Call-Up May Affect Hundreds in County : Reserves: Several local units have the training that will be needed in the Persian Gulf. But officials say it could be weeks before orders arrive.

Hundreds of Ventura County residents could be ordered to military duty as a result of President Bush’s decision on Wednesday to call up reserves, but it will be days or weeks before they receive orders, officials said.

Several of the county’s reserve units are trained for the tasks that White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said are needed during the Persian Gulf crisis: airlifting; food, water and cargo handling; medical services; construction; driving surface vehicles; and intelligence work.

The 146th Tactical Airlift Wing at the Channel Islands Air National Guard Base has 16 C-130 cargo planes, more than any other reserve facility, Maj. Michael Ritz said.

Although the planes are not designed for long-distance, intercontinental hauling, they can make such flights in stages. In addition, with an ability to land in as short a distance as 800 feet, the C-130 is considered ideal for delivering cargo in war zones.

The Air National Guard wing’s 12 personnel units include a flight squadron, a medical evacuation team and a cargo handling unit. The three units total nearly 600 people.

Ritz stressed that no call-up order has been received and that it is possible no one in any of the units will be activated.

The base has 300 full-time personnel and about 1,100 reservists. Officials said about half of the base’s personnel live in Ventura County and most of the rest live in the San Fernando Valley.

Officials of the Navy Reserve, which has medical units of 50 to 60 members each at Point Mugu and Port Hueneme, said no decisions have been made about possible call-ups.

The Navy also has reserve construction groups at Port Hueneme, but the number of people in them could not be determined. Altogether, however, 362 Navy reservists are assigned to facilities in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, a spokesman said.

The Army has two reserve batteries of about 80 members each in Ventura County--one in Ventura and one in Oxnard. They are part of the 144th Field Artillery, a division that one official said is not likely to be among the first activated.

The Marines also have a small reserve unit in Ventura County--a weapons company at Port Hueneme--but no spokesman could be reached Wednesday.

While officials await a possible call-up, some reservists have been urged to alert their employers and arrange for things such as day care and power of attorney.

Jane Burati has talked to worried reservists and family members, both as the main telephone operator at the Channel Islands Air National Guard base and as head of the base’s volunteer family service group.

“The biggest thing now is lack of communication between the military member and the spouse,” she said. “Most of the questions I’m being asked could be answered by the military member if they would do so.”

She said callers are worried about things such as mortgage payments and losing their jobs. Under federal law, reserve members who are activated only have to pay the interest on their mortgages and their civilian jobs have to be kept open for them.

Perhaps the most important thing reservists can do now, Burati said, is arrange for direct deposit of military paychecks. “Otherwise,” she said, “they may not get a check for three to four months.”

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