Sinai watch

National Guard, Dec 2002/Jan 2003 by Rogers, Rob

In three-hour shifts, Oregon Army National Guard soldiers sit, watch and report movement they see along roads, sea lanes and in the sky. The sites were built at strategic points across the Sinai to facilitate the observation of traffic across the landmass.

Because of the terms set out in the Camp David Accord, neither country can move military vehicles into nor across the eastern sliver of the Sinai Peninsula, which separates Egypt and Israel.

So checkpoint duty simply becomes reporting who is moving where. Soldiers report what vehicles they see, when and where, to a control center that is situated north of South Camp, the main MFO base on the southern half of the Sinai Peninsula.

"After that we don't hear any more about it," Sigfridson said. Guardsmen from the main control center radio in those reports to South Camp, where MFO investigators decide whether a violation has occurred.

But in the 20-year history of the treaty between Egypt and Israel, MFO checkpoints have never had a major violation.

On any given day, a checkpoint observer might file up to five or six reports, but usually a unit is lucky to file one a day through the course of its stay.

"Sometimes it gets pretty boring," Staff Sgt. Clint Blevins said.

Sinai Living

The outposts are nothing more than a barbedwire-enclosed trailer park with a guard tower. A bunker sits at each corner of the where the soldiers could go to defend themselves if attacked.

All sites include four or five trailer houses that act as barracks, a kitchen, a lounge and a command post. A metal guard tower sits off to the side. On hot days it heats up like an oven.

Life on the Sinai is divided into 23-day increments-23 days at South Camp, 23 days at the checkpoints. Guardsmen are virtually cut off from civilization when they're on the outposts.

They have no e-- mail or phone access. Supplies from South Camp come in every two or three days with the soldiers' mail, food and laundry.

The schedule has begun to wear on some soldiers.

"It should be three months instead of six months," said Spc. Chris Theiral of the mission.

This is Theiral's first time away from home for an extended period of time and he is anxious to complete the mission. He is among those Guardsmen who prefer the demands of checkpoint to the amenities of South Camp. Time goes by quicker at the checkpoints.

Some sites are obviously more popular than others, however. "Three-Delta is a favorite," Sigfridson said.

The checkpoint overlooks the bay in the most tourist-rich area of Sharm El Sheikh and there's a lot of activity to monitor.

It's also right next to a main thoroughfare in the city. Leaders at South Camp worry that a person could easily stop a car in the road right next to the checkpoint and set off a bomb.

Because of the security risks that it imposes, the soldiers have to rotate off the checkpoint and into South Camp every 12 hours.

That means the Guardsmen stationed there get access to email, pay phones and trips into the city-something impossible to do at the other outposts and checkpoints.