SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah National Guard mobilized one national bobsled driver along with her unit last week and it now has made a second bobsledder eligible for mobilization.

Steven Holcomb should have been deployed when the 1457th Engineer Battalion was mobilized last February, Guard officials said.

"The decision not to deploy him was made at a lower level, and we're upset about that," said Brig. Gen. Stanley Gordon, assistant adjutant general to the Utah National Guard. "We're not going to hunt him down, but his name is going into the mix when we need a replacement with his qualifications."

The 500 soldiers in Holcomb's battalion are expected to return home in June, and likely will not be deployed for at least six years.

Gordon said Holcomb will not be deployed to his unit at this late date because all slots for his skills are filled, but his name will remain on the mobilization list after his unit returns.

The "administrative mistake" involving Holcomb was discovered when bobsled driver Shauna Rohbock was mobilized with her engineering unit earlier this month, Gordon said.

Rohbock, 26, is the first and, so far, the only military-sponsored national athlete mobilized since the Army's World Class Athlete Program was organized in 1994, said the program's commander, Maj. Michael Hagen.

"We're soldiers first," he said. "If called, we all have to serve. Still, this could definitely hurt our program."

About 79 athletes are enrolled in the program, which pays them to train and compete for their country. Thirteen Army athletes took part in the 2002 Olympics, including Rohbock and Holcomb.

Rohbock told The Salt Lake Tribune that her deployment with the 115th Engineer Company will end her Olympic career, but she is willing to serve her nation.

Her father, Charles Rohbock, said he has appealed to Utah Gov. Olene Walker to allow his daughter to represent the Army as an athlete.

"We're not asking for a deferment or special treatment," he said. "We're asking the governor to allow her to remain where she was promised she would be, in the WCAP program as an Army athlete."

Walker spokeswoman Amanda Covington said the governor will discuss the matter with Guard commanders.

Meantime, Holcomb, who lives in Park City, is in Winterberg, Germany, with the U.S. men's bobsled team for World Cup competition this weekend.

The men's head coach, Tuffy Latour, who also is a member of the Vermont National Guard, said he is surprised more Army athletes haven't been mobilized.

The U.S. bobsled team will be harmed if Holcomb, 23, is deployed, he said.

"Steve is young, and with the right team, he could be at the (award) podium in the 2006 Olympics, and certainly in 2010," said Latour. "It would be heartbreaking to lose him."

Holcomb was unavailable for comment.

Another Utah athlete, Mike Kohn of Park City, who took a bronze medal in the four-man bobsled, is a member of the National Guard in his home state of Virginia.

"It's not an issue with us because his unit has not received an alert," said Virginia Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Chester Carter. "I know of no policy in which he would be exempted."

The decision to exempt Army Guard athletes rests with each state's adjutant general or governor.

Once the athletes are mustered into active duty, however, they are under the command of the U.S. Army, which then has the power to exempt or mobilize the athlete soldiers.

Gordon said athletes who are members of the Utah Guard will not be exempted from active-duty service if their units or particular military skills are needed.