Nick McNulty

Ten Years Gone

2011-09-11T11:47:00.000-04:00

We commemorated the tenth anniversary of 9/11 here in Kabul, Afghanistan this morning with an official ceremony(pictures here). It was proper, well planned and executed, I felt it struck just the right tone of rememberance as a whole coallition(not just a nation), and with just the right tinge of American defiance, showing our physical, mental, and emotional resiliency is the primary remnant of that crisp September morning ten years ago. The returns are not fully in yet, but our way of life will survive, it seems, while theirs will not. Putting aside the armaments, logistics, and boots on the ground that 9/11 brought into islamic fundamentalism's back yard, it also delivered something to this part of the world that is the fundamentalists' anathema; global scrutiny. The two-bit hoods of the third world who were previously left to their skrimishes and occasional outbursts were quietly tolerated by civilized nations with bigger fish to fry, but no longer. After the towers fell, the terrorists were isolated, and the ones that are left are just firing at passing planes from the jungles while we round them up.

But, all that aside, before the official ceremony began, and before most of the camp was awake, myself, 2 other NCOs, and a Specialist were raising flags for our friends and family back home that have most directly supported us over here. The Specialist in the course of conversation started telling us where he was on 9/11, then asked me where I was. I told my mundane but no less etched rememberance, and down the line it went. This quiet, impromptu memorial on the morning of September 11th, 2011 - occurring at what I expected to be nothing more than the equivalent of a personal detail, a necessary (albeit, self-imposed) labor of my 9/11 duty day - will be my lasting memory of this somber 10th Anniversary.

The 2011 SwiftVets

2011-08-28T12:55:00.001-04:00

QB Matt Ryan
WR Andre Johnson
WR Hakeem Nicks
WR Chad Ochopsycho
RB Ahmad Bradshaw
RB Felix Jones
TE Brandon Pettigrew
K Robbie Gould
DEF San Diego

Bench
QB Donovan McNabb
WR Danny Amendola
WR Lance Moore
RB Jahvid Best
RB Daniel Thomas
RB Michael Bush

Wheels up

2011-02-18T22:17:00.000-05:00

Scott Brown with Yankee Brigade

2011-02-05T20:18:00.000-05:00

Stopped by to SUTA, help with preparations, and to offer some words of encouragement before the balloon goes up.

Gen. Petraeus' Letter to the Troops

2011-01-26T18:33:00.000-05:00

Letter to the Troops, Jan. 25, 2011


To the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and Civilians of the NATO International Security Assistance Force: Click to read Gen. David H. Petraeus' Letter to the Troops, dated Jan. 25, 2011.

State of the Taliban

2011-01-25T21:10:00.001-05:00

Worth reading as much for a good, hard, look at what's at stake in Afghanistan as for the anatomy of BS "journalism" gossip spreading unchecked like wildfire throughout the international media community.

Oates: Taliban still evil and opposed to educating girls
By Lauryn Oates, For the Calgary Herald

The only person quoted in the story was Afghan Education Minister Farooq Wardak, who reported, "What I am hearing at the very upper policy level of the Taliban is that they are no more opposing education and also girls' education."

No confirmation from the Taliban itself was provided in the story, or since.

The same day, the BBC picked up the story, using the headline, "Afghan Taliban 'end' opposition to educating girls," while their counterparts at The Telegraph ran a story headlined, "Taliban 'abandons' opposition to girls' education."

The story quickly spread from the U.K. to around the world.

This is strange journalism, to say the least. There is scant evidence besides Wardak's speculations that the Taliban have any notion of giving up the ban. More than half of the schools in some provinces are closed, mainly due to insecurity, such as in the southern province of Helmand, where 150 out of 282 schools remain closed.

Here in Kabul, I continue to hear regularly of attacks against schools, the poisoning of girls' schools, arson of schools and threats to educators, which are sometimes carried out, resulting in murdered teachers and terrified students and parents."

Prelude:PECation

2011-01-12T19:06:00.000-05:00

As preparation for deployment, it is time to conduct the pre-mob trainup. For me, this entailed a two week trip to the posh LaVern E. Weber Professional Education Center on Camp Robinson, Arkansas. In addition to the excellent training and top notch training site(complete with the Arkansas National Guard Museum), I was able to visit the Petit Jean, Toltec Burial Mound, and Wooly Hollow State Parks, the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests, as well as Little Rock attractions such as the William J. Clinton Library and Museum, the Old State House, River Market, and Little Rock Central High School (the first desegregated High School in America). Also, we were treated to the biggest snowstorm in Arkansas in recent memory followed by the lowest temperatures in the state since 1996.

Hell of a kickoff party.

The 10 Inalienable Truths

2010-12-19T23:32:00.000-05:00

"Nice platform shoes, Sly!"

10.Bon Scott > Brian Johnson
9.Boxer briefs > boxers or briefs
8.Sean Connery > Roger Moore
7.Ozzy Osbourne > Ronnie James Dio
6.Mary Ann > Ginger
5.John Bonham > Neil Peart
4.Trapper > Honeycutt
3.Schwarzenegger > Stallone
2.Y > CSN
1.Bobby Orr > Wayne Gretzky > Mario Lemieux

Top 10 Cinematic Douchebags

2010-12-04T21:08:00.000-05:00

10.James Roday as Billy Prickett in "Dukes of Hazard"

9.Hart Bochner as Harry Ellis in "Die Hard"

8.Paul Reiser in pretty much anything he has ever been in

7.James Daughton as Greg Marmalard in "Animal House"

6.Edward Norton as Lester 'Worm' Murphy in "Rounders"

5.Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin in "Happy Gilmore"

4.Henry Czerny as Robert Ritter in "Clear and Present Danger"

3.Ryan Reynolds as Monty in "Waiting"

2.Joe Pantoliano as Cypher in "The Matrix"

1.William Atherton as Richard Thornburg in "Diehard" and "Die Harder". And as Walter Peck in "Ghostbusters"

Sinden has seen it before

2008-04-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

By Dan Shaughnessy
Globe Columnist
April 16, 2008

Harry Sinden, Papa Bear in Winter, watched last night's excruciating 1-0 playoff loss to the Canadiens from the owners' suite on Level Six of the New Garden.

"Obviously, Montreal can't be 11 times better than us, but they have been better," said Sinden. "We really do play hard and we're playing with a lot of young players who really aren't quite sure how to play in this league. We're probably not in the elite of the league or anywhere near it, but we've got some good ones."

It's been frustrating for give-'em-hell-Harry to watch his team go down, three games to one, in the series. Especially since it's been there for the taking.

Sinden thinks the officials have let more stuff go in the playoffs - an advantage for his hard-working, less-skilled team.

"The standard of rule enforcement of the game has changed so much and the game had to change with it," he noted. "It appears to me that the officials are influenced by the fact that it's the playoffs and the standard of enforcement goes down a little, which is real good. Let 'em play.

"It seemed to me that if Game 3 had been played in the middle of the season, there would have been double or triple the penalties that there were.

"If it continues like that and we continue to use it, we can use that to help us. That's the non-skill area of the game, the block-and-tackle part of the game where we have a chance."

There were only four penalties (two on each team) called in the first period of Game 4. In the second period, the first penalty wasn't called until the 19th minute. But it was a costly tripping call on Boston's Andrew Ference and it led to the only goal of the night.

Harry is 75 years old now, with seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. It's been more than a year and a half since he stepped down as Bruins team president ("What are you gonna do - go until you're 100?"), but he still has a lot to say about all things spoked-B.

Here's Harry on a few Bruins notables:

Coach Claude Julien: "We've got a coach who gets everything out of this group of guys. There are two sides of coaching: tactics/knowledge and making everybody play for you. He's got that latter part down. To beat Montreal, we can't afford to have anybody take any time off at all."

Captain Zdeno Chara: "We've got a hell of a leader in Chara, but I think he's hurting right now. This rib injury. He's playing OK, but he's not as aggressive."

Goalie Tim Thomas: "In any sport, there's the quarterback and there's the pitcher and there's Garnett. We need that goalie. He's been especially valuable for this team. They know that."

Sidelined Patrice Bergeron: "Probably our best player."

Milan Lucic: "I like him an awful lot. They're right when they say he's a bit like Cam Neely. He's not as accomplished and he doesn't skate as well. But he's a combination of a physical player who has some offense. It's a very rare combination."

Marc Savard, who scored the overtime goal in Game 3: "I'm not a fan of his. He's one of these guys who has batting average but no runs batted in. You know what I mean? He gets a lot of points. He's a good player, I'm just not a fan."

The departed Joe Thornton: "We had seven years of Joe and we didn't get much. He's a good kid and everything. Again, good batting average but no runs batted in. But he's a good player and I don't want to say anything about him. Certainly, losing him took away a perception of a real Hall of Fame player on the team. He had that identity."

Sinden has been part of the Bruins for more than 40 years. He was 37 years old when he coached the team to a Stanley Cup in 1970 - back in the days when the B's were as popular as the Red Sox are today. He says he doesn't know that the Bruins could ever return to that level of popularity, but the demise of hockey interest has been tough on everyone vested in Black & Gold.

"It hurts, but there's only one way to get that back," he said. "There's a hell of a basis for this game here, there has been since the '20s, and you don't have to worry if you can do it. But as long as you're middling around - mediocrity or whatever we do - it's not going to happen."

He once famously stated that the three certainties in life are death, taxes, and the first call in the Montreal Forum going in favor of the Canadiens. In this spirit, what was Harry thinking when Jeremy Reich got tagged with the nitpick tripping call in overtime in the Bell Centre Saturday night?

"I was in Florida, with the owner," said Sinden. "It looked marginal. That's where this zero-tolerance mentality flashed through my mind. It's unnecessary. When you didn't get the whistle for such a long period of time - what was the influencing factor that made him blow that whistle?"

Perhaps the hooting for the home crowd?

"I'm not going to say it, but that's probably what it was," he said. "I've been through so many horror stories up there.

"Once I said I'd been keeping track and that in the last 40 games in Montreal the Bruins had gotten the first penalty 36 times and had more penalties 38 times. The league read it and researched it, which I didn't mind them doing, but I had just made it up. In the end, I think I was about 60 percent right. I still had the right trend."

The trend was working in favor of the B's last night until the first penalty of the second period was called against Boston. The game was settled a minute later. And that might end up being the end of the hockey season in Boston.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.

ESSAYONS

2008-02-21T18:07:00.002-05:00

By Lt. Col. Paul Landry
Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs

The Massachusetts National Guard welcomed home over 100 of its Engineers February 17th at a ceremony held at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Melrose.

The men and women of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Engineer Battalion (Forward) were hailed as heroes and given a welcome home by friends and families, as well as members of the state’s military and civilian leadership.

The 101st deployed to Kosovo in November of 2006, to assist in peacekeeping operations for one year. The unit conducted military police missions, infantry missions, engineer missions and civil affairs missions while deployed.
“The unit conducted 1,100 security patrols, 462 escort missions and totaled over 330,000 miles,” said Capt. Christopher Perrin, the company commander.

The “Renegades”, the unit’s nickname, also conducted 24 engineer missions. They built roads, created soccer fields and other civil improvement projects.

The ceremony coincided with the announcement that Kosovo had declared its independence. It was no doubt to anyone present that the Massachusetts National Guard’s efforts there for the last year helped them gain their independence.
The men and women of HHC, 101st Engineer Battalion lived up to the Engineer Motto “ESSAYONS” or “Let Us Try”. Not only did they try, they succeeded.

Kosovo declares independence

2008-02-17T16:50:00.002-05:00

Kosovo declares independence, Serbia rejects
2 hours ago

PRISTINA (AFP) — Kosovo on Sunday declared independence from an angry and anxious Serbia, completing the conflict-strewn breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

Tens of thousands of people in central Pristina erupted in cheers as the Kosovo parliament formally voted to break from Serbia. The celebrating went on into the night.

But the Serbian government, backed by Russia which demanded a UN Security Council meeting, vowed to never recognise the move and several hundred protesters stoned the Belgrade diplomatic missions of the United States and European Union, the main backers of Kosovo independence.

A grenade exploded in the flashpoint northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica after the independence declaration by the ethnic Albanian-majority parliament, police said.

The blast occurred near a UN court, while another grenade was thrown at the location of a future EU mission in the city but failed to go off, police said.

Kosovo police had to stop several hundred former Serbian army reservists -- veterans of the 1998-99 Kosovo war -- from crossing into the territory ahead of the independence declaration.

The group, dressed in military uniforms, broke through a Serbian police cordon at the Merdare crossing before being held back, witnesses said.

Kosovo lawmakers voted for a declaration that recalled the province's "years of strife and violence" under Serbian sovereignty but vowing to "protect and promote the rights of all communities" in the new country -- a reference to the Serb minority in the two million population.

"We are now an independent, free, sovereign and democratic country," announced Kosovo parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi.

While the United States and European Union are quickly expected to recognise the new state, Serbia angrily rejected the declaration.

Serbia's President Boris Tadic said his country would never accept an independent Kosovo.

"Serbia has reacted and will react with all peaceful, diplomatic and legal means to annul this act committed by Kosovo's institutions," Tadic said in a statement.

Russia, Serbia's closest international partner, demanded that an UN Security Council meeting on Sunday "nul and void" the independence declaration.

Independence brings down the curtain on the long and brutal break-up of Yugoslavia since the demise of communism in Europe in 1990s which saw the continent's worst atrocities since World War II.

About 10,000 people died in the 1998-1999 Kosovo war as Serb forces tried to put down ethnic Albanian separatists. A NATO air war against late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic halted the conflict and Kosovo has since been under UN administration.

"We've been waiting for this day for such a long time," said Sherife Bajrami, a Pristina doctor. "We'll celebrate with dignity, with respect for minorities, for all to live happily in the land of Kosovo."

The declaration started a 120-day transition period and the deployment of a 2,000-strong European Union police and judicial team to help the transition.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu called on "all the countries of the world" to recognise Kosovo's independence.

The European Union is split over independence. Britain, France, Germany and Italy are expected to officially give recognition on Monday.

Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Bulgaria have all opposed independence.

The breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia plan to ask Russia and the UN to recognise their independence following Kosovo's move, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted leaders in the two regions as saying.

Kosovo's constitution is expected to be based on a blueprint for "supervised independence" proposed by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

Russia blocked the Ahtisaari plan at the United Nations and Kosovo's independence was declared without UN Security Council approval. The council met again Sunday at Russia's demand, diplomats said.

The United States reaffirmed its strong backing for an independent Kosovo however.

"On Kosovo, our position is that its status must be resolved in order for the Balkans to be stable," US President George W. Bush said.

With an estimated unemployment rate of 40 percent and half its population under the age of 25, Kosovo will nevertheless remain highly dependent on massive infusions of Western economic aid.

An estimated 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, which is home to some of the most important shrines of the Serbian Orthodox faith. More than 220,000 others have left since 1999. Belgrade is imploring Serbs in Kosovo to stay put as an act of defiance.

A Bipartisan Plug for Tom Finneran

2007-12-18T16:49:00.000-05:00

Speaking of crying jags, deposed former King of Boston, and House Speakah, Tom Finneran had his own in court yesterday. He was pleading to keep his law license in Massachusetts, after being found guilty of perjury last year and retiring to the dreaded Private Sector.

I must admit, I was never a fan of Tom Finneran, he helped maintain the ivory towers of Massachusetts government that live on today under his successor, Sal Dimaso, wherein the legislature remains unaccountable to and unreachable by the plebs paying the taxes. It made me sick, actually. So, when Tommy Taxes got his own radio show on WRKO, I had little to no interest, I agreed with Howie Carr, that he was better suited to an 8 by 6 cell than a broadcast booth.

But, today, for the first time, I tuned in for a bit as I did some errands in the greater Boston area, with traffic still snarled 2 days after the storm thanks to unaccountable services from our public servants(actually, it's the other way around here, taxpayers are the servants). Perhaps it was his subject, the etiquette regarding cleared spots and snow removal in general - that old Boston talk-radio chestnut - that made the program interesting; I live on a crowded street full of multi-families with few spots, and I often comment to my friends about the 30-somethings on my streets with faded Kerry-Edwards stickers on their cars that never shovel, stealing cleared spots from elderly neighbors until FEMA shows up to clean theirs out. And, a frequent traveller to Montreal, I have seen how quickly and efficiently a DPW can clear out snow when it really wants to in a similarly sized city, so the subject matter was definitely of interest.

But, beyond the interesting topic, Finneran was impressive as the host. Verbally gifted as we all knew he was, he is a natural behind the microphone, and maintains an agility in fielding unpredictable questions from callers that escapes most Democrats(see also, Air America). And, in fairness to the Speakah, while his heavy handedness in running the House always irked me, and his shutting voters out of the process was very much in line with liberal practices in government, he was far from a liberal. He was more of a Tip O'Neill Democrat, enough of the frugal stubborn yankee in him to prevent him from becoming a socialist like many of the new Democrats here. And his provincial intimacy with the neighborhoods of the city, and all of the hacks that inhabit them, is definitely a plus for his type of commentary, giving the show an authenticity and appeal that some of the sharper political voices on the dial lack. And talk radio is a true meritocracy, sink or swim, and the Speakah is swimming well. In short, Finneran's Forum is worth a listen if you are stuck in the car between 6 and 10 AM.

On a final note, the Speakah goes in for prostate surgery this week, best wishes to him and get well soon, ya crook!

M4 Carbine Fairs Poorly in Dust Test

2007-12-18T09:02:00.001-05:00

"The M4 carbine is a world-class weapon," said Brig. Gen. Mark Brown, the Army's top equipment buyer

The primary weapon carried by most soldiers into battle in Iraq and Afghanistan performed the worst in a recent series of tests designed to see how it stacked up against three other top carbines in sandy environments.

"This isn't brain surgery -- a rifle needs to do three things: shoot when you pull the trigger, put bullets where you aim them and deliver enough energy to stop what's attacking you," the staffer told Military.com in an email. "If the M4 can't be depended on to shoot then everything else is irrelevant."

The staffer offered a different perspective of how to view the Army's result. If you look at the numbers, he reasoned, the M4's 882 total stoppages averages out to a jam every 68 rounds. There are about 30 rounds per magazine in the M4.

By comparison, the XM8 jammed once every 472 rounds, the Mk16 every 265 rounds and the 416 every 257 rounds. Army officials contend soldiers rarely fire more than 140 rounds in an engagement.

Nuff said. When a congressional staffer is making more sense regarding military acquisitions than a Brigadier General in charge of procurement, we have officially reached critical bureaucratic mass. Reminds me of the Pentagon Wars, I picture Kelsey Grammer in the part of BG Brown.

M4 Carbine Fairs Poorly in Dust Test

Slobodan earned Kosovo's independence

2007-12-14T10:48:00.000-05:00

Here’s a letter I just sent into the Boston Herald. Some Serb living in Acton sent a letter to the Herald responding to a Kosovo editorial last week with the usual “Albanians are terrorists, this sets a bad precedent, the US will rue the day!!!” Serbian rhetoric. Here’s my response;

As a member of the Massachusetts National Guard who has recently returned from a year long tour in Kosovo as a NATO peacekeeper, I feel compelled to respond to the letter by Michael Pravica of Acton - surely formerly of Serbia – in Friday’s Herald(“Kosovo earns nothing”). During my time in Kosovo I saw no acts of terrorism, just peaceful protest from Vetevendosje – the pro-Independence student movement – and seemingly endless patience from the citizens and politicians working with the west to settle the province’s future status while their economy stagnates in UN supported stasis. Furthermore, there has never been credible evidence of any ethnic cleansing committed by Albanian Kosovars against Serbians, but rather reams of evidence of that committed against them before NATO intervention in Kosovo and Bosnia, under Slobodan Milosevic when he tried to turn the fracturing Yugoslavia into Greater Serbia in the late 80s.

If you are wondering who earned Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, there’s your answer; Slobodan Milosevic – the Balkans’ Hitler – and his supporters at the time. Serbians today would be best suited in atoning for their past sins against Kosovo under Slobodan by gracefully supporting her independence.

Happy 371st Birthday, National Guard!

2007-12-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

The National Guard was founded on December 13, 1636 when the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered the organization of the North, South and East Regiments. The colony's separate, independent militia companies were then assigned to one of these geographically based regiments.

These three regiments still serve today as the 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion, 182d Cavalry Regiment (both descended from the North Regiment); the 1st Battalion, 101st Field Artillery Regiment (South Regiment); and the 101st Engineer Battalion (East Regiment).

This date marks the birth of the Massachusetts National Guard and is observed as the birth date of the National Guard of the U.S.

Kosovo Force Watches Fighting, Shooting - NHL Style

2007-12-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

Servicemembers gathered at Camp Film City's Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center in Kosovo on Dec. 12, 2007, to watch a live National Hockey League telecast on the American Forces Network that featured their pictures. Versus, the U.S. cable home of the NHL, arranged to show the servicemembers' pictures during the game after network officials heard they'd gathered to watch a previous broadcast. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith, USAF

By Tech. Sgt. Jason Smith, Kosovo Force Public Affairs
Dec 13, 2007 - 1:22:30

Blackantehm Military News

PRISTINA, Kosovo - Just after the Dec. 10 deadline for the conclusion of negotiating the status of Kosovo, servicemembers assigned to NATO's Kosovo Force sat back in their chairs and enjoyed the fighting and shooting.

The fighting was actually thousands of miles away, where hockey players were throwing punches and shooting pucks during the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers hockey broadcast on Versus, the national cable home of the National Hockey League.

During this critical period in Kosovo's history, pictures of American soldiers, airmen and sailors deployed to camps Film City and Bondsteel, Kosovo, were shown to a national television audience in the United States.

At the same time the troops' family members were watching the game at home, about 35 servicemembers gathered at Camp Film City's Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center at 1 a.m. Dec. 12 to watch the live broadcast on the American Forces Network.

When the first pictures of KFOR members appeared on the screen, the troops erupted with cheers and clapping. The sporting, yet relaxed, atmosphere gave some soldiers the chance to unwind for a little while and forget about the stress of the deployment.

"I e-mailed everyone I know," said Army Lt. Col. Elaine Berkowitz. "I'm from Pittsburgh, and I came to see my Penguins win. I think this is a fabulous event, and it's great for camaraderie."

The idea for the game came about when a small group of troops gathered for the Oct. 24 game between the Penguins and New York Rangers. A story was written about the game and sent to Versus. Eventually, Michael Baker, coordinating producer of the National Hockey League on Versus, received an e-mail with the story. Baker contacted the author of the story to thank the troops for watching the game. Through e-mails, they worked together to put on the Dec. 11 show.

"My mom and dad in Michigan are watching," said Army Spc. Graham Besonen. "It's important for them to see me and know I'm safe. I'm really a Red Wings fan, but I came to enjoy a hockey game and for my family to see me."

Most of the pictures were sent to Versus at least a week prior to the game. However, the network wanted to make sure all of the troops were recognized. Just prior to the start of the game, a group photo was taken and e-mailed to Baker. During the third period, the picture was shown on TV.

"I was really impressed with Versus and the NHL putting our pictures on during the game," said Army Sgt. Rich Allen. "I've always been a hockey fan, and to be deployed and see myself on television during a game was a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

The game ended with the Flyers dominating the Penguins, 8-2. This was disappointing for Penguins fans in the crowd, but being recognized at home was the most important thing for most of the people involved.

In addition to American troops, a few other NATO and Partnership for Peace troops were on hand at the MWR Center to cheer for their favorite team. Camp Film City, which serves as the Kosovo Force Headquarters, is a deployed home to troops of 34 nations.

KFOR9 on Vs.

2007-12-10T21:38:00.001-05:00

Apparently, the Vs. network - the current NHL carrier - will salute the troops of KFOR tomorrow night. Figures, I couldn't even get NHL games on the AFN last year, and my friends back home all thought Kosovo was somewhere near Kuwait, but good for you KFOR9 guys... If you get a chance, tell Brian Engblom it's time to let it go and get himself a Panger next trip to the barber.

Historic article in the Boston Globe

2007-12-06T13:08:00.000-05:00

This is the first time ever that the term “illegal immigrants” has been used by the NY Times Company instead of “undocumented workers”. Mayhap it is because they were working – roundabout – for a Republican??!!

Reaction mixed after Romney fires service

Forever Young

2007-12-04T09:57:00.000-05:00

Here I am with this old guitar, Doin what I do.

Neil Young was awesome, the acoustic set was great per usual, with my high points being the Hank to Hendrix opener, Mellow My Mind on the banjo, and Love is a Rose. A Man Needs A Maid was good, but I am not crazy of that organ version he’s been playing the last 10 years or so. He really made his money in the electric set though, with Ralph Molina, the drummer from Crazy Horse, on stage with him, as well as the guitarist from the Blue Notes and most of his backup groups. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, The Loner, and Like A Hurricane, and a 20 minute jam during Hidden Path were the highlights of the electric set, again peppered in with some more recent songs from Neil's library as Neil is wont to do. He still rocks like nobody’s business.

Fun show, we watched the end of the Pats in that “Funnest Pub in the Hub” tourist trap bar over by School Street that never gets any tourists(I think construction workers eating liquid lunches during perpetual renovation of Boston keep the place afloat), and my George Castanza like parking streak continued, finding a spot right on Bosworth Street less than 2 blocks from the Orpheum just before the show started. Ben Watson reminded me a bit of Daniel Graham last night and we got settled in the bar just in time to watch the Ravens serve the game up to us on a platter. We lost that game, make no mistake, the Ravens gave it to us. Gotta love Brian Billick blowing a kiss to Rodney Harrison, huh? Classic.

Union Leader endorses John McCain, I endorse Mitt Romney

2007-12-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

The Union Leader - one of my favorite newspapers in America, and one of the few in the country with an endoresement that actually means something - endorsed John McCain this morning. John McCain is a great man, and one of true conviction, but also one with poor judgement regarding some of the most important issues facing America, namely illegal immigration and campaign finance reform. His strong suit, his will to fight islamic terrorism until it is removed as a global threat, is indeed the most important quality in a war-time candidate for President to me, but McCain does not distinguish himself from other candidates enough in that area to earn my vote. My eternal respect, John McCain has already earned, but my vote will go to Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney may not have the genetic code of a pro-lifer etched into his DNA, which will turn off some of the religous zealots in our party, but he is more right on more issues than any other candidate. He will add 100,000 troops to the ranks of the US Army, which as a veteran, I consider the right move, will combat global jihadism through military force, American ingenuity, and international cooperation through NATO, not the UN. After spending the past year in the Former Yugoslavia working as a peacekeeper with our NATO partners and having called for this shift - away fromt the UN towards democratic coallitions - in policy for over a decade, I strongly endorse it. Further, Mitt Romney will secure our border and drain the swamps of illegal immigration employment in the U.S., will promote school choice, reduce federal spending, and brings the views of a true Washington outsider that none of the other candidates can. Ask the Massachusetts GOP about that, when they tried to take over Mitt's campaign after he won the nomination here, Mitt stuck to his guns and won the corner office on his terms, not theirs.

Other candidates like John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, and Tom Tancredo all have merit to their platforms and candidacies, but none is as solid conservatively, as coherent for Americans come the general election, and positioned to defeat the Democrats this country cannot afford to have in the White House at this point in history as Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney is the clear choice for conservatives in 2008.

NH Yard sign straw poll

2007-12-01T16:57:00.001-05:00

I am up in the Lakes Region for the weekend(no, I did not come up through Rochester), and one of my favorite hobbies when coming up during the Silly Season is to count the yard signs as a bellwether for the upcoming primary. This is what I saw this weekend.

Hitlery is pretty well represented, as is Tom Tancredo, but both of them mostly in southern NH. I did not see a single John McCain sign until I got to the Wakefield area, ditto for Bill Richardson, but with McCain, once I saw one, I saw a bunch. Bill Richardson only has one family with yard signs out that I have seen. But, the frontrunners in the Yard Sign derby up here would appear to be Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama, with Barrack's hokey "HOPE" logo popping up as frequently as a Moose Crossing sign. While Hitlery is breathing down Obama's neck, right on Mitt's heels is the Ron Paul insurgency, backing this year's Charles Lindbergh/America First candidate, just as Granite Staters embraced Patrick Buchanan in 1996. Yes, libertarians and isolationists have invaded New Hampshire this year, figuring with some accuracy that the Live Free or Die state's "State's Rights/Limitted Government/Leave-us-the-fuck-alone-and-pay-for-that-yourself" platform would mate up well with their own. And, this Ron Paul insurgency of 2007 is far more welcome than the socialist Kerry-Edwards insurgency we saw back when I lived up in New Hampshire a few years ago. That insurgency was more like a bunch of tax-devouring locusts looking for new feeding grounds, whereas this one should have a better long term political impact on the Granite State.

I saw a few Mike Huckabee yards to put him neck and neck with Bill Richardson up here in the Granite State, a lone Mike Gravel sign on a traffic island in Epsom, a Dennis Kucinich sign at the intersection of 3 and 28, and one Rudy Guiliani sign household by the lake with window signs. There were a few pockets of John Edwards supporters left over, probably trapped up here unable to sell their homes after 2004, but not prominent at all, which is no big deal for the Breck Girl, as he is really running for Vice President again.

So, in brief, based on yard signs on display in central and southern New Hampshire today, according to my own unscientific, unverifiable observances, we have the following fields;

Democrat:
Barrack Obama:40%
Hitlery Clinton:35%
John Edwards:15%
Bill Richardson:8%
Dennis Kucinich:1%
Mike Gravel:1%
Chris Dodd:0%
Joe Biden:0%

Republicans:
Mitt Romney:30%
Ron Paul:25%
Tom Tancredo:20%
John McCain:15%
Mike Huckabee:5%
Rudy Guiliani:5%

When Tim Judah speaks about the Balkans, intelligent people listen

2007-12-01T16:56:00.001-05:00

Kosovo: a chapter closes

Author: Tim Judah
Uploaded: Friday, 30 November, 2007
Analysis from BIRN's 'Balkan Insight' argues that Serbia’s reliance on Russia to keep Kosovo appears to have backfired, by prompting EU countries to line up behind the independence option in order to show their unity.

Since the Kosovo problem began back in 1912, 1981, 1989 or 1998, (take your pick…) no one would – or should – be foolish enough to predict that we are now entering the Kosovo endgame. However it is clear that one chapter in this tortuous story is closing and, over the next few months, a new one opening.

Beginning Monday in the Austrian spa of Baden, Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders are meeting for one last time under the aegis of the Troika of mediators from the US, Russia and the EU.

No one expects any significant results. The Kosovo Albanians have stuck firm to their demand for independence and Serbia has insisted that it will concede no more than autonomy.

Even Wolfgang Ischinger, the EU’s representative on the Troika, has admitted that the chances of a breakthrough are virtually nil. ‘Naturally, an agreement on the status would be ideal,’ he says, ‘but, unfortunately, this is something we cannot expect.’

So what next? According to diplomatic sources an international conference could be held on Kosovo some time early in the New Year. However, nothing is yet fixed, nor even what the conference should do, if indeed it happens.

A few ideas are now doing the diplomatic rounds. One is that pressure should be put on the Kosovo Albanians to delay declaring independence until well into the New Year. This should be relatively easy to achieve, but the reason for this is not yet clear to the public in Kosovo who would need an explanation.

Hashim Thaci, whose party came out top in Kosovo’s November 17 poll, has said that Kosovo would declare independence immediately after December 10, the date the Troika must hand in their report on their mission to Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General. In private however he has been telling diplomats that he is willing to hold on until spring.

While news of this delay has begun filtering out in the press, the reason for it has been less clear, and with good reason. What the diplomats hope to achieve by securing a delay on Kosovo’s independence is the re-election of Boris Tadic as president of Serbia.

The logic of this is simple. There are, thus far at any rate, only two serious candidates for the presidency, Tadic and Tomislav Nikolic, the acting leader of the Serbian Radical Party, whose founder, Vojislav Seselj is on trial before the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Western diplomats fear that if Nikolic wins the presidency in February, then there would be a serious risk of ‘losing Serbia’, but that if Tadic secures a second term, there is a far higher chance of Serbia, after a period of anger at losing Kosovo, staying the path when it comes to Euro-Atlantic integration.

If Tadic can indeed win, then he should be in a strong position to finally assert some serious influence in government, (which he has not done in the last year,) bearing in mind the low poll ratings of Vojislav Kostunica, the prime minister who, after having been seen to lose Montenegro will now be seen to have lost Kosovo.

One way this may be done is to argue, despite recent friendly words from Russia for Tadic, that it was above all Kostunica’s belief that Moscow could save Kosovo for Serbia which has backfired spectacularly. Indeed Kostunica’s party is formally allied to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

Even until a few weeks ago it appeared that the EU was going to be badly split over the Kosovo issue. Now it appears that only Cyprus remains a ‘bitter ender’ in opposing Kosovo’s recognition by EU states.

In a new paper by the European Council on Foreign Relations, Cyprus and Greece were given the unenviable title of the Russian ‘Trojan Horses’ within the EU. But now, even Greece is signalling quietly that while it will not recognise Kosovo immediately, it will, given a decent interval of time.

Indeed, when Serbia comes to analyse ‘who lost Kosovo’, a debate which may come sooner rather than later, it may be seen to have proved a huge strategic error to try and rely on Russia. What appears to have happened is that the large number of countries which were either ambiguous about Kosovo’s independence or even opposed it, were highly alarmed by the way that Russia appeared willing to use the issue as a battering ram with which to divide the EU as part of its campaign to keep it weak.

Quite simply, a lumbering Russian bear, roaring: ‘I am back…’ egged on by Serbia, terrified the flock of undecided EU sheep, including most prominently Germany, into rushing into the pen labelled ‘EU Unity’.

Last March Martti Ahtisaari the former Finnish president presented his plan for supervised independence for Kosovo to the UN. There Russia ensured that it failed to get Security Council backing.

Now, as it becomes clear that Russian policy is heading for failure over Kosovo, Ahtisaari is saying, with only the slightest hint of irony in his voice, that ‘the Russian attitude has reinforced the unity of the EU. I don’t think that was the original intent.’

One only needs to look at the map to consider why this was so. Kosovo, like the rest of the Western Balkans, is now an enclave deep inside EU and NATO territory. Russia’s attempt to set the agenda here in the face of what most EU leaders wanted has proved most unwelcome and counter-productive.

If an international conference is indeed called in the New Year, one scenario is that it could lay down the conditions for the recognition of the new state. Prime amongst them is likely to be the implementation of those parts of the Ahtisaari plan that can be realised without Serbian cooperation. They are also likely to include a demand for an invitation for the EU to send a Police and Justice mission and a so-called International Civilian Office, which would wield considerable power, to replace the current ailing UN mission.

In this way, the chapter that began with the Kosovo riots of March 2004 and then featured the diplomacy of Ahtisaari and the Troika, will close and a new one, full of fresh problems, will begin. It will almost certainly feature a new frozen conflict in Europe, which will include Belgrade’s blockade of the young state and the reality of a breakaway Serb-controlled region in the north of Kosovo itself.

Tim Judah, a leading Balkan commentator, is the author of The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of Yugoslavia; and Kosovo: War and Revenge. This analysis appeared in Balkan Insight, BIRN's online publication, on 26 November 2007

Semper Fi, even at 72

2007-11-30T11:41:00.000-05:00

"Generation X? More like Generation Candyass...."

Former Marine, 72, Teaches Pickpocket a Lesson

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Bill Barnes says he was scratching off a losing $2 lottery ticket inside a gas station when he felt a hand slip into his front-left pants pocket, where he had $300 in cash.
He immediately grabbed the person's wrist with his left hand and started throwing punches with his right, landing six or seven blows before a store manager intervened.

"I guess he thought I was an easy mark," Barnes, 72, told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Tuesday.

He's anything but an easy mark: Barnes served in the Marines, was an accomplished Golden Gloves boxer and retired after 20 years as an iron worker.

Jesse Daniel Rae, the 27-year-old Newaygo County man accused of trying to pick Barnes' pocket, was arraigned Monday in Rockford District Court on one count of unarmed robbery, a 15-year felony.

Last call for the Irish in Kosovo?

2007-11-10T09:59:00.000-05:00

Last Updated: 09/11/2007 14:27
Advice sought on Kosovo force

The Government is seeking legal advice on whether Irish troops can continue peacekeeping duties in Kosovo if the state declares independence, it emerged today.

Voters are to go to the polls in the coming weeks and speculation is mounting leaders are planning a formal split from Serbia.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who is currently touring the Balkans region, said the rules on Irish peacekeepers was very strict. "We are looking at this issue, as we speak there's a couple of scenarios that may happen after the 10th of December," the minister said.

"From a legal point of view we have to find out whether or not we have the capabilities to continue. "In principle we would like to continue but it is something we have to look at to ensure the legal basis is there.

"We will be liaising with the Attorney General depending what happens after the 10th of December. We have very strict conditions over which we can participate abroad. They are laid down with the will of the people."

Independence for Kosovo is supported by Europe and the US but is resisted by Serbia and Russia. Mr Ahern said Ireland would adhere to any UN mandate but the question remained whether peacekeeping troops can continue to operate in Kosovo after independence.

Irish troops joined the peacekeeping force in 1999 and around 300 troops are based there. The minister has spent the last four days touring Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo meeting heads of state and Irish representatives in the region.

© 2007 ireland.com

Shipping up to Boston

2007-11-04T07:21:00.000-05:00

I'm a sailor peg
And I lost my leg
I climbed up the topsails
I lost my leg
I'm shipping up to Boston

(finally)

Demob Capsules

2007-11-04T07:15:00.000-05:00

Stuck in a de-mob holding pattern on Ft. Dix, I went to the Friday and Saturday night movies here to get out of the barracks for a few hours the past two nights. Friday night’s feature was “The Kingdom” with Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, and Jennifer Garner. “The Kingdom” was a worthwhile investment of my time, for it’s cast, it’s realistic depiction of a successful terrorist attack against an American compound in Riyahd, and for the location shooting throughout the movie. Also a plus was the sometimes naïve but simultaneously pleasantly optimistic social commentary on Muslim-American relations in the movie. Like a lot of other elements to the movie, the relationship between the two leads – Foxx and Ashraf Bahroom’s Saudi police Colonel – borders on caricature, but floats just above actually becoming so. Additionally, some of the plot lines and mechanisms are overly simplistic, bringing the movie dangerously close to the intelligence-insulting Hollywood norm, but also just falling short of actually getting there.

All that being said, an above average rental or Ft. Dix diversion at 3 stars.

On Saturday night, we went to see 3:10 to Yuma, the new western with Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, and a slew of other supporting roles(most notably Ben Foster as Charlie Prince). Like The Kingdom, it gets high marks for casting and the entire movie playing against type. But, like the Kingdom, it also suffers in a few points from the story spreading itself thin and needing to be brought back together, affecting the story flow. At a full 2 hours, 3:10 was a little long, and the aforementioned flow was hampered by the father-son storyline that the producers felt was important enough to be a centerpiece, what I consider a liability for a western. And while Russell Crowe is very compelling as Ben Wade in the dialogue heavy scenes, the action scenes are either too far spread apart, or not complex enough to establish him as a bona fide heavy. Also, the moral ambiguity that Hollywood packages in every television and feature drama these days is very much a part of 3:10, further hamstringing his ability to do so.

Nonetheless, like Open Range, the solid casting gives this movie instant – and deserved – cred, and the originality that the filmmakers strive for is only somewhat countered by the awkward plotting that it creates, leaving the net result being a very solid 3 star drama.

B Co checks out

2007-10-29T05:38:00.001-04:00

Kosovo peacekeeping force to demobilize at Fort Dix

2007-10-28T09:51:00.000-04:00

By MELISSA HAYES
Burlington County Times

The post is preparing for the return of 1,000 soldiers from a yearlong peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

The members of the Multi-National Task Force (East) are expected to arrive over five days. Half will go through the demobilization process on post. The other half is scheduled to demobilize at Camp Atterbury, Ind.

Most of the units are members of the 29th Infantry Division.

The first unit, Massachusetts National Guard 1st-181 Infantry Battalion, is expected to arrive Monday.

Other groups arriving on post include the Maryland National Guard 629th Military Intelligence Battalion and 729th Combat Support Battalion, parts of the headquarters company 29th Infantry Division, the Massachusetts National Guard 101st Engineers and 1st-182nd Infantry, the Virginia National Guard 116th Infantry Battalion, the Puerto Rico 125th Military Police Company, and the North Carolina 1493 Medical Detachment.

The United States is the lead nation for the multinational taskforce. It also includes units from Armenia, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine, according to a prepared statement.

The taskforce is part of a NATO-led international organization known as the Kosovo Force, responsible for establishing and maintaining security in Kosovo, according to the statement.
The group entered Kosovo in 1999 under a United Nations mandate, two days after the adoption of U.N. Security Resolution 1244. Under the resolution, the group is to establish and maintain a secure environment in Kosovo.

This is the second deployment for the 29th Division to the Balkans region. The unit served in Bosnia in 2001.

