You never know what kind of military history you'll find lying around in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2004, sitting in the grass in a neglected section of Kirkuk Air Base in Iraq, was a Soviet MiG-15.

Introduced in 1949, the MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it gave U.S. pilots fits over the skies of Korea early in that war.

Many a U.S. service member has brought home long-barreled Enfield muzzle loading rifles from Afghanistan.

Maj. John Highfill, a native of Otis, Kan., and the former executive officer of the 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, a Hawai'i Stryker brigade unit in Iraq, is trying to find a way to bring back to Schofield Barracks something slightly bigger and heavier than an old musket.

Actually, it's a tanklike vehicle and it weighs 16,500 pounds.

A beat-up and graffiti-sprayed World War II M8 light armored Greyhound was found in the military boneyard at Camp Taji just north of Baghdad where Highfill is based.

Some of the bigger air bases in the two war zones have junkyards filled with the detritus of past armies.

The beat-up, desert-tan Greyhound, with its six wheels and 37 mm gun, caught Highfill's eye because of a cavalry connection to his unit, and as a wheeled precursor to the Stryker vehicle.

"After doing some research on the 14th Cavalry, I found that the 14th Cavalry Group, as it was designated during WWII, used this piece of equipment in the European Theater of Operations," said Highfill, an amateur historian.

Soldiers from the Combat Repair Team, Company B, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, managed to get the armored vehicle to the maintenance shop to make minor repairs. They then presented it to Highfill.

More than 8,500 M8s were built between 1942 and 1943, and the vehicle "had an illustrious career in all theaters of operation," according to robertsarmory.com, a museum that specializes in World War II-era armored vehicles and artillery.

Highfill is helping refurbish the Greyhound. He hopes to somehow get it back to Hawai'i for display outside the 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry headquarters.

IN BRIEF

SOLDIER GETS 4-STAR RE-ENLISTMENT

Not all soldiers get to take the oath of re-enlistment from a four-star general, head of all U.S. forces in Iraq, and the next commander of U.S. Central Command.

Spc. Anthony Robbins, a Schofield Barracks soldier, did so on Aug. 2.

The aforementioned four-star, Gen. David Petraeus, who also is famous for his "surge" strategy of bringing 30,000 extra soldiers to Iraq, visited with 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry "Gimlet" soldiers in Nassir Wa Salam west of Baghdad.

KANE'OHE MARINES DEPLOY TO IRAQ

Last week marked the departure to Iraq of about 1,000 Kane'ohe Bay Marines from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

The battalion is replacing the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, in the Karma region near Fallujah.

"It'll take about a week and a half to get the battalion in theater," Maj. Jason Borovies, operations officer, said before the battalion left Hawai'i.

Borovies said that although it's relatively quiet in theater, the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, will continue supporting the Iraqi people and assisting its police force during the seven-month deployment.

"It's changed drastically since 2004," he said.

The Marines trained during Exercise Mojave Viper at Twentynine Palms, Calif., and at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.