For the first time in nearly seven years, the cannons of the Hawaii Army National Guard's field artillery unit will be fired during June annual training exercises at the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area.

That is because the citizen soldiers of the Hawaii Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 487th Field Artillery, 29th Brigade, began training as security troops for possible deployment to the Middle East. They were deployed to Iraq in 2006 and Kuwait in 2008, but without their howitzers, according to Col. Keith Tamashiro, who commanded the artillery unit for five years.

“;The field artillery unit hasn't shot its howitzers since 2003,”; said Tamashiro.

Tamashiro will assume command of the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team on May 22. He will replace Col. Bruce Oliviera.

Tamashiro, 47, said there are “;a variety of challenges”; his brigade will face as its more than 2,000 soldiers spend the next couple of years being re-equipped and retrained.

Tamashiro said that under guidelines, the 29th Brigade can expect to remain in Hawaii until 2014.

This would help the soldiers adjust from the past deployment, reuniting with their families and getting readjusted to their civilian jobs, Tamashiro added.

Tamashiro currently commands the Hawaii Army National Guard's 298th Regiment, Multi-Functional Training Brigade-Regional Training Institute in Waimanalo, which he will turn over to Col. Arnold Iaea on May. 2. That Hawaii Army National Guard unit, located at Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo, is responsible for training officers and noncommissioned soldiers.

Tamashiro was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the field artillery in 1984 after graduating from the Army ROTC program at DePaul University in Chicago.

After 4 1/2 years of active duty, he joined the 487th Field Artillery in 1988 and assumed command of the unit in 2001. He accompanied the brigade in 2005 to Kuwait, where he served as the base camp commander for more than 2,100 personnel at the Kuwait Naval Base in Kuwait while also managing soldiers spread out over three different locations in Iraq.

Tamashiro relinquished command of the artillery unit in July 2006 and was reassigned as the deputy chief of staff at the Joint Forces Headquarters. On July 8, 2007, he assumed command of the 298th Regional Training Institute.

When he is not serving in the Hawaii National Guard, Tamashiro works for the state Department of Human Services First-to-Work Program where he manages the Honolulu office helping welfare recipients gain employment and educational skills. He also is a member of the Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley Neighborhood Board.