The new leader of the Army Reserve's only combat unit hopes he will be allowed the luxury of the normally allotted five-year rest period between wartime deployments to prepare his soldiers for their next mission.

However, Lt. Col. Kimo Dunn, who assumes command of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, tomorrow at Fort Shafter, realizes the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York City's World Trade Center in 2001 increased the “;operational tempo”; for all military units.

“;After 9/11 we have been asked to do more,”; said Dunn, a 1983 Kamehameha Schools graduate.

“;We are deploying more and going downrange more often,”; Dunn added, pointing out the that the “;Go for Broke”; battalion was activated in 2004 as a part of the Hawaii Army National Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team and sent to Iraq.

It was released from active duty in 2006, only to be recalled two years later and redeployed to Kuwait.

“;In a perfect world, we're supposed to have at least four years to retrain and prepare to deploy in the fifth year,”; Dunn said. “;Now the 100th has to be prepared to deploy at any time.”;

He said many of the key enlisted soldiers and company commanders were reassigned after the Kuwait deployment.

Dunn replaces Lt. Col. Mike Peeters, who will become deputy commander of the 4,960th Multifunctional Training Brigade.

The 100th Battalion, which can trace its lineage to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, has reservists from Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and Saipan.

Dunn, a 1987 University of Hawaii graduate, works full time for the Army Reserve at Fort Shafter as a civilian who supervises Army Reserve operations in the Pacific.

After graduating from Kamehameha, Dunn enlisted in the Army Reserve and was simultaneously in the University of Hawaii Army ROTC program.

He obtained his commission in 1986 and was assigned to the 100th Battalion when Maj. Bob Lee, state adjutant general, commanded the infantry unit. He has served as scout platoon and company commander in the 100th.

In 2004-05 Dunn deployed to Kabul to help establish Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan headquarters. In 2007-08, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he served on the staff of Lt. Gen. James Dubick, former commander of the 25th Infantry Division, in Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq headquarters.

He is married to the former Carleen Paresa, with whom he has two daughters — Jasmine and Jessie — and two sons — Kainoa and Keanu.