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Oregon troops prep for Sinai mission

by Joe Burlas

MEDFORD, Ore. (Army News Service, April 17, 2002) -- Replacing an active-Army unit originally slated for peacekeeping duties in the Sinai region of Egypt this summer, the Oregon National Guard's 1-186th Infantry Battalion is in the final stages of preparing for deployment and its soldiers say they are ready to go.

Scheduled to train at Fort Carson, Colo., for the last of its mobilization requirements in May, and formally assume the U.S. portion of the Multinational Force and Observers mission in July, the 1-186th conducted Soldier Readiness Processing as part of home-station mobilization April 13 and 14.

The 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska, had originally been tasked to provide one of its battalions for the next six-month MFO rotation.

The tasking of the 1-186th to assume the MFO mission is significant for three reasons, said Col. David Teeples, a special assistant to the chief of staff of the Army. Teeples traveled with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to Medford to talk with 1-186th leaders and soldiers at the unit's SRP.

First, the switch frees up an active-duty unit for other missions related to the War on Terrorism if needed, Teeples said. Second, this is only the second time a reserve-component unit has been called upon to perform the Sinai mission. Third, it demonstrates the reserve component is a trusted and valued member of the Army family, he said.

A non-U.N. peacekeeping organization, the MFO was created from agreements reached during the 1979 Camp David Accords which sought a more permanent truce between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The MFO was activated in 1981 to act as an impartial buffer between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai. The Sinai is a desert region just east of the Suez Canal between the Red Sea in the south and Mediterranean Sea in the north that abuts Israel's western border.

"I am patriot," said Staff Sgt. Mark Dalton, a 1-186th medical treatment noncommissioned offer. "Going on a deployment is part of what a soldier may get called upon to do -- whether he or she is active-Army, Reserve or National Guard. I am looking forward to being part of a real-world mission and very proud that this National Guard unit has been selected to do it."

Owner of an Oregon-based e-commerce business that builds and tracks customer databases, Dalton has deployed to the desert before when his unit was deployed to Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Storm. He said his business partner, wife and the mother of his three children will keep the business going while he is away.

"She isn't real excited about me going, but she has understood since before we married that being a solider -- if mostly on a part time basis -- is part of who I am," Dalton said.

Being a soldier is also a big part of who Officer Candidate Eric Cole is. Offered the opportunity to finish the Oregon National Guard Officer Candidate School over the next two months, or just completing the first of three phases before shipping with the 1-186th as a squad automatic weapons gunner, Cole chose to go with his unit.

A prior-service cannon crewman who served in Germany from 1985 to 1989, Cole said he drifted without much purpose, working as a carpenter, doing odd jobs and earning a college degree, after leaving active-duty. He joined the Oregon National Guard last August and said it was like coming home.

"I missed the camaraderie, adventure, challenge and security of being a soldier, Cole said. "The Guard gives me back all that. My life once more has direction."

Cole has a strong soldier tradition in his family. A grandfather served in the Army during World War II. His father, stepfather and an uncle served during the Vietnam War. And like his grandfather who joined to avenge the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Cole said he hopes to have the opportunity to avenge his generation's Pearl Harbor -- the terrorist attacks on the New York City World Trade Center and Pentagon.

"I am ready to go and do my part," Cole said. "We are capable, well-trained and ready to do what is asked of us. I welcome the opportunity the Army has given us to prove ourselves in a very hot spot of the world."