Hawaii engineers
close to home free

The battalion readies to return
home while still in Kuwait

Hawaii's Hammerhead Battalion is on its way home after spending nearly a year at Camp Victory in Baghdad.

Tevita Tuikolongahau: The 411th Battalion mechanic was promoted to sergeant

The Hawaii Army Reserve said the 600-member 411th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) formally was relieved on Friday and left Baghdad for Kuwait. More than 300 of its 600 soldiers are from Hawaii, with an additional 100 from American Samoa, 70 from Alaska and 100 from 29 mainland states.

Laurie Naumu, whose husband, Michael, was promoted to sergeant last year as a member of Bravo Company, said he was able to call from Kuwait at 5:30 yesterday morning to wish their son, Royce, a happy sixth birthday.

"He (Royce) can't wait for him to come home and play video games with him," Laurie Naumu added.

She said her husband is still working 12-hour shifts to clean and prepare the unit's equipment for shipment back to Fort Shafter Flats. "I was under the impression that once they got to Kuwait, all they would have to do was relax and wait, but I found out that isn't true.

"I think everyone is a bit edgy," she added, "since they all want to come home. I'm also relieved because they are step closer to being home."

Maile Tuikolongahau said her husband, Tevita, sent her an e-mail Monday saying that his convoy had arrived safely.

"He doesn't know when he'll be home," Tuikolongahau said, "but they are all really happy."

Tuikolongahau said she hasn't made any plans for a reunion since her husband, a mechanic with the 411th who was promoted to sergeant while in Iraq, doesn't know exactly when he will be back at their home in Kailua.

"This is going to be the worst month of the entire deployment," Tuikolongahau added. "But I am excited."

When the 411th was mobilized in 2003, Maile and Tevita Tuikolongahau moved up their wedding date by a year.

The Army Reserve unit arrived in Baghdad March 23 and was assigned to 1st Cavalry Division and stationed at Camp Victory North.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Wung, the battalion's commander, said that during its yearlong deployment the 411th made at least 300 convoy trips in the Baghdad area as the construction battalion worked on chapels, an Army post office and office buildings, helipads, barracks, and on various military installations.