Document text
Sinai awaits local Guard units By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune ASHLAND - The 186th Infantry Battalion of the Oregon Army National Guard will be called up to serve in the Sinai early next year. Brig. Gen. Raymond Byrne, commander of the Tigard-based 41st Separate Infantry Brigade (enhanced), which includes the Southern Oregon battalion, is expected to make the announcement in Ashland this morning. The battalion includes more than 500 citizen-soldiers spread throughout much of Southern Oregon. It includes line companies in Medford, Klamath Falls and Roseburg and a weapons company in Grants Pass. Medford also houses a battalion support attachment at its armory on Highway 99. Its headquarters company is based in Ashland under the command of Lt. Col. Daniel Cameron. The battalion will be mobilized in the spring, serving until January 2003, according to a Guard news release. The mission will be to serve with the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai, the release said. Although little information was available Monday evening, officials did say the mission will be the largest operational deployment by the Oregon Guard since World War II. Byrne will provide specifics today. The arid Sinai Peninsula, where Africa connects to Asia in the Middle East, has long been a point of contention between Israel and Egypt, having served as a battleground on several occasions, most notably in 1967 when Israel invaded and occupied the region. Israel returned all occupied Sinai lands to Egypt in 1982 as part of the Camp David Accords signed in 1978. As part of the accord, the United States and nine other nations in 1982 created the independent Multinational Force and Observers to ensure peace in the region. Many of the local battalion members have been to the Middle East. The unit deployed 140 soldiers of its Bravo Company to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, early in 2000. The soldiers spent four months guarding Patriot missile batteries as part of a mission to help enforce United Nations sanctions levied against Iraq after the Gulf War in 1991. That mission was the only overseas operational deployment for the Oregon Guard since World War II. But local Guardsmen have trained in Japan, Panama, Germany and throughout the states in recent years. Oregon Guard units also played support roles in the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.