The U.S. contingent of the taskforce consists of about 1,500 personnel, two-thirds of whom are Virginia and Massachusetts National Guard soldiers. The remaining soldiers come from 24 other states, including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Fort Dix has mobilized and demobilized more than 106,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen.

Contact Melissa Hayes at mhayes@phillyBurbs.com

Kosovo: the heat is on

2007-10-26T13:10:00.000-04:00

Posted by Harry de Quetteville

on 25 Oct 2007 at 14:51

Kosovo is bubbling up again. It's easy to write it off as a grim wasteland of economic gloom, bureaucratic stagnation and seemingly the world's entire collection of discarded plastic bags.

But it's worth remembering that this is in the centre of Europe, a two and a half hour flight from London. There are still 17,000 NATO soldiers there, keeping the peace. Come December they might really have to start earning their corn.

December 10th is the deadline for the last, of last ditch, final (honestly) talks between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership to sort out a future for the place.

You will remember that though ethnically Kosovo is 9/10ths Albanian, it is a province of Serbia. And a cherished province at that. Kosovo separatist and Serb forces dispatched by Slobodan Milosevic fought a war there in 1999 until NATO jumped in drove out the Serbs.

Since then it’s been administered mostly by the UN. And nothing has happened, nothing has changed. The Serbs are willing to let Kosovo be autonomous, the ethnic Albanians want nothing short of independence. There is no deal.

What is the difference between autonomy and independence? Not a huge amount, but, crucially, combustible notions like pride, history, and nationhood.

The ramifications of failure are huge.

A poll this week suggests Serbia's government will collapse over Kosovo. Now the current Serbian government, filled with 'moderate hardliners' (I love that phrase) like Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica may not seem very appetising. But it is a lot better than the hardline hardliners, like Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the Radical party.

To give you a sense of nationalist sentiment in Serbia, The Radicals won elections earlier this year. It's the biggest party, but isn’t in power because it couldn't form a majority government. Nikolic is only in charge because official leader Vojislav Šešelj is in the Hague charged with war crimes.

Then there is Russia, which backs its traditional ally Serbia in wanting to keep Kosovo. Earlier this week a Russian diplomat said that independence for Kosovo would set a "precedent" which could see Abkhazia and South Ossetia break away from rival Georgia.

Instability in the Balkans and instability in the Caucasus can be a recipe for hundreds of thousands of deaths.

So hold on to your hat. Kosovo may seem boring now, as the diplomats shuttle around for yet more negotiations. But it might get pretty interesting soon.

Dangerously so.

Peter Pace turns in his stars

2007-10-25T10:33:00.001-04:00

One of the high points of my tour here in Kosovo was meeting General Pace last November when we arrived. He was a thoughtful, soft-spoken, very grounded guy, his coin is the only one I didn’t give out to the men during the mission, and is the centerpiece of my collection now. Sorry politics caused him to step down so early in his post as CJCS, but I look forward to his upcoming book, and eventual Senate run.

From: Edwards, Lloyd, LtCol, USMC (Ret), CTR, OSD-ATLSent: Monday, October 15, 2007 12:15 PMSubject: Fw: This Speaks volumes

I suspect General Pace would be embarrassed by any attention paid to this act of loyalty. History will debate his effectiveness as CJCS, but their is no debating his decency as a leader. I wanted to share with you what we saw in Washington DC last week.After the mid-term brief, we toured the Mall and made the usual stops at the WWII Memorial, the Wall, Lincoln Memorial, etc. At the Vietnam Wall we saw something unbelievable. We noticed three small index cards at the base of the Wall.

I knelt down for a closer look and noticed that a 4-star general's rank was pinned to each card.

The cards were personally addressed and said something like:

These are Yours - not mine!

With Love and Respect,

Your Platoon Leader,Pete Pace 1 Oct

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs had laid down his rank for his boys who died in Nam just the day before! I later found out that 1 Oct was also the same day he stepped down as chairman.

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/10/general-ret-pet.html

So long, and thanks for all the trash!

2007-10-23T03:29:00.000-04:00

Well, all good things must come to an end, and fortunately, so must all other things. Thus our deployment to Kosovo is now reaching it's end. The year in Kosovo has had many positive facets, such as the cultural exposure to Kosovar life we have experienced, the extensive work we have done with our NATO partners in country, and the many friendships we have made among the locals and our fellow Task Force members from all over the National Guard. But it has been a long 16 months, and we are all ready for it to end, so we may return to our lives, our homes, and our loved ones, just in time for the upcoming holiday season.

We are not done yet, myself and a few other MPs are helping the Task Force clear customs on the way out, and we are all finishing up sending home our accumulated belongings from a year in country. The RiP with KFOR9 is complete, and they luckily fall under the new NG policy of 12 month deployments(including mob-up), so should be moving out next summer. We will be the last KFOR rotation to be in country for 12 full months after 4 month mobilization.

What a long, strange trip it's been, but we will be leaving shortly, somewhere the fat lady is warming up.

U.S. pins Kosovo force on NATO's Afghan commitment

2007-10-22T01:35:00.000-04:00

By Kristin Roberts

KIEV (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will consider shifting U.S. troops from Kosovo to Afghanistan next year if NATO allies do not fulfill their commitments, U.S. government officials said.

Gates, in Ukraine on Sunday to ask eastern European countries for help in the war, had first considered laying the threat before NATO defense ministers this week at a meeting in the Netherlands, senior U.S. officials said.

But upon the advice of senior military officers, the Pentagon chief has extended the U.S. commitment to Kosovo to summer 2008. If NATO allies have not sent more troops, trainers and equipment to Afghanistan by then, Washington will consider pulling its 1,600 troops out of NATO's Kosovo force KFOR.

"The secretary had wrestled with the idea of moving our forces in Kosovo to Afghanistan but decided late this week to extend our KFOR presence until next summer," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

"But beyond that is very much up in the air. The secretary is disappointed in NATO's inability to live up to its commitments and if that doesn't change before then, he's prepared to go to the secretary of state and to the president to discuss yanking our troops out of Kosovo," Morrell said.

Gates has grown increasingly frustrated by the failure of NATO allies to fulfill promises they made more than a year ago to provide troops and equipment to the war in Afghanistan.

The secretary is particularly worried about a shortfall of more than 3,000 trainers for Afghan forces, but commanders also need more combat forces, helicopters and other equipment.

By pinning the U.S. commitment in Kosovo to Europe's commitment in Afghanistan, Gates wants to signal that Europe will be left alone to deal with a still unsteady situation in its own backyard if it does not help the United States in Afghanistan, said officials familiar with the discussions.

NATO took responsibility last year for operations throughout Afghanistan. The United States contributes the most troops in the coalition -- or about 15,000 of a NATO force totaling just under 40,000. Washington also added combat troops and a helicopter force last year after other allies did not respond to a call for help from commanders.

Despite six years of war in Afghanistan, a fight overshadowed in the United States by Iraq, violence has soared in 2007. Taliban suicide bombings are up 50 percent from a year ago and military officers say the group is trying to import the deadly roadside bomb technology that has been used in Iraq.

In Kiev, Gates will ask Ukraine and other members of the Southeast Europe Defense Ministerial to send troops to Afghanistan to help cover that shortfall in trainers, another U.S. defense official said.

The 11-member group sent a 100-troop brigade, called Southeast Europe Brigade or SEEBRIG, to the war zone in 2006.

"It's to have a discussion about SEEBRIG and how SEEBRIG can potentially help in Afghanistan again possibly by undertaking a training mission," the official said when asked about Gates's priorities in Kiev.

Ukraine, which received $11.7 million in U.S. military assistance this year, is considered a strong U.S. partner in Iraq and the Pentagon thinks Kiev might send troops to Afghanistan as well.

KFOR8 End of Tour video

2007-10-20T04:46:00.000-04:00

From SPC Link in KFOR8 Public Affairs

Massachusetts Guard Soldiers Train in Kosovo to Become Cavalry Scouts

2007-10-13T02:39:00.000-04:00

SFC Eric Templeton, an instructor from the West Virginia National Guard, watches as a Soldier engages his target on the live-fire MK 19 grenade launcher range. Photo by MAJ Cotton Puryear, MNTF(E) Public Affairs.

By MAJ Cotton Puryear, Multi-National Task Force (East) Public Affairs

Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo - Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 182nd Cavalry will soon be heading home after a year of peace enforcement operations in Kosovo. In addition to returning with a satisfied feeling of successful mission accomplishment, more than 60 Massachusetts National Guard Soldiers are also going home as newly-trained cavalry scouts.

A grand total of 66 Soldiers completed the 19D cavalry scout transition course conducted in three classes at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo. A cadre of 13 instructors from six states deployed to the Serbian province to conduct the course for the very first time in an overseas theatre of operations. The training culminated in a graduation ceremony at Camp Bondsteel Sept. 29.

The transition course was taught in two phases, explained SSG Keven Larson, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of two of the classes. The first phase is a distance learning phase and the second phase is a resident course where the Soldiers build on the knowledge gained from the first phase and demonstrate proficiency on the critical skills required of a cavalry scout.

SSG Larson is a cavalry scout course instructor from 1st Battalion, 204th Regional Training Institute in Boise, ID. Instructors from Minnesota, West Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Texas joined him to teach the three classes.

Phase I is knowledge-based. Soldiers work through online classes to gain information on subjects like basic map reading, call for fire and urban operations. After completing Phase I, they move on to the skill-based Phase II where they get hands-on training in critical scout skills like land navigation, demolitions, establishing an observation post and mounted movement techniques. Then they have to demonstrate proficiency in those skills.

SSG Larson explained there are five critical tasks that every Soldier must complete in order to receive the 19D cavalry scout qualification. Of those five tasks, three are focused on the primary weapons systems of a Humvee scout: the M240B 7.62 mm machine gun, the M2 50 caliber machine gun and the MK19 40 mm grenade launcher. For each weapon system, the Soldier must display his ability to assemble, disassemble, load, unload, clear, reduce stoppage and perform a functions check.
The two other critical tasks are performing preventive maintenance checks and services on a Humvee and operating a SINCGARS radio system, SSG Larson said.

In addition to those five critical tasks, Soldiers train on a number of skills that are the bread and butter of a cavalry scout. Soldiers receive hands-on training with modern demolition initiators and are able to live fire C4 plastic explosives. They also live fire the three primary weapons systems, and become familiarized with route and area reconnaissance procedures.
Not only is this the first time this class has been taught overseas, it is only the second time the rewritten course has been taught with a distance learning Phase I. The pilot course was conducted in May 2007, SSG Larson said. In previous courses, Phase I was taught during a series of drill weekends or during an active duty training period.

As part of the Army transformation process, the squadron changed from an infantry battalion to a cavalry squadron just a few months prior to beginning the mobilization process in June 2006. About 50 Soldiers were able to get qualified as cavalry scouts before the unit mobilized, said SGM Paul Ronan, squadron operations sergeant major. The addition of 66 more qualified cavalry scouts will put the unit’s duty MOS rating near 90 percent, he said.

“The impact that this has on our squadron is monumental,” explained SGM Ronan. The Army transformation process created 23 new cavalry squadrons in the National Guard, and because of the high demand for school seats to train cavalry scouts in both the active and reserve components, seats from the course were filled through 2008, he explained.

“Our Soldiers could not be considered for promotion in the 19D career field until this course has been completed,” SGM Ronan said. “Being away for 15 months certainly put our Soldiers at a disadvantage up until now. This coupled with the seating issue would have had a very negative affect for several years.”

Not only have the Soldiers learned the skills of a cavalry scout, the course has also helped them develop a mindset that is different from that an 11B infantry Soldier.

“A cavalry scout is the eyes and ears of the commander,” SSG Larson said. “He needs to be silent, not seen or heard. The information a scout gathers helps the commander develop his battle plan.”

SGM Ronan said this course taught the squadron valuable lessons as warriors and cavalry scouts.

“The cavalry mission is totally different from the infantry mission. Our warriors are learning this in the course. Through the distance learning and throughout the hands-on portion of the class, the cavalry recon theme is present throughout,” he said.

Soldiers taking part in the course agree that the change in mindset is an important part of making the transition to becoming a cavalry scout.

“The biggest difference between being an infantryman and a scout is I am not supposed to shoot,” said SGT Robert Wilson Peters from A Troop. “As a scout, you are the eyes and ears of the commander. If you get caught or get engaged and get wiped out, that’s it. The commander doesn’t know what’s going on, the infantry coming in doesn’t know what’s going on, and they are coming in blind.”

Conducting the course in Kosovo also proved to be a real cost-saver. SGM Ronan estimated that to send a Soldier to the school would have cost almost $3,000 per student. Instead, there was only the cost to bring 13 instructors to Camp Bondsteel.

“I would put the cost saving to our state at approximately 125,000 training dollars,” SGM Ronan said.

Conducting the course while in Kosovo also helps to reduce the strain on families after the mobilization is over. “Getting this course done here means I get to spend more time with my family when I get home,” SGT Peters said.

In addition to reducing strain on families, conducting the class while mobilized also benefits relationships between Soldiers and their employers because they do not need to take additional time off work to get qualified in a new specialty.

Freeing up the Soldiers from their assigned missions in their sector of operations took careful planning on the part of the squadron and the task force. During the first class, Spanish Soldiers from a neighboring multinational task force shifted in to cover for the Soldiers in training. When the second two classes were taught at the same time, U.S. and Greek Soldiers were shifted from within Multi-National Task Force (East) to make sure the Soldiers were never pulled from training to fulfill mission requirements. At no time during the course of instruction was the squadron’s ability to perform their assigned mission in Kosovo degraded.

Putting a course like this together took months of planning between the squadron, the 204th RTI in Idaho and the MNTF(E) G3 operations office. SGM Bob Golladay, the G3 training sergeant major, made the first contact with the 204th RTI in May 2006 about the possibility of doing the course in Kosovo, and COL Tim Kelly, the RTI commander, and his staff then began work on the necessary coordination to pull it off.

