They'll live in difficult circumstances at South Camp, on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula, as part of the Multinational Force and Observers. They'll endure 120-degree heat, isolation from their families and at times each other, and the loneliness that comes with that isolation. And constant will be the tension from the violence in the Middle East.
National Guard troops are citizen-soldiers first, with lives conspicuously removed from their military roles. With other military demands diverting full-time soldiers, the members of the 186th have become the second unit of mostly part-time soldiers to remake their lives to monitor the Sinai in the volatile Middle East.
Here are some glimpses into their two lives.
Sgt. Duane Morris Duty: Cook Age: 45 Hometown: Medford Civilian occupation: Janitor at Roosevelt Elementary School, Medford Family status: Married, two children
It has been a rough getaway for Duane Morris. He was married on Feb. 14 and now will be away from his wife for almost nine months. "I wish, right now, that it was over with," he said. "My wife is having a hard time with this, and the kids at Roosevelt are going to miss me as much as I'll miss them."
Because of those Roosevelt kids, Morris will be carrying the most unusual personal cargo of anybody on the mission. "I'm taking 300 letters from the kids," he said. "If I get the chance to get to Egypt, I'm going to try to hook up with a school in Egypt and give the letters to them."
The news of deployment moved Morris to get married on Valentine's Day. "The way we looked at it," he said, "if anything happens to me, she'll get the benefits."
Pvt. Paul Markwell Duty: Cook Age: 22 Hometown: Medford Civilian occupation: Chef-in-training Family status: Single
Paul Markwell has always wanted to be a chef. That's why he became a 94G -- mess section specialist -- when he joined the National Guard in October.
He was working as a chef in Anchorage, Alaska, when he got the phone call that he was called up for the desert culinary duty.
Markwell also may be the greenest soldier on the expedition. He finished his initial training in March. "I'm excited that we're going on an important mission," he said. "It will be exciting to see a new country and some things I've never seen before. But I don't really know a lot about this."
Like other soldiers assigned to the deployment, Markwell keeps up on the news from the Middle East. "I try to read up and see what's going on over there," he said. "It's exciting to be going, but at the same time, yes, I'm a little nervous."