"Right now, we've only been directed to support it for one year," Capt.
Chris Logsdon, an operations officer at the guard's Operational Support
Airlift Agency, said. "But, everyone's gut feeling is that it will continue
past that, so we are planning for continued operations."
In June, the United States expanded its role after the withdrawal
by France from the 1,700-member Multinational Force Observers in Sinai. The
mission has included verifying limits on Egyptian military deployment in
central and eastern Sinai as well as reporting Israeli overflights.
MFO, with representatives from 20 countries, maintains two facilities in
Egypt for weekly verifications. Over the last two years, the force has been
on alert for Al Qaida-aligned attacks in Sinai. France has been with MFO for
more than 25 years.
Officials said the new U.S. contingent in Sinai would consist solely of
volunteers. They said the National Guard would rotate its Sinai contingent
if the mission lasted more than a year.
Officials said the latest U.S. deployment in Sinai was approved in May.
They said the guard sent a C-23 Sherpa air transport to bring personnel and
equipment to Egypt as well as maintain surveillance flights in Sinai.
"We weren't actually given the mission until about three or four weeks
ago," Sgt. Joe Garland, assigned to head operations, said. "But we leaned
way far forward preparing for everything just in case we were."
ShareThis