COL Kelly had to assemble qualified instructors from across the country and get approval from the Armor Center at Fort Knox, KY, to conduct the class in a deployed environment. COL Kelly came to Kosovo in July 2007 to check out the ranges, classrooms and billeting areas, and also got a pledge of support from the unit.

“The G3 was instrumental in coordinating all of the equipment from the different battalion task forces which mostly was the crew served weapons,” SGM Ronan said. The squadron put a support matrix together that worked hand in hand with the instructors. All in all, I would say it was the professional teamwork that everyone brought to the table that made this work.”

Normally the RTI has all the resources under its control to conduct the course, but in this environment, they had to rely on the unit to provide the logistical and administrative support to the course instructors.

“I came away from the site visit with a real sense that we were going to get the support we needed to be able to conduct the course,” COL Kelly said.

COL Kelly was then able to get the approval from Fort Knox to conduct the course, and the final hurdle was cleared when the National Guard Bureau agreed to fund the cost of sending the instructors to Kosovo to teach the course.

“This is a model that can be used in the future,” COL Kelly said. He added that the success of these classes in Kosovo is an example of training opportunities that could be applied other theatres of operations and other specialties as well.

The squadron began their mission in Kosovo in December 2006 and will be returning home in early November.

4 Star Service

2007-10-01T02:16:00.000-04:00

"Why the hell are we in Kosovo?", the short answer

2007-09-29T08:31:00.001-04:00

(you should see the long one....)

TIMELINE-Key dates in Serbia's contested Kosovo province
Fri Sep 28, 2007 2:35pm BST

(Reuters) - Serbs and Kosovo Albanians hold direct talks on Friday on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in a last-ditch diplomatic bid to agree the fate of the breakaway Serbian province.

Here is a chronology of key events since 1989, the 600th anniversary of the Ottoman Turkish defeat of the Serbs on the plains of Kosovo, which resonated through Serbian history.

June 1989 - Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic uses the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo to warn that Serbs will never yield control of the province. He starts stripping away its autonomy.

July 1990 - Ethnic Albanian legislators declare Kosovo independent. Belgrade dissolves Kosovo's autonomous assembly.

July 1992 - Writer Ibrahim Rugova becomes president of the self-proclaimed republic in clandestine elections. A Serbian crackdown ensues as Albanians build a parallel state following principles of non-violent civil disobedience, which fails.

March-Sept 1998 - A guerrilla insurgency of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army gathers pace. The KLA seizes swathes of land and war intensifies, involving the Yugoslav army and police in what NATO warns is an indiscriminate and brutal crackdown.

March 18-19, 1999 - Peace talks in France end in failure.

March 24 - NATO begins bombing Yugoslavia in air campaign that lasts 78 days before Belgrade yields.

June 10 - Milosevic agrees to withdraw troops from Kosovo and NATO ends bombing. About 45,000 NATO troops begin entering Kosovo a day later as Serb forces pull out. Thousands of Serb civilians flee a wave of revenge attacks.

[-] Text [+] November 18, 2001 - Kosovo holds first general election. Rugova becomes president.

March 17, 2004 - Following the suspect drowning of three Albanian boys, Albanian mobs attack Serb enclaves in the worst violence since 1999. Nineteen people are killed and hundreds of homes torched as NATO is taken completely by surprise.

March 8, 2005 - Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj is charged with war crimes and resigns to face trial in The Hague.

Oct 24 - The U.N. Security Council agrees to talks on Kosovo's future, mediated by its envoy, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.

Jan 21, 2006 - Rugova dies of lung cancer.

April 3, 2007 - With no compromise in sight, Ahtisaari proposes independence supervised by the European Union.

June 7 - At a G8 summit in Germany, Russia makes clear it would veto a draft U.N. resolution circulated by Western powers. Three days later in Albania, U.S. President Bush says "the time is now" to make Kosovo independent.

Aug 30 - Envoys from the United States, the EU and Russia open a new round of diplomacy and talks, saying "all options are on the table". They must report back to the United Nations by December 10.

Welcome to Kosovo KFOR9!

2007-09-26T08:57:00.001-04:00

The way we are presenting Bondsteel to KFOR9

The way we really feel about Bondsteel

2 killed, 11 injured in Pristina blast

2007-09-25T06:48:00.000-04:00

Kosovo Police officers inspect the scene where a powerful blast ripped through Kosovo's capital early Monday, Sept. 24, 2007. A powerful blast ripped through several shops in Kosovo's capital early Monday, killing two people and injuring nine others, officials said. While the motive for the attack was unclear, Kosovo's government said it was not related to the U.N.-mediated negotiations on the province's demands for independence from Serbia. The explosion happened in a shopping mall in the center of Pristina. Police said the blast was caused by an explosive device.

Ciao bello

2007-08-24T09:29:00.001-04:00

By far, one of the best parts of being a member of KFOR for a year has been the work and interaction with the other NATO members. While the best exchanges we have had have come from actual operations, such as when we had a Swedish squad attached to my squad for a week, or when we were inserted into an Irish company for 4 days, or made part of a behemoth Swedish/Irish/Finish/English checkpoint operation outside of Pristina in January, the more informal interactions we have had on Camp Bondsteel and at Film City have also been a high point of our rotation.

Escorts and other MP business will often bring us to COMKFOR at Film City, a complex of buildings much like a militarized Olympic Village or something, with each nation having it's own billetting area, and their PXs all along the main street(it is called Film City because it used to be a studio lot for cost-averse Hollywood outsourcing before Vancouver was invented). When up there, we generally will meet some of our NATO partners, like the Italian soldier pictured with us here, and a towering German sergeant we met a few weeks before who could have been a wrench swinging extra in Raiders of the Lost Ark, or the pair of medics from Latvia we met explaining to the other Europeans how "Yes, we are our own country!"(mentioning that I knew who Arturs Irbe was to this pair preserved strong Latvian-American diplomatic relations, at least for the moment), or the Hungarians working Force Protection, etc., etc. Even the French of KFOR are friendly towards Americans since the Sakorozky election, and we enjoy meeting with them.

I think the military bonds from here will be a lasting legacy of KFOR beyond any diplomatic achievements the mission will produce. The coexistence and cross-training within NATO has made actual allies out of a loose-knit coallition of post-cold war militaries.

Vetevendosje's Albin Kurti speaks out

2007-08-24T09:29:00.000-04:00

Kosovo Independence Activist Puts Hope in 'No Negotiation'

By Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, August 23, 2007; A16

PRISTINA, Serbia -- Albin Kurti's is not the bookshelf of a common criminal. Philosophy tomes compete for space with poetry anthologies and memoirs by those he says he leans on for inspiration, such as Nelson Mandela.

But the man police consider Pristina's chief troublemaker is under house arrest in his fifth-floor walk-up off Pristina's Bill Clinton Boulevard. He is charged with leading a pro-independence riot in February, during which police killed two ethnic Albanian demonstrators with rubber bullets fired at point-blank range.

With a wiry physique and the dark-rimmed glasses of a graduate student, Kurti, 32, is the founder of the ethnic Albanian organization Self-Determination, whose stenciled slogan "no negotiation" is spray-painted on walls throughout Kosovo. He served two years in a Serbian jail during and after the 1999 war, which ended with the withdrawal of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army from the territory. Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations ever since, though on paper it remains a province of Serbia.

The violence in February showed the potential for broad instability as Kosovo's leaders negotiate the territory's final status in advance of a December deadline. Members of the province's ethnic Albanian majority overwhelmingly demand full independence, and many ask why they don't have it already.

"People are angry because politicians give the impression that the views of citizens are unimportant," Kurti said in a recent interview in his apartment. He argues that independence should simply be declared, not negotiated with Serbia. "Victor Hugo wrote that movements end when leaders fulfill their own ambitions. Our leaders' ambitions must be very low."

The demonstration in February was a response to a U.N. proposal that would separate Kosovo from Serbia but leave significant authority in the hands of international representatives for the foreseeable future. Protesters smashed vehicles and threw stones and glass bottles filled with red paint at government buildings and at people assigned to protect them.

Kosovo's interior minister later resigned, along with the U.N. police administrator, and the United Nations temporarily suspended use of supposedly nonlethal rubber bullets throughout the territories it governs.

A prosecutor determined that the police, Romanians who are part of an international force deployed here, had acted criminally, but declined to file charges because it was unclear who had fired the fatal shots.

While the current court order against him cites his "disdain and contempt for all that represents the legitimate authority of Kosovo," officials in Pristina reject Kurti's claim that he is a political prisoner.

"It's not complicated -- he led a violent protest. These people didn't have to die," said Capt. Veton Elshani, a spokesman for the Kosovo Police Service. "And you know what? Since he was arrested, there have been no violent protests."

Initially placed under house arrest, Kurti was sent to a prison for five months after he was found to have left his apartment to visit the families of those killed at the rally. In July he was returned home and told to remain there until his trial in September. He said he plans to represent himself.

Guarded by a pair of policemen who seem unconcerned by visitors, he relies on family and colleagues to deliver food. On a recent weekday, the six-month anniversary of the two protesters' deaths, 14 young members of Self-Determination trudged up the dingy staircase and rang his bell. He welcomed them inside.

"You need to be very disciplined," he told the nodding men, who sipped Coke from plastic cups. "We are under a lot of scrutiny now."

One guest told him about friction with Serbs, Kosovo's main minority, in a northern village. While many analysts worry about interethnic tension during the push for statehood, Kurti says the February rally targeted only Kosovo's local assembly and the international presence here, not the Serbs, victims of previous outbreaks of violence.

"The worst thing we can possibly do now is attack the Serbs," Kurti said. "It will only radicalize their enclaves and ruin our relations with them. We need to focus our energy on independence."

KFOR8 at the Demo Range

2007-08-05T14:21:00.000-04:00

KFOR8 Demo gallery

Kosovo PM:"Conoleza Rice promises independent Kosovo after 120 days of negotiations"

2007-07-28T01:40:00.001-04:00

Interview

Ceku Says Kosovo Is On The Way to Independence

July 27, 2007

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Agim Ceku has just returned from Washington, where he met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Ceku tells Jeta Xharra in an exclusive interview that the US has promised Kosovo politicians independence if 120 days of additional talks with Belgrade fail to reach a negotiated solution. He also talks about Kosovo’s diplomatic efforts and elections in Kosovo.
Xharra: Mr. Prime Minister is Kosovo closer to independence since your meeting with Secretary Rice?

Ceku: There is no doubt we are much closer to independence. To be honest, we are not coming back from the US with any great news. We come back with a more solid support, promised and committed support for Kosovo’s independence, and I think that the support of the United States is a key element for Kosovo to become independent soon.

Xharra: You said you were promised. What exactly did Ms. Rice promise you?

Ceku: She said that Kosovo will become independent after the 120-day period.

Xharra: When exactly after this 120-day period will it become independent? Did you set a date?

Ceku: No, this is what is missing and this is why I said we didn’t bring back anything new. We went there to get an explanation and a clear vision of how we are going to achieve this. We went there to set a date. We received strong commitment, strong support and guarantees that Kosovo will be independent after the 120-day period, but we did not get a date. We asked a few things from Ms. Rice. The first one was to recognize Kosovo’s independence this year. We also asked that this additional period should not allow crossing of the red lines. Red lines for us are: the independence of Kosovo, which is non-negotiable and has no alternative. The second is [UN special envoy Martti] Ahtisaari’s package. It’s the biggest compromise we made and we cannot make anymore compromises and we will not discuss bigger compromises. The third, we firmly said no to Kosovo’s partition. We were clear about these things and we were promised that the US stands behind them too.

Xharra: They stand behind you, but they did not say they will recognize independence this year?

Ceku: They did not say. They didn’t want to give exact dates. I said we asked for an exact date but they didn’t give us one. In principle, after the 120-day period; when we know when it begins, then we will calculate the dates …We asked for the 120-period to start immediately, and we were promised it will start very soon. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon is expected to invite both parties next week to try harder in finding a joint solution. That day will be considered as the beginning of the 120-day period. From now, we have to start working so that Kosovo becomes independent after 120 days. The independence will happen with the declaration by the Assembly of Kosovo, the recognition of the independence by the United States, European countries and other places. We have to work so that this happens immediately after the 120 days. We have to finish work on drafting the constitution, symbols, laws required by the Ahtisaari package. We have to finalize every detail, then take over responsibility from UNMIK [the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo].

Letter to American Legion Magazine from General Douglas Earhart, MNTF-E CG

2007-07-25T04:46:00.001-04:00

The General sent the following letter to the American Legion magazine this week in response to an article in the July issue by Julia Gorin titled "The 'Successful War' we lost in Kosovo". I am a Legion member, so I get the Legion magazine over here, and their coverage has been liberally 'balanced', with point-counterpoint articles every month from U.S. legislators and a few policy wonks.

I read the article by Ms. Gorin, and I think the General's response is dead on. Ms Gorin is entitled to her opinion - though not to rearrange facts to support it, as she does in this article - but there are plenty of opinionists out there who are more optimistic and realistic about the issue of Kosovo and her independence, I would hope to see some of their works in future issues.

Letter to the Editor of American Legion Magazine

Dear Editor:

American Legion magazine published an article in the July issue written by Julie Gorin titled “The ‘Successful War’ we lost in Kosovo.” While the author certainly is entitled to her opinion and she has a right to express those opinions, it causes me great concern that many of the statements she makes are not true.

As the commander of the Kosovo Forces’ Multi-National Task Force (East), I see first hand the progress that has been made in the region. I see first hand the actions of our Soldiers, and the tireless efforts they make toward maintaining a safe and secure environment for ALL the people of Kosovo, regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.

