A lot of Hawai'i-based special operations forces will be in the field this week on O'ahu as the headquarters of Special Operations Command-Pacific based at Camp Smith gets some extra training.

About 150 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine service members are taking part in the deployment. Many are Navy SEALs and Army Special Forces, otherwise known as Green Berets.

The command, which operates as U.S. Pacific Command's rapidly deployable special operations joint task force, has been in Hawai'i for 25 years.

The "SOCPAC" service members will conduct individual and team tasks. Individual tasks include "water confidence" training, and qualification training with individual weapons.

A six-mile hike at Ka'ena Point is planned, and the troops also will conduct survival training and jump operations.

The Hawai'i Army National Guard will fly CH-47 Chinook helicopters for jump operations and a Navy dive unit is providing Zodiac boats for the training, officials said.

The training will take place at Camp Smith, Area X-Ray at Schofield Barracks, and at Iroquois Point.

SOCPAC members and component units recently participated in a two-week exercise in Guam to hone readiness as the Pacific region's special operations Joint Task Force-510.

"The exercise was designed to bring JTF-510 together on short notice to test our capability to rapidly deploy and respond to crisis situations," Maj. Gen. Salvatore F. Cambria, SOCPAC's commander, said at the time. "Our forces performed extremely well, and are now better trained and more capable to serve U.S. Pacific Command."

That exercise, Fortune Maker 2007, included command post and field training events with notional host nation forces.

About two dozen SOCPAC service members based out of Hawai'i are typically in the southern Philippines as part of the 500-member Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines.

IN BRIEF

ABU REMAINS A WORK IN PROGRESS

The Air Force's "Airman Battle Uniform" is getting to be a pretty common sight at Hickam Air Force Base, but there's still a variety of camouflage yet to be seen.

The ABU is pixilated like that of the Army and Marines, and is a combination of tan, gray, green and blue. But it also has a slightly retro Vietnam look with a tiger stripe pattern.

Senior Master Sgt. Charles Ramey, who works for the 13th Air Force at Hickam, was among the first to get the uniform. He was issued four sets for a May 2007 deployment to Iraq.

"I got a lot of looks and a lot of questions," he recalls.

Ramey said it's functional and he likes the wash-and-wear design.

Airmen haven't liked the inside map pockets on the jacket, which add insulation to the already thicker material.

"What happens is it kind of traps the heat," Ramey said. "When you've got a flak jacket on and it's already 100 degrees, it does make it warm. But like anything else, it's a work in progress."

Some have taken to cutting out the map pockets.

Ramey said the tiger stripe "is great for that heritage," but that the digital pixilation "does serve a function in the 21st century Air Force."

SCHOFIELD SOLDIERS RECALL IRAQ BLAST

Schofield Barracks was the first duty station for Pfc. Jeremy Thomas and Pvt. Jaylon Ward. They left for Iraq in December. Now they have Purple Hearts to add to their relatively brief Army resumes.

Thomas and Ward were part of a three-Stryker vehicle convoy on Jan. 18 when a roadside bomb exploded beneath them.

During the medical evacuation, the convoy was under fire.

Another roadside bomb was discovered nearby.

"It's not a situation you want to be in," Ward told the Schofield base newspaper. "It's probably the most terrifying thing I can say I've been through. Considering the fact that where the bomb went off was probably three feet in front of me, I got lucky."

Ward suffered a minor concussion and lower back injuries. His left ankle was split open, and his heel was shattered.

Thomas had numerous torn ligaments and a broken bone in his knee.

BRICE-O'HARA GETTING D.C. POST

Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara, commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District since May 3, 2006, will become assistant commandant for operations in Washington, D.C., officials said.

A change of command will occur in May.

Replacing Brice-O'Hara will be Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, commander of Maintenance Logistics Command Pacific.

The Fourteenth District's search and rescue area of responsibility covers nearly 12.2 million square miles of the central Pacific Ocean.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.