History of the MFO

The U.S. Army's 1st Support Battalion is anything but a typical support battalion. The SPTBATT , as it is called, is an integral part of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), an eleven-nation peacekeeping force located in the heart of the Sinai desert, just west of the Israeli-Egyptian international border.

The MFO itself is not a "typical" organization. It is a unique organization, existing only in this one part of the world and for the sole purpose of monitoring compliance with the Treaty of Peace between Egypt and Israel. It has been in place, quietly going about the business of peace-watching, since 1982.

 
The MFO is an organization unto itself, not affiliated with the United Nations or any other international organization. The 1979 Treaty of Peace between Israel and Egypt, a result of the Camp David Accords, during Jimmy Carter's presidential tenure, set the stage for a Sinai peacekeeping force. Initially the United Nations had a force, the United Nations Emergency Force II (UNEFII) in the Sinai. However, after the expiration of the UNEFII mandate, the UN was not able to field the follow on force. President Carter had promised that the United States would ensure the establishment and maintenance of an alternative force should the United Nations fail to assume the role. This became the basis for the Multinational Force and Observers.

 
MFO Headquarters is based in Rome, and currently the Force consists of contingents from Norway, Hungary, Uruguay, Colombia, Italy, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and the United States. Funding support is also received from Germany, Japan, and Switzerland.

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