In her article, Gorin makes a number of false claims, including “a Serb a day is killed in Kosovo,” that Kosovo Serbs live in “barbed-wire-enclosed, KFOR-guarded perimeters of a few kilometers—beyond which they dare not venture” and that “NATO troops are directed to flee rather than return fire.”

We do not see a Serb a day killed in Kosovo, nor do they live in guarded perimeters with NATO protection. We frequently patrol Kosovo Serbian villages, but they are free to leave their homes to shop, to work and to visit friends and family. Our Soldiers have strict rules on the use of lethal force, and we will always use the minimum force necessary to defuse a situation. But to defend themselves or innocent citizens, our Soldiers will react with the level of force necessary to deal with the threat.

Gorin goes on to write that “Serbian nuns continue to be killed” and “churches and monasteries continue to be destroyed.” Again, these claims are false. Our contacts in the Serbian Orthodox Church confirmed for us that the last act of violence against a nun or priest in Kosovo was in 2006 when someone threw rocks at a Serbian Priest while he was traveling. There have also been no churches or monasteries destroyed in Kosovo since 2004.

The situation in Kosovo is far from perfect. There are still feelings of mistrust between ethnic groups and there is much work to be done to improve the infrastructure and economy. But the important thing is that progress is being made. Every day we see more signs of cooperation between ethnic groups, and we see more signs of progress towards a bright future for Kosovo.

For anyone wanting accurate, up-to-date and first-hand information about our mission in Kosovo, I invite them to visit our public information web site at www.kfor8.com.

Sincerely,

Brig. Gen. Douglas B. Earhart
Commander
Multi-National Task Force (East)
Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo

Wildfire sweeps through Kosovo

2007-07-24T00:31:00.000-04:00

Evening Echo News

23/07/2007 - 4:26:03 PM

Wildfires swept across Kosovo today, leading to evacuations by Nato peacekeepers and local authorities.

Almost two dozen houses were engulfed in flames in two hamlets in Kosovo’s north-east and south-west regions, authorities said. Police evacuated the villagers but failed to save cattle from the growing flames.

Nato sent helicopters over the weekend to help firefighters and the local civil emergency force to contain the fires.

Authorities said some 11,400 acres of land had been destroyed by fire over the last two months.

Several firefighters have been injured and the force is struggling to keep up with the spreading flames because of old equipment.

High temperatures have hit the Balkans this month sparking a series of fires in the entire region.

Kosovo’s locally-elected authorities are in charge of the day-to-day running of the province, although overall authority remains with the UN administration and more than 16,000 Nato-led peacekeepers.

Novo Brdo

2007-07-23T13:22:00.000-04:00

We took one of our patrols up to the ruins of Novo Brdo this week, the crumbling remnants of a Byzantium outpost built in the 9th Century to defend the nearby mining grounds. Today, Novo Brdo remains an outpost, still only of significant strategic value for it's mineral content. Driving up to Novo Brdo, through the nearby town of Boston(nothing like the one back home), things remain much as they were centuries ago. Were it not for a deposit of precious minerals, people never would have ventured up there then, any more than they would today(the mine is still operational).

Always fun to walk through the footsteps of history, though. These ruins are in much more disrepair than their cousins in Northern and Central Europe, as the peasant locals have surely incorporated parts of this castle into their own hovels. You would never know being here today that this was once a boomtown during the height of gold production, and was one of the primary suppliers to Europe of gold ore.

A nondescript, but still functioning, mosque lies very close to the ruins, built here during the time of the Ottoman Empire's occupation of Kosovo, after the battle at the Field of Blackbirds in 1389 where Serb's and Illirians were defeated by Sultan Murad's forces.

Crazy Alban

2007-07-14T01:28:00.001-04:00

After over 10,000 miles of driving the roads of Kosovo and Macedonia without incident, my squad was finally the victim of a "Crazy Alban". This is a maneuver by which the Ablanian driver suddenly lurches into your lane as you pass him, forcing you into his vehicle or off the road. Luckily, my driver is a good one, and he managed to secure us a fairly soft landing, and avoided any civillian casualties; when another platoon in the task force was the victim of this maneuver last month in Leposavic, the civilian ended up in a tree.

The Albanian drivers here are quite a challenge. When our interpretters told us back in November that Boston had one of the largest Albanian populations in the world, our answer was "That explains a lot".

Happy Anniversary KFOR8

2007-07-14T01:12:00.000-04:00

1 year down, 4 months to go....

4th of July in Kosovo

2007-07-13T12:06:00.001-04:00

If you squint really hard, you can see me in formation on the far side.

American Army Black Hawk and Apache helicopters fly overhead of U.S. Soldiers and honored guests at an American Independence Day ceremony held at Camp Bondsteel July 4. During the ceremony Soldiers were awarded the Kosovo Campaign Medal and the NATO Non-Article 5 medal. (Photo by Staff Sgt. James Kincannon, LMT UPAR)

US-Albanian Diaspora Bridges Investment Gap in Kosovo

2007-07-10T14:04:00.000-04:00

BIRN.eu.com

09 07 2007 While few businesses seem willing to invest in ‘risky’ Kosovo, some wealthy New York Albanians hope to combine their patriotic instincts with their wish to make a profit.

By Andi Balla in New York

With its nondescript offices in Brooklyn, Triangle General Contractors could be a typical small American business aspiring to expand its niche market - roofing and construction in New York City.

But its owner, Florin Krasniqi, has other plans. Against the advice of many, he bets that Triangle can flourish by investing in his native Kosovo.

When the company won an international bid to reconstruct an 8.3 megawatt hydro-electric power plant in western Kosovo two years ago, Triangle became one of the first American investors in the UN-administered territory.

“My objective is to make a difference,” Krasniqi said. “Money is great. But for me, it is a vehicle for making a difference.”

Krasniqi gained fame during the Kosovo war in 1998 and 1999 after raising $30 million in the Albanian American community to help buy weapons for the Kosovo Liberation Army. In the process, he nearly bankrupted his business.

Now he is part of a small a group of Albanian businessmen in New York who want to combine helping Kosovo’s economy to grow with making a profit.

Krasniqi is unusual as many potential Albanian American investors are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards Kosovo, according to Mimoza Kusari-Lila, the executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo.

“Many are waiting for the final status of Kosovo to be decided and those who have invested are encountering some basic problems with fiscal policy and the rule of law,” she said. “That makes them and a lot of other investors reconsider their involvement in Kosovo.”

Krasniqi insists there is money to be made in Kosovo. He said state-owned companies are being privatized there for “next to nothing” because local businesses fear to make investments.

However, some other Albanian Americans have also spotted the potential. The Bronx-based Bajraktari Realty Corporation, for example, privatized Kosovo’s renowned Rahovec Winery for $6.5 million and is looking to expand in the wood processing business in the southern city of Peje.

Krasniqi, working with partners in the United States and Kosovo, also privatized the Zastava Ramiz Sadiku auto parts plant, renaming it Kosova Steel. The company was sold for the equivalent of $3.5 million and is now in full production, exporting parts to the European Union.

But several factors continue to deter investors, starting with Kosovo’s political uncertainty. Albanians in America see independence as the first step in turning Kosovo into a normal economic entity.

Kosovo’s independence can’t come soon enough for people like Avni Mustafaj, a leading Albanian American lobbyist, who for eight years has been working to win support for an independent Kosovo in Washington.

Mustafaj, executive director of the National Albanian American Council, says only independence, as well as proper leadership and hard work, can significantly change the quality of life for the people of Kosovo.

The current reality on the ground is tough and unwelcoming for new investors. In addition to the issue of final status, bureaucracy, corruption and the poor infrastructure choke the desire of businessmen to invest money. “All we hear is invest and invest,” Mustafaj said. “But you need the infrastructure to do that.”

It’s a message that hasn’t been lost in Pristina. Kusari-Lila of the American Chamber of Commerce said: “A very significant obstacle is weak infrastructure - energy, roads, rail ways, lack of proper urban planning, and lack of capital.”

The territory’s uncertain international status has made it impossible for the government to borrow from international institutions like the World Bank.

Commercial banks will lend money, but only at a very high interest rates because they see Kosovo as a risky area.

Triangle’s investment at the Kozhner power plant, for example, was possible only because it used a $5.5 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a US government programme that helps American businesses invest in high risk developing markets.

Little or no lending means very few investments take place in Kosovo. The territory produces almost nothing. Only 4 per cent of imports are covered by exports, according to the EU Economic Policy Office in Kosovo.

Though Kosovo suffers from a lack of reliable statistics, the European Union, which has effectively run Kosovo’s economy for the past seven years, believes unemployment is between 40 and 60 per cent.

Matters are made more acute by the fact that Kosovo has Europe’s highest birth rate and half the 2.4 million population is under 27, which means 30,000 people enter the job market each year.

A large proportion of the population depends on money sent home by family members abroad for their survival. Remittances make up about 13 per cent of Kosovo’s GDP, while donor assistance fills another 34 per cent, according to a European Union economic profile of the region.

The EU Commission keeps tabs on Kosovo because the territory could be a candidate for EU membership one day. The commission sees foreign economic assistance as “rapidly declining” as final status approaches.

This means things could get much worse for the population before they get any better, and the Kosovo government says investments are desperately needed now, as the economy is growing by only 3 per cent a year.

Albanian Americans, who number more than 200,000 in the New York alone and have substantial wealth, can help plug the gap, according to Krasniqi.

But for the time being Kosovo is still, on paper, part of Serbia and Belgrade says it will never let go of Kosovo willingly. Moreover it has used economic arguments to make its point in the past.

The Serbian President, Boris Tadic, argues that a tiny independent Kosovo, one-third the size of Belgium, can never survive alone economically and will need Serbia’s larger markets to sell goods and employ people.

The northern tip of Kosovo, a mineral-rich region attractive to foreign investors, is also controlled by local Serbs who have vowed never to be separated from Belgrade.

The future of the northern tip and the other Serbian enclaves, which are economically separated from the rest of Albanian Kosovo, remain the hottest points of contention in the argument over independence.

Ironically, the one thing Albanian and Serbs have in common is that both peoples want to join the European Union and see it as the ultimate solution to the region’s political and economic disputes.

For its part, the European Union sees all the region’s countries as potential candidates but hasn’t given Serbs or Albanians specific target dates for membership.

Krasniqi, who admits to many headaches in dealing with bureaucratic procedures while investing in Kosovo, says what concerns him most is that Serbia will try to retake Kosovo by force. “Another war is the answer to that,” he said. “No one gives you independence. You take it.”

Andi Balla is a Balkan Insight contributor. Balkan Insight is BIRN’s online publication.

Interesting flashback on Krasniqi;

Buying Big Guns? No Big Deal

NATO to stop Serb 'guard' marking Kosovo battle

2007-06-27T13:05:00.001-04:00

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA, Serbia, July 26 (Reuters) - NATO will prevent a self-proclaimed 'volunteer guard' of Serb nationalists from marking the anniversary this week in Kosovo of an epic medieval battle, concerned at the risk of clashes with ethnic Albanians.

Reports that the 'Tsar Lazar Guard' would commemorate the 1389 Battle of Kosovo north of the capital Pristina have stirred tensions among the Albanian majority, already frustrated by diplomatic deadlock over its demand for independence. The commander of NATO's KFOR peace force, which has patrolled Kosovo since 1999, said on Tuesday he was working with Serbian authorities to prevent the Guard's attendance.

"I made it absolutely clear that KFOR will by no means accept any kind of paramilitary structures," German General Roland Kather told public broadcaster Radio-Television Kosovo.

"Should they come in, it should be very clear it is our mission to immediately intervene and we will do so," he said.

Serb sources in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo say dozens of nationalists from Serbia proper have already entered the country's southern province, which has been run by the United Nations since NATO bombs drove out Serb forces eight years ago.

Some were shown on television in camouflage uniform when they left Belgrade a month ago, travelling town-to-town on the 350-km trip south.

Police in Kosovo this weekend arrested two Albanians distributing flyers, purportedly from the shadowy Albanian National Army, saying the Guard would be "met with bullets."

The 16,000-strong KFOR will be on high alert on Thursday, when the Serbian Orthodox Church marks 618 years since Serbia's defeat to the Ottoman Turks, a loss that ushered in 500 years of Ottoman rule and resonated through Serb history.

Late Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic used the battle's 600th anniversary in 1989 to stamp his nationalist credentials on the former Yugoslavia in a speech to hundreds of thousands that foreshadowed the country's bloody collapse in the 1990s.

Ten years later his forces launched a brutal crackdown on an Albanian separatist army, expelling 800,000 civilians in a wave of ethnic cleansing that drew NATO into its first 'humanitarian' war. Independent estimates put the civilian death toll at between 7,500 and 12,000, mostly Albanians.

Moscow has blocked the adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution that would set Kosovo on the path to statehood.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer warned on Tuesday of instability if the impasse is not overcome.

Bush Right on Kosovo Independence

2007-06-22T06:21:00.000-04:00

Very interesting and informative read.

Bush Right on Kosovo Independence

Skopje, Macedonia

2007-06-17T14:42:00.000-04:00

I used one of my days off this week to take a TF sponsored day trip to Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Macedonia is officially recognized as such by the U.S., and is joining NATO under that name, but to the south, in Greece, the Republic is referred to as FYROM - the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - due to Greek fears that the terms of the Bucharest agreement, when Macedonia was broken into 3 by Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria, will be violated in 2013(the 100 year anniversary), reclaiming some of it's historic territory.

But I digress. We visitted a few monasteries in the region, dating from the 14th and 19th centuries, walked through the city proper with the Turkish Bazaar(from the Ottaman days), and learned some history of this narrow city of roughly 1 million just a few short miles south of Camp Bondsteel.

