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Preparing for Mideast deployment Photo by Steve Johnson Beau McCoy of Company B of the 186th Infantry of the Oregon National Guard takes an M-60 machine gun from the shelf at the Medford Armory Monday. Nearly 130 soldiers will leave for Saudi Arabia this month to help enforce U.N. sanctions against Iraq. Medford unit to enforce Iraq sanctions By PAUL FATTIG Nearly 130 men and women, largely from the Rogue Valley, will leave chilly Southern Oregon for warmer climes in the Middle East later this month. The citizen soldiers -- college students, blue-collar workers and professionals -- of Bravo Company of the 186th Infantry Battalion of the Oregon Army National Guard based in Medford are bound for Saudi Arabia. "Everybody I've got is motivated -- we're all ready to go," said Capt. Jens Danielson, company commander. After two weeks annual training beginning this week, they will leave Jan. 25 for a week's preparation at Fort Carson, Colo., then head to a military base near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where they will spend four months. The weather is expected to be warm, but not broiling. One of those eager to be deployed is Spec. 4 Brian Moyer, 20, of Medford, a second-year psychology student at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. "I'm looking forward to it," said Moyer, who joined the National Guard while still a senior at South Medford High School. "I want the experience, and I want to serve my country," he added. "We've been doing a lot of training. We're ready." The local unit will replace 136 members of Charlie Company of the 162nd Infantry Battalion based in Gresham. That unit has been in Saudi Arabia since early October. Like the northern Oregon unit, the Rogue Valley citizen soldiers will be part of Operation Southern Watch. Their mission will be to help enforce U.N. sanctions levied against Iraq after the Gulf War in 1991. When the Gresham-based unit was activated, it was the first combat activation of an Oregon Army National Guard unit in nearly 60 years. The Oregon soldiers, who have been guarding Patriot missile batteries, had replaced an active Army unit. While Oregon Army National Guard units have been called up for duty in Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War, those soldiers have all been in support units. Until Charlie Company was activated, no Oregon unit had been given a combat assignment since 1941 when a unit was first activated for World War II, according to Guard officials. "We are the second Oregon combat unit to be deployed," Danielson said, noting they were also among the first National Guard units in the nation to be given a combat deployment. The lion's share of those being deployed are from the Medford area, said Danielson who, like many others in Guard, will be leaving loved ones behind. His wife, Sunee, is a student at SOU. "The 162nd has been over there for a while -- we'll be replacing them," he said of his rifle company. "We'll be traveling light -- no tanks, no vehicles." The local unit won't be back until June, he said. "Everyone is real motivated," he reiterated. "We're ready to go." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA