A tentative plan to deploy more than 2,000 Hawaii Army National Guard members to Afghanistan in 2013 has been scaled back.
Officials in April told the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team — with more than 2,000 Hawaii members and another 1,600 in Guam and Arizona — to begin preparations for a possible deployment in 2013, giving them two years to get ready.
But Maj. Gen. Darryll Wong said Monday the team recently received a change of plans, basically canceling the brigade-wide deployment and replacing it with one involving the possible deployment of a battalion-size unit or larger in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A battalion is about 450 to 500 soldiers.
If a decision is made to send a unit, the battalion would be one of four based in Hawaii, according to Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony, a Guard spokesman. But he emphasized that no final decisions have been made and that a lot could change by 2013.
The remaining units from Hawaii, Arizona and Guam will be placed in a contingency pool and were told in recent days to continue preparing for a possible deployment in 2013. But until an "alert order" is approved by the secretary of defense, the possibility exists that no units will be mobilized or deployed, the Guard said.
Tulsi Gabbard, a City Council member and Army Guard captain and company commander, welcomed Monday’s announcement.
"I think it is absolutely good news that fewer of our brothers and sisters in the Hawaii Army National Guard (potentially) will be put in harm’s way," she said.
The uncertainty surrounding deployments is affecting Army National Guard units throughout the country as the military reduces troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Guard said.
A standard deployment involves a mobilization of about one year, with roughly nine months in the country, Anthony said.
