan and Tinian has been "tough."

"The training days are long and the conditions are rough. The soldiers are involved in crucial convoy training and learning how to clear houses."

But Lee said he would follow up on any specific leads Case can give him.

Case told the Star-Bulletin that he is working with "a bit of a handicap because I promised some of the families anonymity. They are afraid of what might happen to the soldiers."

However, his staff over the past several weeks has received "seven to eight individual complaints" from family and friends who have soldiers training at Fort Bliss near El Paso.

"I am not the only member of Congress to get these complaints," Case said. "I don't want to overreact or under-react. I am telling Gen. Lee what I have been told so he can check it out."

Lee said he visited Fort Bliss twice since Oct. 6, when the Hawaii Army National Guard and 100th Battalion soldiers arrived at the remote Texas training post.

The last time was when he had a Thanksgiving dinner with the troops.

Lee said he is in constant contact with Brig. Gen. Joseph Chaves, 29th Brigade commander, who has tried to replicate the conditions at Fort Bliss to prepare his soldiers for the harsh environment they will face in Iraq.

However, several soldiers have contacted the Star-Bulletin over the past three months with similar complaints. All of the soldiers and family members who talked to the Star-Bulletin asked not to be identified because of fear of retribution.

A soldier assigned to the 1st Battalion of California's 184th Regiment said his unit was assigned to a portion of Fort Bliss that is located in New Mexico called Dona Ana Army Camp -- a former World War II prisoner-of-war camp 25 miles from the main post.

Nearly 700 members of the California battalion, one of three battalions assigned to Hawaii's 29th Infantry Brigade, have been at Dona Ana Camp since Aug. 16, when the unit was activated. Citizen soldiers from the islands were placed on active duty on the same day, but stayed in Hawaii until early October.

The California soldier told the Star-Bulletin that "morale was really low since they had been confined to the old prison of war camp and had only one day off in September."

The wife of a Big Island Hawaii Army National Guard soldier told the Star-Bulletin that soldiers in her husband's battalion, which is at another part of Fort Bliss at Forward Operating Base McGregor, still haven't received their cold-weather gear.

"It's tough on soldiers from here," she said. "The temperature on the outside is 27 degrees and 38 degrees in the tent."

"Only last week were the soldiers issued tool boxes. That has been a problem since August."

She said her husband is in a maintenance unit that is supposed to recover damaged vehicles from the battlefield, but it hasn't been able to train for that task because the base has no wrecker.

At least 30 percent of one of the companies belonging to the Big Island battalion hasn't fired their .50-caliber and M240 machine guns because there is no live ammunition.

"Even if they could fire the machine guns," she said, "there are no mounts on the vehicles for them."

All of the training is centered around infantry skills, she said, ignoring advanced training for mechanics, medics and communication.

"My husband is concerned that he isn't learning stuff he will need to know when he gets to Iraq and I am also concerned."

"There has been no down time, except for the day after Thanksgiving. The men average four to five hours of sleep a night.

"The food is adequate, but it's just cold."

McGregor is one of two training areas assigned to the 29th Brigade and is run like Iraqi forward operating bases to replicate what Hawaii's soldiers will be living in when they get there, down to the concertina fences and guard posts, Maj. Mike Peeters, executive officer of the 100th Battalion, has told the Star-Bulletin in e-mails.

The soldiers in these two forward bases are operating exactly as they would in Iraq -- pulling guard duty and getting used to checking who is authorized to enter the camp, Peeters said.

McGregor is located in New Mexico, about 30 miles north of the main installations of Fort Bliss.

Peeters said a soldier's "typical day" begins at 5 a.m., followed by physical training. "Soldiers are in formation after breakfast and showers by 8 a.m.," Peeters said.

"Training is conducted from approximately 9 a.m. to midnight, depending on the training schedule and requirements."

When training permits, the soldiers return to McGregor at 5 p.m. for dining and then go back to the field for night phases of training. Soldiers get two hot meals a day in the dining hall with meal packets in the field.

Lights out is 10 p.m. for soldiers not conducting night training.

Soldiers move always with full "battle rattle" -- Kevlar helmet, body armor, LBV (load-bearing vest) and their weapons, as will be the practice in Iraq.

"The training tempo is rigorous, intense and personal time is rare," Peeters added.