Sinai watch

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

The other favorite outpost sits on the far side of Titan Island, just off the coast of Sharm El Sheikh in the north of the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel's only water link to the Red Sea.

It's not the furthest checkpoint from South Camp, but it is the most isolated. The only way on or off the island is by helicopter.

The troops like that when they're there they don't have to worry about anybody looking over their shoulders or telling them what to do. It's just the 10 or 11 of them in the unit doing their job.

It's also peppered with land mines. Guardsmen say there are more mines per square foot there than any other place on earth.

"There's one small path that goes from the outpost to the beach," Sigfridson said. No one strays from it, he said.

A Little R & R

Between training and outpost duty, Guardsmen use their 23day rotation at South Camp itself to relax.

Its southern edge sits on the Red Sea, a big tourist draw of Sharm El Sheikh.

With a dive shop on every comer. many soldiers will leave Egypt scuba trained and certified. Many already are.

This paid off for Cpl. Michael Blanchard who lost his wedding band after a particularly bad spill while wind surfing.

"I was trying to think, `How I am gonna explain this one to my wife?"' he said.

Knowing approximately where he lost it, Blanchard and a couple other Guardsmen rented scuba gear, dove and found the ring.

"It was 10 meters straight down, right by the buoy," Blanchard said.

Other R&R options include sightseeing in locations such as Cairo, Egypt, or hikes on Mount Sinai.

But most of the time the guys will simply gather to watch movies, listen to music or talk.

"The movie selection is good," Sigfridson said of the base's movie rental shop. "But it's all movies we've seen before."

Ready to Go Home

But even with all the amenities offered to the soldiers, most are ready to go home.

Many of the soldiers have specific things they miss, from being with family to driving their cars. The monotony of the routine long since set in.

"I'm missing hunting season," said Staff Sgt. Phil Disney

Staff Sgt. Jason Keough's son was born a month before he left for training at Fort Carson, Colo., last summer. It's everything he can do now to remain a part of his family's life.

"I call Cheryl almost every night," Keough said of his wife.

He tries to talk to his son Ethan every time he calls even if Ethan can't talk back yet, so that he'll at least recognize Keough's voice when he returns home.

Armstrong, when he's back at base, tries to get on and chat around once a day, instant messaging with his girlfriend or family. But he still sends and receives regular mail, too.

"He's one of our big mail guys," Sigfridson said with a smile.

The story's the same for many soldiers who have close family ties at home. Packages from home, which at times take months to arrive, keep the soldiers linked to home and stocked with goods that maybe aren't available from South Camp's force exchange.

Soldiers also get their local newspapers at South Camp. Operation News from Home sends newspapers to the troops in the Sinai from citizens back home who donate the money to send the papers over