President Barack Obama has ordered the withdrawal of American soldiers from Afghanistan.
Early indications are that nothing will change immediately for 7,000 Hawaii-based soldiers in Afghanistan — at least for now.
In accordance with his December 2009 pledge, Obama ordered the withdrawal of 10,000 troops by the end of the year, along with an additional 20,000 by the end of next summer.
Until the command receives explicit word from the Pentagon, the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) — which overseas most Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region — will continue business as usual, said Col. Michael Donnelly, USARPAC public affairs officer.
Currently, close to 7,000 Hawaii-based soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan, Donnelly said. An additional 21,500 U.S. Army troops are stationed in Hawaii. Roughly 67,000 soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan.
According to Donnelly, while some Hawaii-based soldiers are deployed throughout the Asia-Pacific region on humanitarian missions, most end up in Afghanistan or Iraq for the war effort.
Hawaii-based Army troops who are scheduled to go to Afghanistan will do so until “firm word from the Pentagon” orders differently, he said.
“At the end of the day, the Hawaii-based soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Pacific…will continue to execute their assigned missions until directed otherwise,” he said.