The Army's Birthday

2007-06-14T17:05:00.000-04:00

Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Jenks watches as Staff Sgt. Rick Molitas, Spc. Hugh Crawford, Brig. Gen. Douglas B. Earhart and Spc. Jadee Collins cut into a cake at the North Dining Facility in celebration of the Army's 232nd Birthday June 14. (Photo by Spc. David House, MNTF(E) Public Affairs)

The 232nd United States Army Birthday

Since its birth on 14 June 1775—over a year before the Declaration of Independence—the United States Army has played a vital role in the growth and development of our Nation. Soldiers have fought more than 10 wars, from the American Revolution through the Cold War, the Gulf War, to the current War on Terrorism. This 232nd Birthday is a recognition of The Army's history, traditions, and service to the Nation, a Call To Duty, 232 Years of Service to Our Nation.

Greece

2007-06-10T03:08:00.000-04:00

We had the opportunity to visit Greece on a sponsored pass this weekend, and it was amazing to see the ancient world. In Phillipi, we saw the ruins of the city, Lydia's Bath - site of the first Christian baptism in Europe, conducted by St. Paul - and the Phillipi Acropolis. We also visitted the ruins and Lion of Amphipolis, the seaside villas of Iraklista and Asprovalta, and the city of Kavala, formerly Neopolis, and where St. Paul entered Europe. Kavala in particular was an interesting layering of history with some Greek architecture still standing, as well as Roman, with a Turkish fortress standing atop the Acropolis, and a Roman style aquaduct built by the Ottamans in the mid-16th century dominating the city. And, in Philippi, you can see the site of the ancient Battle of Phillipi of 42 B.C. between the triumvirs Marc Antony and Octavian, and the allied tyrranicides Brutus and Cassius, where Marc Antony executed one of history's most perfect flanking movements.

All in all, quite an excellent trip to Northern Greece.

Sofia, Bulgaria

2007-06-03T13:16:00.000-04:00

I visitted Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, this weekend on a four day pass. Sofia was a fun city, with a lot of history and beer to see, I indulged in both. We hired a local driver/security officer for the weekend, as Bulgaria is still one of those countries emerging from the shadows of communism, but not fully emerged yet. The museum of Bulgarian history was very interesting, housed in a former Soviet state building, one of their cold war era palace sized buildings, ornate but functional. A few MiGs and a Hind were outside the building as well, and our guide knew every inch of the exhibits, dating back as far as the early Bronze Age.

We were also fortunate to be in town for the Belarus-Bulgaria national game, and we had a few Zagorka's while watching Belarus get clearly outclassed on the pitch. We also informally toured downtown, with the parliament and presidential buildings, the statue of Lady Sofia, and my first ever Iranian Embassy. It was a very interesting visit, unlike western European cities I have visitted, but deceivingly well put together once you pass the external gray Soviet style boxed buildings on the outskirts.

On Patrol with KPS

2007-05-29T13:08:00.000-04:00

Today, we conducted a joint patrol with members of the KPS here in Kosovo. The Kosovo Police Service is a multi-ethnic police force, with Serbian and Albanian Kosovars working together to patrol the countryside. We have worked with the KPS from time to time conducting regular MP business, and in support of their operations, but the joint-patrols are conducted somewhat infrequently, as we in KFOR have been handing more and more of the outwardly visible police business off to them. But it was good to work in close conjunction with the very professional and able members of the KPS today.

Serbian stare down

2007-05-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

Serbian battle plans of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo on the top of the monument at the Field of Blackbirds

May has been a very rainy(sometimes turbulently), and otherwise quiet month for us KFOR8 Peacekeepers. The region is officially in a holding pattern, with the Albanian majority forming a united front against both Serbian media and internal radical provocations. Indeed, as the Serbian nationalist media outlets grab onto any whiff of a story to attract international opposition to impending Kosovar independence and to stoke any internal strife, the Albanians refuse to be drawn off sides. The Albanian Kosovars have even seemed to have quelled the internal radical MSU/Vetevendosje seperatist movement, which was using college students and their own propaganda to attack any settlement that included Serbian citizens in an independent Kosovo. Not sure what moderate voice finally got through to the movement's rogue leader, Albin Kurti, but they have faded from the scene after a very active first quarter of 2007.

With those two radical fringes making the most noise and making none at all respectively, the message struggling to escape the Balkans finally is, as recent Gallup polling shows the international community favoring status as an independent state for Kosovo, and a plurality of the regular citizens - Albanian majority, and Serb minority - looking for a peaceful transition to becoming just that. The EU, US, NATO, Eastern Bloc countries such as Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Latvia, and the people of Kosovo themselves now are ready for an independent Kosovo, with Russia quickly tiring of being Serbia's last standing partner on the dance card. The fat lady is warming up.

But, other than the political movement, May was quiet for us inside the region, with the highlight of the month for my squad being another visit to the Field of Blackbirds, the famous site of the Battle of Kosovo, and home of the Serbian nationalist monument constructed in 1953 in it's honor. We also visitted the tomb of Sultan Murad less than a mile from the field, the final resting place of the Ottoman ruler that fell before the Serbs were defeated into national martyrdom in June of 1389. And we also took one more trip to the Black Madonna in Litnicia during patrols, to visit that storied Albanian Catholic site, made famous as the home of Mother Teresa for so long.

Interesting economic commentary on Kosovo

2007-05-29T12:45:00.001-04:00

Can Kosovo Be Economically Viable?By Muhamet Mustafa in Pristina

Midpoint

2007-05-22T12:45:00.000-04:00

The FYROM/Bulgaria border

April was a fast month for my squad, as most of our members had leave of one sort of another. Some of us made trips to England and Europe proper, others visited Bulgaria for a little R and R, and some went home to America, but there was also much business to take care of. We conducted Joint Operations with the German army along the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia(FYROM) border, and have spent time supporting operations in Multi-National Task Force Center(MNTF-C), to the north of our primary sector.

Now, at mission midpoint, we enter the doldrums of the deployment briefly, and change tack to meet the goals of the second half. Operations have increasingly been conducted in support of UN and EU contact group missions, as those international bodies posture to meet the coming settlement of future status. As they wrestle with Russia - bargaining on behalf of their Serbian client state - on the international scene, visiting dignitaries have come to Kosovo to gauge the conditions here on the ground. Saber rattling from the Russians, and from Serbian nationalists in Belgrade, punctuate the daily media, but many – including myself – expect an eventual settlement with Russia and it’s imposition on Serbia, as happened in Dayton, Ohio in 1995.

The mild winter here has given way to a wet spring, with cool and comfortable temperatures for the Task Force to operate in. Us Yankees from New England cast a wary eye at the coming summer, expecting hot and humid weather to go along with the temperate winter weather patterns we have just left behind. Just what we need to enjoy the rest of this cold war hangover.

Kosovo, Albania and Jihad

2007-05-15T07:41:00.000-04:00

May 13, 2007
Kosovo, Albania and Jihad
By Ray Robison
Special to The American Thinker

I don't know Patrick but I read his AT article "Kosovo and Antijihad Bigotry" and I have to say, he is spot on. I deployed to Kosovo with the 101st on Valentine's Day, 2000 as part of the first unit rotation in country after the initial US deployment. I read the book Balkan Ghosts to prepare myself somewhat for the deployment. (On a side note, just as liberals complain the US army is sending people to Iraq unprepared because they have just arrived at a unit and had no regional training, so it is that I went to Kosovo under "Clinton's Army" but with much less mission-specific training. It's a war, not a college curriculum.) After reading the book about the history of the region and its multicultural warring, I was completely surprised at the Kosovo that awaited me.

First, I must say, the Kosovar women are stunning. But in an odd twist, they had poor dental care. So it was not uncommon to see a woman who could be easily strutting on a Paris runway sans her front teeth, just an unusual observation that rests in my subconscious. Much more importantly, they had been the obvious victims of brutal repression for years. So it was that as I left the front gates and Hesco bags surrounding our compound in Mitrovica that I was brutally accosted by wide-eyed children begging me to take them home to the United States because they had no family and no social system in place, and had been abandoned by the Serb government. It was heartbreaking to receive their pleas and adoration and be unable to lend immediate assistance.

On a mission to Pristina we stopped at a red light in our Hummers. Unannounced, a couple of young men approached our window. Of course our weapons came up, ready to repel an attack. But the men apologized with tears in their eyes for scaring us as they extended empty hands to us. With both hands they shook ours, saying so profoundly, sincerely that we had saved their lives and the lives of their families. We knew then that yes, the US forces that came before us had done so. The trip was - to use an overused word that smacks of pretentiousness - surreal. To see a city that looked like it could be sitting in central Europe marred by the remnants of war time devastation, I realized what Europe must have looked like to our greatest generation.

We had made this one trip to Pristina to fix an antenna for a hospital ambulance dispatch office. The hospital was modern, though obviously dilapidated and lacking supplies. Among the hospital workers were many women who hid smiles and giggles behind hands raised to their mouths in surprise. For a second, I knew what a rock star must feel like. In another unheralded bit of good will on the part of the US Army, my soldiers climbed out on a five-story overhanging ledge to put up an antenna so the hospital could send the ambulances where they were needed. I knew the small effort would save lives and I was never prouder of the soldiers I worked with. Frankly, though I am airborne and air assault qualified, heights scare the beans out of me, so I watched the men on the ledge running cable in wonderment that they seemed not to notice that we were inches from a horrid fall.

On our trips we saw house after house, almost all of them roofless and gutted. Garbage was piled along the pitted roads like snow in Connecticut in January. People walked on the roads since gas was in short supply as evidenced by the charred hulks that used to be fuel storage containers, many of them blown up to deprive the Serb army of fuel. Driving meant meandering through a human obstacle course. Consumable meat was almost nonexistent. Butchers brought the occasional live cow to the side of the road where they carved them up on the spot for the rare Kosovar who could afford the beef.

But what really got me was the day when driving down the road we passed a dog eating a dog. I knew then that there was truth to the phrase "dog-eat-dog" and it had come to Kosovo.

These were not Islamic extremists. These were barely Islamic people, moderates, if you wish to use the term. The women were not covered. They worked and drove and were not forced to walk behind the men, they were equals as far as I could tell. It is unlikely they knew of al Qaeda.

The reasons why three Albanian men from Jersey became jihadists have nothing to do with Kosovo or Albania and everything to do with Islamic extremism. Just as some of the reaction to Patrick's column bordered on the extreme, in any society, extremists can flourish. It happens that because Islamic extremism is aimed at us, we notice it more. But it was anti-Muslim extremism that drove the Serbs to treat Muslims as second class citizens, and far too frequently much worse that that. One building we lived in had the entire top floor cordoned off with yellow tape. Inside was evidence of the rape rooms and other war crimes of the Serb police. I never knew what specifically was in there, I didn't want to know. I saw the effect it had had on the people outside the wire.

But in another building, there was also a room that gave me the creeps. This one was a prison cell that had held a US soldier who had raped and murdered a Kosovo child. This juxtaposition truly brought home for me that evil is not defined by race, religion, or political affiliation, but by deed.

To Serb villages we sent rapid reaction forces to assist our Polish comrades being battered by the Christians. There is no question in my mind that an objective evaluation can only concede that in the instance of Kosovo the Christians were the obvious aggressors and the Muslims the victims. It is a rare exception in modern history, I think, but one I must make for the sake of intellectual honesty. But this is not to say the Muslims were blameless. One of our central missions was to protect ancient Christian churches that the Mujahideen were blowing up. Our area experienced the occasional IED and drive by shooting almost never aimed at US forces.

I have read several articles since the news broke of the Jersey Jihadists about the former Yugoslavia and links to Islamic jihad in Bosnia and Kosovo. I have read them openly to reexamine my position and see if I got it wrong because of my personal experience. Mostly, the articles talk about the Balkan jihad. But what these writings usually leave out is that the jihadists in Kosovo were predominately Arab foreigners. Many of these were picked up by the CIA and sent to Egypt (as ordered by Bill Clinton in his new rendition policy), where they were tortured and executed. If you want to talk reasons for Islamic jihad against the US, this is one of many - not to say it was wrong but that it did have an effect.

It is true that a small cadre of Kosovars is motivated by religious extremism, but there are other factors such as nationalism, ethnicity, tribalism and even self-defense. History notes that Hitler himself founded a Bosnian regiment comprised of Muslim radicals bonded by mutual hate of Jews. But to lay every bad act of Islamic extremism at the feet of all Muslims or an entire ethnicity or country benefits no one, except those with a purely anti-Muslim agenda.

Just as some of the people we rescued from Saddam in Kuwait now fight us in Iraq, we can't condemn the entire population for the acts of a few when so clearly the rest of them support us and appreciate our efforts. We can contrast this to Pakistan, where entire regions long for American and Christian destruction. But Kosovo is not Pakistan and Kosovars are not Saudi Wahhabists. Let's keep the arguments focused on the real bad guys or else our good efforts are diluted.

Ray Robison is co-author of the book Both in One Trench, a blogger, and a frequent contributor to American Thinker.

2007-05-10T23:21:00.000-04:00

Kosovo Shocked at Arrests of Albanian Terror Suspects

09 05 2007 Pristina__ Kosovo has been shocked by the arrest of four Islamic radicals of Albanian origin who were allegedly plotting to attack the US military base at Fort Dix, close to New Jersey.

Six Muslims, four of them Albanians from ex-Yugoslavia, were arrested and charged Monday night with planning a heavily armed attack on soldiers at Fort Dix.

News of the arrests has caused something of a furore in Kosovo, with politicians and institutions strongly condemning the alleged plotters and offering to help the US government with their enquiries.

In a letter that Agim Ceku, Kosovo's prime minister sent to Tina Kaidanow, head of the US Office in Pristina, on Wednesday, he condemned the incident and reaffirmed Kosovo's full support and eagerness to help in the on-going investigation.

"We are disgusted by the fact that any Albanian anywhere in the world could be involved in such acts against a nation which has been so generous to us," said Ceku.

Kosovan political parties said the alleged plot damaged the image of Albanians.

