Isle
woman's son enjoying Sinai duty
SHARM EL SHEIKH, the Sinai - The Sinai Peninsula, an area
steeped in Biblical lore and frequent warfare, Is one-third of
the way around the world from Galveston, but it's where Army
Capt. John A. Hamilton, son of Marjorie Hamilton of Galveston,
has served since February. Hamilton, a training officer with the Second Battalion, 508th
Infantry, is serving a six-month tour with the Multinational
Force and Observers (MFO), an eleven-nation peacekeeping
organization which is an outgrowth of the Camp David accords
between Egypt and Israel. The Sinai, occupied by Israel following the 1967 war, was returned
to Egypt in early 1982 in accordance with the Camp David
agreements between Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of
Israel. The MFO was brought into being as part of the accord and
serves as a "buffer" between the Israelis and Egyptians. Referred to as a "peacekeeping force," the MFO serves primarily as
an observer, reporting violations of the treaty and serving as
an international "cushion" between two nations which have been
enemies for centuries. Duty in the Sinai, particularly the southern tip of the peninsula,
is not easy. The terrain and weather are harsh and monotonous.
Soldiers of the 508th, scattered among observations posts (OPs)
which range from Sharm El Sheikh and the Straits of Tiran in the
south, northward along the Gulf of Aqaba to the Israeli border
at Eilat, spend 20 of every 30 days keeping watch from craggy
mountaintops and deep in the wadis (dry riverbeds) of the
region. Except for the infrequent passage of a Bedouin tribe or
some other traveler, there is — depending on the location of the
particular OP — precious little to see, except an incredibly
rugged landscape, similar to the surface of the moon. "For me, the rugged terrain, isolation and new operational concepts
are the hardest adjustments," noted Hamilton. "Overall, I feel
I'm learning from this tour. I now have a better understanding
of squad training and I work closely with the aviators." Of the
11 nations which comprise the MFO, only three — the United
States, Colombia and Fiji — have soldiers actually manning the
outposts in the buffer area, better known as Zone C. The
remainder of the MFO countries provide support in various
specialties to the force as a whole. "I enjoy my job here," Hamilton said, "especially flying to the
outposts and working with the soldiers. The only bad part is
being away from my wife and son." The 508th is scheduled to be relieved in August by a battalion of
the 101st Airborne Division, which provided the second U.S.
contingent in mid-1982. Each incoming unit will find things a
little better organized and a few more amenities available as
the rotation schedule and plenty of hard work bring continual
improvements to the American camp near Sharm El Sheikh and the
various OPs along the Gulf of Aqaba. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Hamilton was commissioned
through the ROTC program in December 1971. "When I came into the
Army, i wanted to work outdoors with good people and do^a
variety of jobs," he said. "So far, everything is going fine and
I plan to stay In."
[The Galveston Daily News, Galveston, TX, 20 Jun 1983, Mon, Page
14] |