At any given time, at least 50 Hawai'i-based troops are operating somewhere in the Pacific on training missions you normally don't hear about.

But this week, members of the Hawai'i-based Special Operations Command Pacific are making a rare, semi-public appearance. About 150 personnel from the Camp Smith headquarters are in the field for combat shooting, survival training and inflatable boat beaching exercises near Iroquois Point.

There's a six-mile hike today at Ka'ena Point; tomorrow, about 100 will be taking turns parachuting out of helicopters at Schofield Barracks.

"Being an operational headquarters, it's kind of hard to get out and do these kind of training events that we need to do," said Maj. Gen. Salvatore F. Cambria, unit commander. "So this is designed to pull the command away from headquarters, get them out in a field environment, and 'reblue' some of those basic warrior skills."

Special Operations Command Pacific plans, coordinates and directs all special operations in the Pacific. Its personnel are often in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia; anywhere from 10 to 30 are deployed to the southern Philippines.

Cambria has the ability to call on 800 to 2,000 U.S. troops, including Navy SEALs on Guam, and an Army Special Forces battalion and Air Force group on Okinawa.

Cambria also has a Hawai'i-based headquarters of about 270. About 150 of the troops who are on-island are taking part in the exercise. Many of the rest are deployed.

The training yesterday at Pu'uloa Training Facility brought together Army digital, Navy woodland, Air Force tiger stripe and Marine Corps camouflage uniforms.

Military lawyers and satellite communications experts trained alongside SEALs and Army Green Berets. About 30 percent of the Special Operations Command Pacific headquarters are special operations forces.

Navy SEALs also are assigned separately on O'ahu to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One at Pearl City Peninsula.

IRAQ DEPLOYMENT

The training provided a glimpse into a force that shuns the limelight.

The 33-year-old Special Forces major who is the officer in charge of planning the exercise was in Iraq from October of 2004 to July of 2005 as the commander of an Operational Detachment Alpha — a team of 12 soldiers.

The U.S. military doesn't like to name its special operations troops for security reasons. In Iraq, the major worked with South Korean forces who in turn were working with Kurds in the northern city of Mosul.

From March to November 2006, he was an Operational Detachment Alpha commander on Jolo in the southern Philippines and lived with Philippine soldiers and special operations counterparts — some of whom were killed on combat operations.

"It takes some adjustment from the tactical level in the weeds, to the (level) we operate here at SOCPAC," he said. "I didn't spend many days behind a computer, nor did many of these folks spend at a desk, so that took some getting used to."

LAWYER TRAINS, TOO

Service members were working on three skill sets yesterday, including shooting a sidearm and M-16 at silhouette targets after doing 10 pushups.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Laurin Eskridge, 35, a staff judge advocate, or military lawyer, said with her position, she's normally required to only shoot annually.

"It can be a little nerve-wracking because everyone is watching you," Eskridge said after the shooting drill.

She had previously deployed to Afghanistan, where she carried either a 9 mm pistol or an M-4 carbine.

Within a thorny kiawe grove, other service members were creating concealment positions.

Lt. Col. Erik Wong, who's with the Hawai'i Air National Guard but attached to Special Operations Command Pacific, was adding freshly cut branches to the concealment spot with another military member.

"Make sure the leaves are facing the right way," Wong said. Leaves that face the wrong way would be something that could be noticeable, he said.

"It's part of the philosophy of SOCPAC to train as we fight," said Wong, a 1977 Mid-Pacific Institute graduate. "This is a practical application of the skills we would be using in the real world."

Cambria, the unit's commander, said he tries to schedule a day of range fire or parachute skills quarterly.

"But it's hard to get them all together in this environment," he said.

"Not only does it build warrior skills," Cambria added, "it really does a lot to build teamwork, because this is the command that will go forward under a standing joint task force orders and set up an operation should we be called upon."

PHILIPPINE DUTY

Special Operations Command Pacific's biggest operation right now is with Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines. About 500 U.S. service members are in the south of the country at any given time assisting the armed forces of the Philippines.

In addition to about two dozen SOCPAC service members, about 30 Hawai'i National Guard soldiers are in the country providing security.

The U.S. military builds roads, bridges and schools and works with the Philippine military to deter Muslim militants.

Cambria said he doesn't expect the size of the special operations force in Hawai'i to grow because he said he has a great "reach-back" capability.

"Should I need more forces, I put in a request into Special Operations Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, and I ask for a particular set of forces. They provide those," Cambria said.

There are about 50,000 active-duty and reserve special operations forces.

Five Navy SEALs from Special Operations Command Pacific were assisting yesterday in inflatable boat launches on the beach.

Air Force Master Sgt. Benjamin Rector, 33, who works in satellite communications, said the boat practice was a first for him. The Tennessee man also said it was fun.

"Something different," he said. "Little more teamwork. Getting out to meet everyone. Getting out of the cubicle and actually seeing people."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.