The Missouri National Guard has spent 2011 fighting natural disasters from blizzards to floods, but now members are headed to Egypt to help keep the peace
Nearly 100 citizen soldiers boarded a bus and headed to their final training site before joining the United Nation’s peace keeping mission on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Major General Stephen Danner says the guardsmen will be setting up clinics and assisting in any way needed, but this will not be like any other mission the guard has deployed.
The training was more combat focused than for other missions, in case violence breaks out. Normally, Missouri National Guardsmen go to the Middle East on the Agribusiness Development Team, which teaches local farmers how to farm food and livestock instead of drugs. The Support Battalion will return in a year.
(AUDIO) Allison Blood reports on National Guardsmen in Egypt Mp3 1:03