Not too long ago, soldiers and Marines were returning to Hawaii by the thousands from Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, 15 Schofield Barracks soldiers stood onstage at the Sgt. Smith Theater as they "uncased" their battle flags and were officially welcomed home.
The once steady stream of Hawaii soldiers being sent to Afghanistan has turned into a trickle as the United States continues a drawdown that could see the approximately 36,000 remaining American troops drop to 10,000 or fewer at the end of the year.
The returning Schofield soldiers with the 14th Construction Management Team and the 15th Explosive Hazard Team, both from the 130th Engineer Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, served about seven months in Afghanistan, the Army said.
"Every single day was hard" for both teams, said Lt. Col. Anela Arcari, commander of the 130th Engineer Brigade (Provisional).
That included changing missions, a shortage of equipment and dwindling resources as the drawdown of troops passed before their eyes.
At Kandahar Airfield, Sgt. 1st Class Vincent Morris, who is with the 15th Explosive Hazard Team, saw the big base swell and shrink as units flowed through and out of the country.
"We’d get 5,000 troops in, (so we’d see) they are all here this week, and all the tents would be filled up," said Morris, 40, who is from Wickenburg, Ariz.
One day there would be 200 service members in line at the chow hall, and the next there might be 50 after another batch left, he said.
Civilian contractors were being "heavily worked trying to get things turned in and trying to get all the troops out of there," he said.
A total of 80,000 containers and 20,000 vehicles were still in Afghanistan in late October. The "retrograde" out of Afghanistan was pegged at a cost of between $5 billion and $7 billion.
The 14th Construction team had to scrounge through the containers of departing units for needed equipment, an official said. The construction team partnered with Navy Seabees on a program to train Afghan engineers to drill wells and build buildings and foundations.
The 15th Explosive Hazard Team, meanwhile, was the last such team in the country training Army engineers how to deal with improvised explosive devices, Morris said.
About 45 soldiers from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 130th Engineer Brigade, who also recently redeployed were recognized Tuesday. About 75 other brigade soldiers are expected to remain in Afghanistan until this summer.
The 45th Sustainment Brigade’s 524th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion has about 200 soldiers still deployed to Afghanistan, and other elements of the 45th are scheduled to deploy this summer, officials said.
Sgt. Maj. Brande Small, 50, who is with the 14th Construction team, said there was a "big difference" in the attitudes of Afghans in 2010-2011 compared with this deployment as America draws down its troops.
"The environment now compared to then is more welcoming by locals and by a lot of soldiers that are used to having us there," Small said.
