Some of Hawai'i's 2,200 citizen soldiers who deployed to Iraq and Kuwait last year are being given an early Christmas present by the Army: an early December return date.

Although nothing has been confirmed, Lt. Col Keith Tamashiro, who commands the 1st Battalion, 487th Field Artillery in Kuwait, said an advance party of soldiers likely will be heading home in mid-November, and most of the unit should be packing up and bidding farewell to Kuwait's deserts a few weeks later.

More than 400 Hawai'i National Guard soldiers who are part of the Hiki No "Can Do" battalion providing security in Kuwait will be returning. Two platoons from the 227th Combat Engineer Company also are expected to come home.

"The soldiers are excited, and we can't wait to come home to a welcoming community, crowd, and more important, to our families and friends," Tamashiro said. "Coming home early is the best Christmas present of this deployment."

Bonnie Buccat of Kunia, 34, whose husband, Alfredo, 35, is a medic in Kuwait, said she's thankful for the anticipated return, but isn't counting on it 100 percent because she knows operational needs change in a war zone. Still, she's optimistic.

"Thank God it's almost over. I'm sure for every family it's been difficult, not having that one person there," she said. "It's been manageable for me. I've heard of other stories where it wasn't for other people."

The 1st of the 487th is scheduled to leave 11 months after deploying for Operation Iraqi Freedom because its replacement, the 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery of the Wisconsin National Guard, is expected to be in place in Kuwait in November for side-by-side training before the handoff.

The deployment was expected to be a year, but families said they were given a worst-case scenario of war duty extending into March or April.

Lt. Col. Kenneth Hara, who commands the 2nd Battalion, 299th Infantry based at Camp Victory near Baghdad International Airport, said his soldiers are scheduled to return in January, but a replacement unit hasn't been identified.

A decision by the U.S. command, Multi-National Corps, Iraq, may be made by month's end.

"The bottom line is 2-299th (Infantry) will not be home before Christmas," Hara said. He said the battalion hasn't received any orders extending its Iraq duty, either.

There hasn't been any word on more than 1,000 Hawai'i soldiers primarily with the Guard's 29th Support Battalion and Army Reserve's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry at Logistical Support Area Anaconda north of Baghdad.

The Cox New Service reported that the 48th Brigade Combat Team of the Georgia National Guard, 4,500 soldiers, will move out of Camp Striker near Baghdad's airport and be distributed among other bases to provide security. One battalion is expected to move to LSA Anaconda.

Iwie Tamashiro, who has a key role with family readiness as the wife of the 1st Battalion, 487th Infantry Regiment's commander, said because the early December return date is not a certainty, and not all the Hawai'i soldiers will get to be home for Christmas, homecoming plans have been low-key.

"That's a real hard thing, I know, for the men and also for the families," the Wahiawa woman said.

About 80 to 100 of the 1-487th field artillery soldiers are assigned to Hawai'i units in Iraq, and those soldiers won't return until those units head home.

"We're fortunate that the replacement group is moving in (to Kuwait) much earlier than for the guys up north," Iwie Tamashiro said. "So December is wonderful, but at the same time, we have families who are still going to be separated and very, very sad over the holidays."

An effort is being made within the battalion to send Christmas gifts to some of the Hawai'i soldiers who will remain in Iraq into January, she said.

Battery A of the field artillery battalion is the security force for Kuwait Naval Base on the Persian Gulf, and the soldiers man an entry-control point for Camp Patriot, the small U.S. port within the naval base, and two smaller control points into the naval base.

Battery B is the "quick reaction force" for neighboring camps Arifjan and Doha, and a security force for the southern half of Kuwait. Battery C supplements the other two batteries' missions. The 227th Combat Engineer Company provides security at the Sea Port of Debarkation, about a half-hour drive north from Kuwait Naval Base.

The battalion was trained in infantry skills during five months of mobilization before the deployment, and the unit expected to go to Iraq.

Instead, they were assigned the somewhat thankless but important job of performing security duties at the port facilities.

Vehicle yards fill up and the base population doubles during shipping surges. The reception, staging and onward integration effort mounted in Kuwait represents the biggest continuous logistics operation since World War II. About 400 trucks cross the border with Iraq every day.

"I feel a little guilty that we're not in combat and our unit will be one of the first to return to Hawai'i," said Capt. Keith Horikawa, a staff officer with the battalion.

Alfredo Buccat, a registered nurse at The Queen's Medical Center, was scheduled to come home for two weeks of rest and recuperation in November. His wife, Bonnie, is not sure if he'll still get it, but it looks like the father of a son, 5, and daughter, 2, will be home for Christmas.

Last year, the Hawai'i National Guard gave the soldiers leave over Christmas and New Year's.

"We didn't get cheated out of Christmas last year ... and we'll get it again this year," she said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.