HILO, Hawai'i — The new commander of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks yesterday said the soldiers under his command will be reaching out more to the community, in part to help with recruiting.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon also urged Hilo veterans and business and community leaders to encourage young people to serve their country, and specifically to consider service in the U.S. Army.

After a lunchtime speech to Hilo-area Rotary Clubs, Mixon told reporters the media coverage of the Army's difficulties in finding recruits has "overplayed that there is a crisis."

The Army and the 25th Division exceeded its re-enlistment goals, and attracted enough new recruits to fill its existing ranks. However, the Army missed its goal of attracting another 6,000 soldiers to increase the size of the Army, Mixon said.

"There certainly is no crisis," he said. "We have met our goals to keep the Army combat-ready and ready to go. It's simply an effort to grow the Army."

However, he said, community service projects both on the Big Island and O'ahu will showcase soldiers working on local school and other projects "so the citizens see our soldiers and get to know them, and hopefully that will encourage some people they come in contact with to at least ask what is it like to be in the Army."

"The point is to serve the nation," Mixon said. "This is something that America and America's citizens need to focus on, and pass that on to our young people."

Mixon, who assumed command of the 25th Infantry Division in June, spoke to the Rotary Clubs at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel as a small group of anti-war demonstrators stood outside the meeting room using a battery-powered public address system to read off the names of U.S troops killed in Iraq.

Police looked on as a half-dozen demonstrators displayed anti-war signs, but there were no arrests. The reading of the names of the war dead could barely be heard in the meeting room by the 150 Rotarians assembled there.

In other Army news, Mixon said eight-wheeled armored Stryker combat vehicles will begin arriving in Hawai'i in June, and be shipped to the Big Island for small-unit training exercises beginning next fall.

The Army is planning to spend $243 million on ranges, roadways and other improvements to accommodate the O'ahu-based Stryker brigade, but most of those improvements won't be finished by next year. The Army also plans to buy 23,000 acres near Pohakuloa Training Area from Parker Ranch as a maneuver area for the Stryker.

Until the construction and land purchase are complete, Mixon said Stryker training at Pohakuloa will be generally limited to about 30 Stryker vehicles at a time.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.