More than 900 of Hawai'i's citizen soldiers are on the road every day in Iraq, notching up 10,000 miles in at least 300 Humvees as they provide security for supply convoys heading all over the combat zone.

"We get to see pretty much all of Iraq," said 2nd Lt. Bingham L. Tuisamatatele, 28, who grew up in Kalihi and now lives in Kapolei.

Tuisamatatele, with the 1st Battalion, 487th Field Artillery, is attached to a long-haul convoy security unit based in Kuwait. He escorts convoys to cities as far north as Mosul, which can take two weeks for a round trip.

"It's been a good experience," he said of all the driving.

The soldiers escort enough fuel on their daily runs to fill up 70,000 cars and enough food to feed 1 million people.

"The soldiers here are just really impressive," said Col. Bruce Oliveira, who commands the 1,200 Hawai'i Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers who are part of the Convoy Escort Teams.

As U.S. combat units step back and let Iraqis take the lead, the Hawai'i soldiers are busier than ever.

The units doing convoy escort missions are the Reserve's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry and the National Guard's 1st Squadron, 299th Cavalry. Both are part of the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

Since December, the teams have completed more than 800 missions from Kuwait to Iraq.

The 29th Brigade is responsible for ensuring the safety of about one-third of all convoys going into Iraq from Kuwait.

"I really wish that everyone could see the way they perform their missions here," Oliveira said by phone recently. "I'm impressed every day with their commitment to what they are doing here and going out and putting their lives on the line. So everyone in Hawai'i would be very proud of them."

The Hawai'i soldiers are three months into an approximately eight-month tour.

Although U.S. troop deaths are down in Iraq and recent provincial elections were largely violence-free, the Convoy Escort Teams have had 20 instances of enemy contact since December, Oliveira said.

Those have included small-arms fire and roadside bombs, with the latter resulting in two soldiers — Sgt. Jesus Molling and Spc. Kellen Concepcion — being medevaced out with burns and a broken leg, officials said.

Two Purple Hearts and four Combat Infantryman Badges for active ground combat are in the works.

"Actually, we've been very fortunate," Oliveira said. "We've had very few injuries."

NEW MRAPS

In his first media interview since arriving in Kuwait, Oliveira also said he's started to receive big Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, which provide more protection from roadside bombs than an up-armored Humvee.

The Hawai'i soldiers on escort duty will get more than 50 of the International MaxxPro MRAPs, which weigh 14 tons and have a V-shaped hull that deflects a blast away from the crew compartment.

"We're still in that process of fielding our MRAPs. They don't all come at once," Oliveira said. "In addition to that, we're starting our training this month on MRAPs, and we should see the first MRAPs out on the road sometime next month."

U.S. practice in Iraq has been to mix in MRAPs with the armored Humvees — often with an MRAP in the lead.

A total of 1,700 soldiers from Hawai'i and other Pacific Islands, including American Samoa, make up the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Kuwait. About 500 not under operational command by Oliveira help run U.S. bases in the country.

Oliveira said the 100th Battalion has responsibility for short-haul convoys to Camp Cedar, about a three-hour drive into Iraq, which serves as a truck stop along Main Supply Route Tampa near the city of Nasiriyah. The base is about 190 miles southeast of Baghdad.

The 1st of the 299th does long-haul missions through Baghdad and as far north as Mosul, Oliveira said.

The 100th Battalion is at Camp Virginia in Kuwait, while the 1st of the 299th is based at Camp Buehring.

ON THE ROAD

Spc. Matthew S. Nishida, 22, echoed what Tuisamatatele said about seeing Iraq.

"Going up into Iraq, it's nice to be able to actually travel ... and just pretty much get a preview of the whole country," said Nishida, who lives in Kane'ohe. "The time goes by a lot faster on the road than it does back in the rear."

Soldiers who remain on base experience what they call "Groundhog Day" — a reference to the Bill Murray movie in which the same day was repeated over and over.

"Danger is there, and we do roll through some hot spots once in a while, but we've been pretty lucky — as far as that goes," Nishida said. While most of the soldiers were in Kuwait or Iraq on a 2005 deployment, Nishida is on his first combat deployment.

Usually, about 12 soldiers in four Humvees make up a Convoy Escort Team. Nishida, who worked at Banana Republic and a small engineering company before deploying, said he hasn't experienced a roadside bomb.

The soldiers are advised not to talk about the specifics of attacks.

Staff Sgt. Jason I. Kaaiakamanu, 39, who lives in Halawa, said the lengthy convoy escort missions bring the soldiers together.

"When you are back in Hawai'i, you are only with them two days a month," he said. "You don't get to know them on a real personal basis. When we go out on our missions, you are with 11 other guys 24-7. It's kind of our own little family in itself."

Spc. Paul B. Angeleo, 25, who is from Kona and is with the 1st of the 299th, meets up with a soldier on the road who looks just like him — his twin.

Spc. Peter Angeleo is in the same platoon, but on a different Convoy Escort Team.

"At first, I kind of didn't want him to come up here — I wanted him to stay back so he could take care of himself back at home," Paul Angeleo said. "It's hard trying to look after him, worry about him."

The brothers run into each other on the road and passing through forward operating bases, or FOBs.

Temperatures have been in the 50s and 60s during the day, and drop down into the 40s at night.

THINKING OF HOME

Some of the teams take turns driving or manning the gun turret in the Humvees, where they are exposed to a lot of wind. There's a small strap seat on which they can sit, but "usually we're standing up freezing," Paul Angeleo said.

The soldiers say the combat pay has been good, but the time away from family and home always is difficult. The return home is expected in July.

The 29th Brigade has been working through rest and recuperation leave, and the soldiers get 14 days at home. Nishida went skydiving on his leave.

"You kinda figure you are in a combat zone, so why not just go all out when you get back home," he said. He also spent time with his girlfriend, taking her out to Stage restaurant.

Tuisamatatele, who has two daughters who are 8 years old and 7 months, has simpler goals when he comes home for R&R, possibly this week.

"Pretty much see my daughters," he said.