GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM En route to Fort Polk yesterday, Maj. Gen. Bob Lee, head of the Hawaii National Guard, worked the controls of the boom of a KC-135 jet tanker to be used in midair refueling.

Employers witness
workers on duty

FORT POLK, La. » They came to see what their guys and gals are up to, thousands of miles away from their regular jobs.

Fort Polk facts Established: 1941 Named after: The Right Rev. Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal bishop of Louisiana Size: 198,000 acres Location: 7 miles southeast of Leesville Joint Readiness Training Center: Established in 1987 at Fort Chafee, Ark., then moved to Fort Polk in 1993 to train combat infantry soldiers

Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa showed up with Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi. And so did Iolani school official Nancy Heimerdinger. Charles Kawakami, president of Kauai's Big Save supermarket stores, had come to check on five of his employees, one of them a grocery clerk.

They were among two dozen Hawaii employers who traveled to Fort Polk, La., to check on their workers, now members of the Hawaii National Guard in their final phase of predeployment training before they're sent to Iraq for one year.

Sponsored by the Hawaii Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve, the "Bosslift" program takes bosses into the field to give them a feel for what employees do when they leave their civilian jobs and put on their military uniforms.

The callup of the 29th Infantry Brigade is the biggest mobilization of the Hawaii National Guard since World War II. That means there are plenty of dads and moms missing in action here on the islands. And with 2,200 citizen soldiers now in uniform, it also means plenty of jobs left behind.

Leonardi said four city firefighters are members of the 29th Brigade, while nine others are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps hardest hit was the fire department's Air One unit -- four of five helicopter pilots were mobilized. However, Leonardi convinced the military to delay the deployment of two pilots.

"They will be coming back in July, and the other two will replace them," he said.

Correa said 49 of 200 police officers who also are National Guard members have been activated. To thank them for their service, Correa brought them a Hawaiian flag and the gold standard of the police department.

"It's a gesture," Correa said. "They have served their community well as police officers and I know they will serve the military as true professionals."

Heimerdinger, Iolani School's director of institutional advancement, brought seven boxes of supplies and goodies for members of Mike Caraang's unit. Caraang is an athletic trainer at Iolani.

Kawakami said his Big Save supermarket has lost five workers for a year, ranging in age from 19 to 41. One of his employees has been a member of the Hawaii Army Guard for 10 years.

One of Kawakami's workers, Remonito "Rey" Tacsiat, is on his second deployment. "He was in Bosnia several years ago," Kawakami said about his store's produce clerk.

Clayton Fujie, Department of Education deputy superintendent, said there are several teachers, DOE workers and even a vice principal among the state's citizen soldiers. But she said Hawaii residents shouldn't forget that "these Guard members also are parents."

The civilian employers had company from state Rep. Pono Chong and state Sen. Norman Sakamoto. Retired Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Eugene Imai, former commanding general of the Hawaii Army National Guard who now works for U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, also traveled to Fort Polk.

National Guard members are "currently undergoing seven days of operations, which gets them as close to Iraq without actually being there," employers were told by Lt. John Brown, U.S. Army Pacific commanding general.

The 29th Brigade will be here for at least two weeks before they leave for Kuwait and then move by truck convoy to Baghdad.

"I know what the families are going through," Leonardi said. "It's the uncertainty and trying to get everything in order before you leave."

Brig. Gen. Vern Miyagi, commanding general of the Hawaii Army National Guard, also noted the major difference between the 1968 callup and the current mobilization.

"The key thing is that they are going together as an unit," Miyagi said.

"They will deploy together. They will train together. They will fight together. And they will come home together."