MILITARY: Sgt. First Class William Smith, deployment to the Sinai, Egypt. from The Dalles, Wasco Co., Oregon

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Transcribed and formatted for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Earline Wasser <petew@netcnct.net>  January 2003
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The Dalles Chronicle   November 15, 2002 by John Huffman
Sgt. First Class William Smith's "Big Sandbox"

So you haven't seen Oregon National Guard recruiter SFC Bill Smith around The 
Dalles armory or the ropes course up at The Dalles High School lately? It's 
because he volunteered for an approximate nine-month deployment with the 
1-186th Infantry Regiment out of Ashland (Oregon) to Sinai, Egypt.

Sgt. Smith is one of 520 Oregon National Guard troops deployed to the Sinai 
peninsula as part of a peace-keeping mission knows as MFO (Multinational Force 
and Observers) keeping guard, keeping watch over the Sinai, the Red Sea, the 
Gulf of Aqaba and the air space.

Smith, a recruiter, wears a number of hats. He's a counselor; 520 soldiers a 
long way from home need someone to talk to so he's kind of the chaplain 
assistant's assistant. He's also responsible for recruitment retentions. He 
organizes recreation trips to places like Cairo, Egypt and Elat, Israel.

Smith, a mountain climber, also received permission to build a climbing wall and 
begin training soldiers to properly climb, count on each other and work as a 
team.

Smith ended up with about eight volunteers for his first ropes training class in
Egypt on October 31.

Sgt. First Class William Smith and 519 other Oregon National Guard Soldiers 
can't wait for the Oklahoma Guard to relieve them the end of January 2003. In 
the meantime, they are keeping peace in the Sinai.

Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, Oregon