FARGO - Bryan Delage is a marathon runner and former world class biathlete, but military recruiters for the North Dakota Air National Guard's 119th Wing believe they're pushing his stamina to the limit.

Delage is the lone flight surgeon for a unit that should have four doctors taking care of its pilots and support staff. He's picking up the slack despite working up to 80 hours a week as a family physician in Ortonville, Minn.

"I'm afraid we're going to wear him out," said Master Sgt. Glenda Edwardson, the recruiting supervisor for the 119th Wing.

Recruiting medical personnel has become a first-class headache for Guard units throughout the country - more so in remote areas like eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. Even Delage lives more than 100 miles away from the Fargo base.

The 119th Wing's recent change from flying jet fighters to unmanned aerial vehicles and transport planes has increased the unit's size - and the demand for medical care. The number of patients has nearly doubled, from about 35 to 70, said base spokeswoman Capt. Penny Ripperger.

"And that number continues to rise," Ripperger said.

"We were short before. Now we're really short," Edwardson said of the base medical staff. "It's not like going out and finding a 17-year-old who wants his or her college paid for."

The biggest roadblock, Edwardson said, is the fear from family members that military doctors will be shipped to Iraq or some other hot spot. Deployment has been mostly on a volunteer basis so far, she said.

"We cannot guarantee that, unfortunately, because we are the military," Edwardson said. "But considering that our mission is really focused here, there's a very good chance there won't be the threat of deployment that you would see in other units."

Delage has been placed on alert for Iraq three times, but his family practice prevented him from going to the Persian Gulf. He did take part in a humanitarian mission to Ghana last year.

"People fear deployment," Delage said. "They think, 'I'm going to get in, I'm going to be deployed, and it's going to threaten my family and career.' I haven't found that it's like that."

Gordy Leingang, a flight surgeon with the North Dakota Army National Guard in Bismarck, said the Army appears to be holding its own on retaining doctors. However, he said many of them are close to retiring.

"We're just hanging in there because the country is at war," said Leingang, 51, an emergency trauma surgeon. "If all of us decide to pull the plug at the same time, they could be in trouble."

Leingang has been deployed twice to Iraq and expects to be called up a third time.

"It was absolutely the most professional, rewarding thing I've done," he said of his first two tours. "It's arduous and challenging and there are a lot of things that aren't pleasant. But taking care of soldiers is a really cool thing."

Delage calls the work of flight surgeons "medicine squared."

They must show they're capable of operating in the back of a C-17 cargo jet at 30,000 feet without losing their wits. When the Fargo unit had F-16 fighter planes, Delage took to the skies several times to get an idea of the physical demands placed on pilots.

"My job here is to help maintain the fitness of the fliers and everyone involved in flying," Delage said. "We have pretty high standards."

Delage, 44, has kept himself in shape as well. In 2000, he was ranked 50th in the country in the biathlon, which combines cross country skiing and shooting. A nasty fall on a ski pole, which caused cartilage to separate from his ribs, ended his dreams of making the Olympic trials.

"By 2001, I needed to be in the top 25," he said. "I realized in that short period of time I wasn't going to be able to make it."

In advertising for flight surgeons, internists, emergency service physicians, dentists and optometrists, the North Dakota Air National Guard is offering $75,000 cash and help with student loan repayments. There's a $45,000 bonus for optometrists.

But money can't buy a doctor's love for his or her country, Edwardson said.

"I think that they have to want to do it in order to be here," she said. "Patriotism is a big part of it."