The Hawai'i National Guard's 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is settling into the desert landscape of Kuwait and getting up to speed for the next eight months of missions.

The last of the more than 1,700 Hawai'i National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers to arrive in Kuwait heard about the Nov. 4 election of President-elect Barack Obama while in flight.

Already, Hawai'i soldiers have been conducting convoy security escort missions into Iraq for almost a month, driving as far as Baghdad and Mosul to the north and back again to Kuwait, said brigade spokeswoman Maj. Pam Ellison.

"We are very fortunate that our missions have all gone safely," Ellison said, adding that safety is a reflection of training in Hawai'i, a subsequent two months at Fort Hood in Texas, and additional training in Kuwait.

The 29th Brigade, augmented by troops from Oklahoma, is replacing the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Ohio National Guard, which arrived in Kuwait in late March.

Ellison said the Hawai'i soldiers are at Camp Arifjan; Camp Patriot, which used to be called Kuwait Naval Base; Camp Virginia; and Ali Al Salem air base, now known as a "Life Support Area."

The weather is getting colder, dipping down into the low 50s, with daytime highs in the 70s and 80s. That will be replaced by 120-degree heat in the summer.

Ellison offered this snapshot from Arifjan:

"We have excellent food with a number of different dining facilities throughout the base offering a varied menu to accommodate most appetites; access to continuing education programs (with tuition assistance), from distance-learning courses to actual instructor-led courses on base; access to use free phone lines and computers to call and e-mail home, as well as the option of paying to access a local Kuwait wireless Internet service; a free shuttle system to get around the base, as it's quite a trek from all the different areas around base; three Post Exchanges, with a notable variety of comfort items for purchase; and an organized Morale, Welfare and Recreation program with offerings of activities from team sports, movies, live entertainment, as well as organized cultural events which allow the soldiers to see and visit locations within the country."

The Hawai'i soldiers are assuming management and security responsibilities at bases around Kuwait, but more than 1,000 soldiers will be regularly escorting convoys far into Iraq.

Hawai'i soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 299th Cavalry Squadron were the first to venture into Iraq, conducting a convoy security mission on Nov. 11.

The soldiers conducted night convoy live-fire exercises at Forward Operating Base Lance, which has two quonset huts to sleep in, but the latest edition of the brigade newsletter said some soldiers chose to sleep under the stars.

"Sometimes the thoughts of a sand viper or a large scorpion came into their heads, so their sleeping bags were bundled tight," the newsletter said.

About 500 soldiers with the Army Reserve's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry are part of the 29th Brigade, and also have convoy security escort duties into Iraq.

On a 2005 deployment, most of the Hawai'i citizen soldiers that are part of the 29th Brigade were based in Iraq at Camp Victory in Baghdad and at Logistics Support Area Anaconda.

IN BRIEF

SULTAN OF BRUNEI VISITS ISLAND BASES

Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was among Navy representatives who greeted the Sultan of Brunei on the quarterdeck of the Pearl Harbor-based guided-missile destroyer USS Russell last week.

The Navy said Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah was "visiting various military installations around Hawai'i to enhance mutual interest in maritime security and stability and build upon mutual trust and understanding."

One of the richest men in the world, the sultan is said to have nearly 6,000 cars and a Boeing 747-400 with gold-plated furniture.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.