Nearly 400 soldiers from the Minnesota Army National Guard’s Mankato-based  2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment will deploy this summer for a nine-month  peacekeeping mission to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

The mission is to enforce the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, according to a news release.

Divided into four zones, the Sinai Peninsula is host to 12 nations in support of the Multi-National Force and Observers.

The southern Minnesota “Red Bull” units will mobilize in July and depart for pre-deployment training at Fort Bliss, Texas. They will begin their mission in Egypt by the end of the summer.

There, they will provide force protection, serve as a quick reaction force, and observe and report violations of the peace treaty in support of the MFO’s mission in the region.

The deploying batallion includes companies headquartered in Rochester, Winona and West St. Paul.

The batallion is one of three multinational infantry battalions supporting the mission. The other two hail from Fiji and Colombia.

According to a fact sheet, two of the deploying soldiers are from Albert Lea.

This will be the first deployment for 252 of the soldiers.