Photo: Bill Hopper

UP, UP AND AWAY: An RNZAF Iroquois sets course from el Gorah on a re-supply mission to one of the isolated MFO teams deep in the Sinai desert.

In the Sands of the Sinai

Bill Hopper reports on one of New Zealand’s longest and almost forgotten international peacekeeping deployments.

During both the Great War of 1914-18 and the Second World War, New Zealand troops served in the Middle East. In 1982 they were back there again as part of the eleven-nation Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) operating in the sands of the Sinai Peninsula. And now, 24 years later, New Zealanders are still there and will remain in this much disputed desert until at least 2008.

The MFO is an independent peacekeeping initiative created out of the 1978 Camp David Accords instituted by the then United States President Jimmy Carter to monitor the observance of the Egyptian/Israeli Peace Treaty signed in March 1979.

When announcing the latest two-year extension of the deployment earlier this year, Defence Minister Phil Goff said, the MFO underpined the important relationship between Egypt and Israel by the maintenance of two decades of peace on a border that was once regularly fought over.

“Both Egypt and Israel value our participation and want it to continue,” he said.

The original New Zealand commitment to the force was 36 personnel – 29 from the RNZAF and seven from the Army – and two UH-1H Iroquois helicopters making up an ANZAC Rotary Wing Aviation Unit with eight helicopters and staff from the Royal Australian Air Force.

The mission of the MFO is to observe, verify and report.
Their initial four essential tasks were:

1. Operation of checkpoints, reconnaissance patrols and observation posts along the international boundary.
2. Periodic verification of the implementation of the provisions of the Treaty of Peace, to be carried out not less than twice a month unless otherwise agreed to by the parties.
3. Additional verifications within 48 hours after receipt of a request from either party.
4. Ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Tiran.

A fifth responsibility added in September 2005 is to monitor the deployment of the Egyptian Border Guard Force along the border between Egypt and Gaza. This is part of a comprehensive and systematic effort by both parties to combat acts of terrorism, smuggling and border infiltration.

Although MFO Headquarters is situated in Rome, the Force Commander and home for the operational arm of the mission is at North Camp, el Gorah, 20 kilometres south of the Mediterranean at the former Israeli airbase of Etam. A second, smaller facility is South Camp near Sharm el Sheikh on the southern tip of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula overlooking the Red Sea. From these two main camps, the MFO mans a series of 30 remote operational sites running the length of the peninsula.

The original New Zealand commitment to the force was 36 personnel – 29 from the RNZAF and seven from the Army – and two UH-1H Iroquois helicopters making up an ANZAC Rotary Wing Aviation Unit with eight helicopters and staff from the Royal Australian Air Force.

The ANZAC unit’s tasks were many and varied, including providing transport and logistic support to the many isolated observation posts manned by Colombian and Fijian troops in the central and northern regions of this very inhospitable desert. They also supported civilian observers from the US State Department as they checked out Egyptian and Israeli forces and their weaponry.

Other responsibilities were the maintenance of a 24-hour search and rescue capability, medical evacuation flights to el Gorah, el Arish and Tel Aviv, and supplying meteorological services for all Force aviation elements.

Operating conditions at this fragile crossroads between the Asian and African continents were harsh. Summertime temperatures could reach a blistering 45°C, dropping to around 10°C in winter with, at times, torrential rain, hail and even snow.

For the pilots, flying could be extremely hazardous as they transited the featureless terrain with inadequate navigational aids and the ever-present threat of severe and prolonged dust storms up to 10,000 feet.

The desert environment played havoc with the aircraft systems and the fact of logging some 16,400 flying hours, over four years under such demanding conditions, without a serious accident, is testimony to the professionalism and technical skills of the aircraft servicing crews.

By the end of March 1986, when the ANZAC Rotary Wing Aviation Unit was disbanded, some 200 RNZAF personnel had completed tours of duty helping to keep the peace in this part of North Africa which has been fought over innumerable times since biblical days. Their aviation duties were taken over by a Canadian unit which has since been replaced by the United States.

The makeup of New Zealand’s contribution to the MFO has evolved and currently the Army provides 26 personnel whose primary tasks are to provide a transport section under the operational control of the US Army Support Battalion and a Training and Advisory Team (TAT).

On average the New Zealand drivers annually clock-up in excess of 356,000km over a challenging environment that is regarded as unique in the world - and at times, extremely dangerous. Just last month, 21-year-old Kiwi soldier Private Joshua Roewen survived a suicide bomb attack while driving a MFO vehicle on a routine task not far from North Camp. Although the vehicle was badly damaged and the bomber killed, Private Roewen and his passengers escaped injury.

The New Zealand TAT driving instructors provide a high standard of flexibility, commitment and professionalism while training and testing annually over 1800 personnel from the eleven nations represented in the MFO.

Complementing the TAT and driving sections, New Zealand also holds several high profile MFO staff appointments.

In total over the past 24 years, over 800 New Zealand servicemen and women have made a significant contribution to the international efforts of maintaining peace in this volatile corner of the globe where their grandfathers and fathers fought during the First and Second World Wars.