Halfway through what is currently the largest deployment to Afghanistan by Hawaii troops, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade soldiers and helicopters are flying 3,500 hours a week as the United States continues a troop drawdown that will leave 68,000 American service members in the country by October.

Brigade commander Col. Frank Tate, recently back in Hawaii for rest and recuperation leave, said his soldiers are flying 3,000 hours a month more than the helicopter unit they replaced — and that’s saving lives.

"It means that there’s infantrymen that are able to fly over the (improvised explosive devices) and land at the objective rather than have to walk or drive through potential IED (zones)," Tate said last week.

About 2,600 Hawaii-based soldiers are on the deployment.

According to one recent poll, two of three Americans believe the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting, and the United States is moving to conclude its combat presence at the end of 2014.

Hawaii Marines with the 3rd Marine Regiment at Kaneohe Bay have stopped deploying to Afghanistan and instead are concentrating on the Pacific — the new center of gravity for the Pentagon.

Despite those factors, Tate said morale is high.

"Regardless of all the politics (back home), what our kids know is that they are flying 3,000 hours a month more than their predecessors, and it’s translating to infantrymen that will go home alive that wouldn’t have," Tate said. "They know that in their soul. So their morale is tied to doing their mission extraordinarily well in tangible ways."

The unit deployed with about 95 Chinook, Black Hawk and Kiowa helicopters from Wheeler Army Airfield.

Four of the Hawaii soldiers were killed in an April 19 crash of a Black Hawk in bad weather on a night flight in southern Afghanistan.

The dead included Chief Warrant Officer 2 Don C. Viray, 25, from Waipahu, a 2004 Roosevelt High School graduate and the pilot in command on the flight.

Tate said the investigation into the crash has been completed, and he plans to personally provide the information to the families of the fallen soldiers on visits to their homes this week.

Although there have been some flying mishaps involving damaged landing skids or rotors striking terrain in mountainous and desert regions, as well as helicopters taking "quite a bit" of small-arms fire, there have been no other serious injuries, Tate said.

Tate said the helicopters "fly a little higher in theater these days" before dropping off troops or supplies, and some of the systems onboard protect the aircraft from surface-to-air missiles.

"So the bigger threat is from small arms down low, heavy machine guns down low, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) down low," he said.

Task Force Wings, the element that Tate commands in Afghanistan, includes Apache attack helicopters based out of Colorado and Germany, as well as two Chinook and one Black Hawk medevac companies from several National Guard units, he said.

The brigade headquarters is at Kandahar Airfield. Task Force Wings has responsibility for Regional Command South and medevac duties for Regional Command Southwest, Tate said.

In September, Task Force Wings will pick up another aviation battalion in Regional Command West, he said.

"Once we take over West, we’ll essentially have half of Afghanistan," Tate said. At that time, the number of troops under his command will increase to about 3,500, with a corresponding jump in helicopters from 175 now to 210 then, he said.

Missions these days include troop complements that are at least 50 percent Afghan as the United States continues to train that country’s forces, Tate said.

"In (Regional Command) South, in particular, this has been great in the sense that there is some strong leadership in the Afghan National Army, and they have done surprisingly well, in my opinion, in terms of actually accepting that responsibility and planning major operations," Tate said.

His helicopters fly U.S. and Afghan special operations forces nightly, he said.

A halfway home party was held for families on Saturday at Bellows Air Force Station. The first units are expected to return from Afghanistan in early January.

"It’s a major milestone. We’ve got 51/2 months left right now," Tate said. "So for the families, it’s great to finally look like you are going downhill."