90 Hickam personnel
get orders for
Asian war zones

About 90 personnel will deploy from Hickam Air Force Base beginning next month as part a regularly scheduled 120-day rotation to support the war in Iraq and other areas in southwestern Asia.

The Hickam personnel -- the majority of them either security forces or civil engineering specialists -- are part of more than 1,400 airmen deploying from the Pacific Air Forces bases in Japan, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Okinawa.

About 600 airmen will be sent from Elemendorf Air Force Base in Alaska with an additional 300 from Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. The rest are coming from Guam and Okinawa.

Maj. Eric Armstrong, chief of Aerospace Expeditionary Force Pacific at Hickam, said the number of people set to deploy for this rotation is normal. "The AEF system typically taps between 100 and 300 personnel from Hickam AFB to serve each period. The number depends on whether Hickam AFB is scheduled as a primary or secondary contributor of forces for a particular rotation."

In May, 73 other Air Force personnel from Hickam headed to Qatar, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Dan Settergren, 15th Airlift Wing's deputy mission support group commander, said then that he expected an additional 150 Hickam airmen to leave the islands later this summer as part of the rotations.

The airmen are expected to support Army operations, including convoy escort, detainee facility security and civil engineer jobs.