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.
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