Older reservists likely to face Iraq deployment

Calvin Nomiyama looks and acts every bit like the principal he is at Kalihi Uka Elementary School. Kalihi Uka Principal Calvin Nomiyama reads to students. Nomiyama, a colonel in the Army Reserve, may soon deploy to Iraq.  Sitting in his office, the 52-year-old soft-spoken man in gray slacks and nondescript short-sleeved shirt and tie gets most animated talking about the pie charts and graphs on the wall that track the school's reform plan to help kids achieve academic standards. "We're doing exciting things," he said. But Nomiyama also wears another hat -- one with an eagle on it denoting the rank of colonel, and with it, the school principal of 280 kids might soon be off to war. Nomiyama was one of about 150 Hawai'i-based Army reservists who were recently told to prepare for a likely 18-month mobilization and deployment to Iraq. The 322nd Civil Affairs Brigade is far from the first Hawai'i Guard or Reserve unit to be called up for active duty, but it is emblematic of the increasing number of professionals or soldiers in their 40s and 50s who are serving in the war. The Guard and Reserves now make up 40 percent of the 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Stephen M. Duncan, a former assistant secretary of defense for Reserve affairs, predicted that by the spring, that number could be 55 percent. [more]