Word comes from some Hawai'i National Guard soldiers that there's a new mission at Camp Buehring in Kuwait: latrine overwatch.

Seems that higher-ups have taken offense at some of the graffiti that gets scrawled on the bathroom walls. Now there's a three-man detail providing 24-hour guard over 12 toilets in one warehouse-type building to prevent the illicit penmanship.

And that really irks the soldiers having to do the guarding.

Graffiti in a war zone is nothing new. A long time before "Kilroy was here" in World War II, service members' words of wit have appeared in combat zones.

In Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, U.S. troops also have left their mark. In Iraq, the many visages of Saddam Hussein were a prime target.

Old aircraft and military vehicle boneyards in Iraq and Afghanistan took on a multicolored spray-paint hue. War zone bathrooms, both portable and in buildings, have always been a big temptation for Sharpie-wielding taggers.

A lot of it is puerile and directed at unhappiness at serving in that particular country or war zone. Commenting on the attributes of another unit on base is another favorite pastime.

The more than 1,700 Hawai'i soldiers of the National Guard and Army Reserve that are part of the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team have management and security duties at a number of bases in Kuwait and a convoy escort mission into Iraq.

They've been in Kuwait since October and November.

The Wyoming National Guard, which is training in Texas to replace the Hawai'i troops, is expected to leave for Kuwait at the end of June. Summer probably can't come soon enough for the 29th Brigade — particularly so for those soldiers on guard at the latrines.

SAVING 'EWA FIELD

The state Legislature has approved a resolution urging the preservation of the old Marine Corps Air Station 'Ewa as a national monument, museum and park.

The weedy and forgotten 'Ewa Field, in a corner of the shuttered Barbers Point Naval Air Station off Geiger Road, was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, before Pearl Harbor was hit.

Nearly 50 U.S. planes on the ground were destroyed and four Marines were killed. The future of the land remains unclear with a Navy decision to turn over 499 acres to a developer.

'Ewa Beach historian John Bond, who has waged a campaign to preserve a portion of 'Ewa Field, said the state resolution should help to expedite the listing of the battlefield as a National Monument and recognized National Battlefield.