The last of the Hawaiçi National Guard troops supporting relief efforts in American Samoa was to arrive in Honolulu last night, according to a Hawaiçi Department of Defense media release.

While most of the Guard members sent to tsunami-ravaged Samoa had returned earlier in the week, more than a dozen members remained in Samoa to assist with hazardous material and damage assessment operations.
The effort was the first time Hawaiçi National Guard troops had deployed such a sizable Task Force outside Hawaii in support of a Pacific partner.
In addition to assembling a medical triage, search and extraction, and hazardous material identification team, the task force deployed vehicles, equipment and supplies to local aid efforts.
The National Guard CERF-P team had been specially trained to respond to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive situations.
The medical triage element of the team treated scores of patients for minor injuries suffered during the initial earthquake and the subsequent series of waves that devastated the island territory.
The Guard effort in American Samoa marked the first time such a team had been deployed outside the continental United States.