Hashim Thaci, head of Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, the main opposition party in Kosovo, said in a statement released yesterday that "Kosovo and Albanians in general have always and continue to take an active part in the war against global terrorism".

More than 100 civil society organisations and media condemned the Albanians implicated in the planned attack, saying they were in no way representative of the Albanian people.

Civil society activists will on Wednesday organise a petition against terrorist acts and in support of the American people and government.

Kosovo Serbs Give Tsar Lazar’s Guard Wide Berth

2007-05-09T08:17:00.000-04:00

08 05 2007

Serbs in province give cool reception to group pledging holy war against Kosovo’s independence.

By Igor Milic in Northern Mitrovica

He died at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, vowing to shield the Christian heartland of Serbia from its Ottoman Muslim invaders. More than six centuries on, his followers seem willing to make the same sacrifice.

With Kosovo now headed - seemingly irreversibly - for independence from Serbia under its Muslim Albanian majority, 200 Serbian stalwarts gathered in the central Serbian town of Krusevac on May 5 to attend the inaugural ceremony of an organisation called the Guard of Tsar Lazar. Their professed aim – to keep Kosovo Serbian, by fighting if necessary.

The initiative is the brainchild of a number of nationalist groups, including The Serbian Veterans Movement and the Serbian United Popular Front.

The Guard has adopted a declaration vowing to go into battle if Kosovo declares – or is given - independence. How many Serbs will answer the call is open to question. Significantly, the Serbian authorities arrested 27 men heading to the rally in Krusevac. Most were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the insignia of the now banned former special police unit known as the Red Berets.

Most Serbs strongly oppose Kosovo’s separation from Serbia and views the land as their nation’s “cradle”. However, they also feel stirring up fresh tension is counterproductive.

Some Serbian analysts and politicians in Kosovo said the formation of the Guard was no more than an echo to threats made by Kosovo Albanian extremists to launch an armed campaign if independence is delayed.

“The very fact that the initiative has deliberately drawn media attention shows that its masterminds seek nothing more than their own personal benefit,” Oliver Ivanovic, a moderate Kosovo Serb politician, said.

Ivanovic described Tsar Lazar’s Guard as a response to the acts and threats of Kosovo Albanian extremists.

“A number of virtual extremist organisations have definitely provoked these young [Serbian] people to embark on such ideas and take the same course of action,” Ivanovic said.

“Either way, it’s not good,” he added. “The consequences may be fatal for the remaining Serbs in Kosovo because the initiative could be used as an excuse to launch a fresh wave of violence against them.”

Marko Jaksic, a Kosovo Serb leader in the north of the province, and a member of Serbia’s negotiating team on Kosovo, also scoffed at the ceremony in Krusevac as an empty gesture. “Such ideas are of no use to us and boil down to posing for the purpose of self-promotion,” Jaksic said.

Petar Miletic, of the Independent Liberal Party, agreed. “The time for violence has passed,” he said. Kosovo’s Serbs had already paid a heavy price for earlier violence in the province. “The people coming up with such initiatives are the same people who put Serbia and the Serbs into its present position,” Miletic added.

On the other hand, Ljubomir Kragovic, head of the Kosovo branch of the hardline nationalist Serbian Radical Party, said people were entitled to organise such groups if they wanted to.

“Individuals and groups have the right to rally like-minded supporters to protect themselves and their loved ones,” he said, adding, however, that the Radical Party had nothing to do with it.

“If Albanian extremists feel free to threaten violence if Kosovo is denied independence, it’s logical that Serb extremists will follow in their footsteps,” said Branislav Krstic, an analyst from the northern, Serbian, part of the divided town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo.

“Bearing in mind that the US administration supports Kosovo Albanian extremists, their Serb counterparts have every excuse to say they will respond to violence with violence,” he elaborated.

On the streets of north Mitrovica, few locals seem very interested in the protection apparently being offered to them by Tsar Lazar’s Guard.

“I don’t want another war because I see absolutely no point in further loss of lives,” Zoran Mihajlovic said.

Dragisa Dazbijevic, a Serbian refugee from the town of Klina, now living in Belgrade, said individuals like those behind the initiative to form the Guard “have no right whatsoever” to represent Serbia’s interests.

Dazvijevic said Kosovo should stay a part of Serbia but believed actions like those of the Guard were detrimental to Serbia’s hopes of holding on to its southern province.

“It will serve as a good excuse to keep branding the Serbs as extremists and as reincarnations of Slobodan Milosevic,” he said.

Although the news about Tsar Lazar`s Guard was widely reported in Kosovo the group is not perceived as a threat. “This should not be taken seriously,” Baton Haxhiu, editor of the daily Express, told Balkan Insight.

Igor Milic is a Balkan Insight contributor in Northern Mitrovica. Zana Limani in Pristina also contributed to this article. Balkan Insight is BIRN’s online publication.

The United States Should Welcome a New Era for Kosovo

2007-04-19T03:47:00.000-04:00

April 18, 2007

by Sally McNamara
WebMemo #1427

After Kosovo's seven years as a U.N.-administered protectorate, the time has come to free its people from the deadweight of international trusteeship and determine its final status. U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari recently proposed to the U.N. Security Council that Kosovo become independent of Serbia. This proposal, which includes firm guarantees for the protection of Kosovo's Serb minority, deserves the support of the Bush Administration, the European Union, and the NATO alliance. It promises to pave the way for the establishment of a fully democratic, and ultimately stable and prosperous, nation-state.

The continuation of the status quo is simply untenable. Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population, the vast majority of whom wish to be independent and whose leadership have supported the Ahtisaari plan. As Lady Margaret Thatcher said in 1999, "It would be both cruel and stupid to expect the Albanian Kosovans now to return to live under any form of Serbian rule."[1]

The U.N. operation in Kosovo (UNMIK) costs a staggering $240 million a year and has fostered a debilitating culture of dependency.[2] Without clarity on Kosovo's final status, meaningful reform and progress will not occur. It is now time for Kosovo to have a clear vision of its future for the first time in nearly a decade.

A Security Guarantee

Kosovo will enjoy stability and security only when its final status is settled. While independence may eventually achieve stability and security, the international community must continue to guarantee both in the short term. International supervision will be necessary to ensure that Kosovo's transition occurs without Serbian pressure or aggression. In the longer term, the United States, through NATO, should offer a security guarantee to Kosovo to deter any belligerence by Belgrade. By recognizing Kosovo's independence and guaranteeing its security, the world community will send a powerful message that Kosovo's sovereignty will be protected and that interference will be met with repercussions.

At the same time, by inviting Serbia into its Partnership for Peace program, NATO is using the carrot as well as the stick. Through NATO, the United States must continue to encourage Serbia to move toward integration into the Euro-Atlantic framework. While it is highly unlikely that Serbia will accept Kosovo's independence in the short term,[3] Belgrade can at least be persuaded to take the path of least resistance.

The Administration should also send a clear message to Moscow that it will not tolerate any Russian interference. Moscow's concern for the protection of Serbian minorities in an independent Kosovo is specifically addressed in Ahtisaari's plan, designed to prevent a repeat of the appalling ethnic violence of March 2004. Ethnic Serbs will hold broad rights to guarantee their position within a multi-ethnic democracy. If ethnic violence is to be avoided once again, Kosovo's status must be determined sooner rather than later. Further sclerosis or indecisiveness will only encourage destabilizing elements both inside and outside of Kosovo.
Moscow may seek to wield its veto power at the U.N. Security Council over this issue.

Washington, London, and Paris must make every diplomatic effort to avoid this, assuring Russia that Kosovo is a special case and will not set a precedent in the region. While Kosovo could be granted independence through a series of bilateral recognitions, the Security Council route is preferable, and the absence of a Russian veto would send Serbia a potent message that resolution of the Kosovo question must occur through peaceful means.

The Need for Foreign Investment

Kosovo can no longer rely on international aid for its economic development. Certainty about its political climate is critical to fostering investment and growth.[4] With increased stability and predictability, Kosovo can expect greater economic development, which is essential to its future. Sustainable economic development will also reduce chronic unemployment, currently estimated at 35 to 50 percent.[5]

Kosovo already has the foundations of a sound market economy.[6] Kosovo's membership in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) has created solid regional trade and investment opportunities, with access to a market of 20 million people.[7] Both the European Union and the United States must seek to build on this foundation.

With its vast single market, the European Union can both incentivize Serbia and aid Kosovo's economic development. Holding out the promise of market access, free trade, and full accession, the European Union should negotiate with both Serbia and Kosovo to actively encourage conclusion of a deal on Kosovo's final status.

The United States should show its commitment with a free trade agreement, either bilaterally with Kosovo or with CEFTA as a whole. As stated in President Bush's 2002 National Security Strategy, free trade is an important tool in advancing American strategic interests.[8]

Conclusion

Less than a decade ago, Kosovo was a war-torn entity facing a bleak future. But with the unanimous support of the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, NATO, the United States, the Western Members of the Kosovo Contact Group, the United Nations, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Special Envoy Ahtisaari has managed to unite most of the international community on Kosovo's future. Neighboring countries, including Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, are also broadly supportive. This is a major achievement.

While it is likely that the final agreement will be subject to intense negotiation and review before it is agreed later this year, the principle of Kosovo's status as an independent nation must remain paramount. As The Economist noted, independence is now inevitable, but the question is whether the process will be "controlled" or "uncontrolled."[9] Inaction would guarantee failure at achieving a controlled outcome.

The cost of Kosovo's reconstruction and recovery from June 1999 through 2004 was a whopping $2.76 billion, and more than 16,000 NATO troops are still deployed there.[10] For this significant investment to produce returns, the West must proceed with the option that has the greatest chance of achieving peace, progress, and stability, as well as the least risk. No plan will be without its risks, and it would be foolish to assume immediate success, but after 14 months of negotiations and the exhaustion of other options, Ahrtisaari's plan offers Kosovo at least a chance for an enduring future.

Sally McNamara is Senior Policy Analyst in European Affairs in the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation.

Back to the Balkans

2007-04-13T11:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the folks in the Alaska Air National Guard for the ride home....

Pictoral chronological review

2007-04-12T13:28:00.000-04:00

London

Windsor

Stonehenge

Bath, England

Brussels

Brugge, Belgium

Amsterdam

Berlin

Potsdam, Germany

Frankfurt am Main

Rhineland, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany

Last stop, Heidelberg

2007-04-11T16:43:00.000-04:00

Heidelberg, as seen from Heidelberg Castle on Wednesday

All good things must come to an end, and here, in Heidelberg, my European tour does so. A fitting finale to the tour, Heidelberg is a picturesque riverside former seat of German power, and a can't-miss stop for anyone wishing to experience old world Germany. We had a few excellent traditional meals here, walked the scenic city, and made our way up to the city's main attraction, Heidelberg Castle. Accessible either by road march(our method of ingress) or cable car, the castle is well worth the trip. Constructed in the 13th century, and improved through the 17th century before falling into ruins during the 30 Year War and the 1689 war with France, the castle provides a breathtaking view of the city proper.

We were also fortunate to find a symphony of young German musicians gathered in the Marketplatz in the castle's shadow beginning to perform as we sat down for our post-climb afternoon beers. All in all, Heidelberg served as an excellent traditional German finish to our Deutschland leg of the tour.

Frankfurt am Main

2007-04-10T18:28:00.000-04:00

The Rhine on Tuesday

As we approach the end of our tour, Frankfurt am Main is a welcome departure from the busy city of Berlin. The deceptive hub of German and European commerce, Frankfurt is a small, quickly familiar city, reminding me a lot of Cambridge and Boston MA. The city is the home of rich German history and of current European financial holdings, it's neat financial district is surrounded by the old city. But the true attraction is the wine country along the Rhine directly west of Frankfurt; breathtaking falls short in describing the country that produces Germany's finest wines. As with all of our stops thus far, the secondary trip has eclipsed the primary, and not coincidentally, has brought us to another World Heritage Site. Bath, England was far superior to London, Brugge, Belgium outshone Brussels, Potsdam was notches above Berlin, and, now, the Rhineland Valley dwarfed nearby Frankfurt.

I might have scoffed at the World Heritage Site list before this trip, but would not make that mistake in the future, having stumbled across 8 sites in the past 14 days. The Rhineland Valley joins the others on our trip as truly must see spots in Europe.

Berlin/Potsdam

2007-04-08T10:37:00.000-04:00

Gendarmenmarkt on Saturday

Berlin is a vast and interesting city, still a hub of western culture, which bustles with activity even on Easter Sunday. The city is immense, the monuments and historic buildings as imposing as they are immaculate, and it can definitely humble visitors for the first time. That said, we saw the main historic sites in the city - the Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Berliner Dom.

We also took a day trip out to Potsdam to see Frederick the Great's Palaces and grounds, which was quite amazing. The city was also the former home of the SS, and then of communist rulers of East Germany, so there was as much recent history as that from the Enlightenment. The paid tour was well worth it, with us having a Kevin Kennedy for our guide, an American who grew up in Potsdam(son of an American G.I. from Berlin NH of all places), and is now working on his doctorate. He was very knowledgable about Potsdam's specific history, as well as that of the Prussian Empire, Enlightenment-era Europe, and Frederick's line, and made a fascinating guide. He covered myths and legends about Frederick, the various styles of art used in the palaces(the summer palace, Sanssouci, is anti-Baroque Roccoco, a notable distinction), the role of Voltaire in Germany, as well as the sinister history of Potsdam in pre and post-WWII Germany. The latter included a trip to the site of the Potsdam Conference, attended by Stalin, Truman, and Churchill.

Morbidly fascinating was seeing the chair Frederick had died in, and visitting his grave, intentionally placed on non-hallowed ground as a testament to his secularist enlightened image he fostered(a wish of his finally granted after Germany's reunification).A further part of the entertainment was listening to Kennedy switch from native-German to fluent American English as he narrated our tour.

And, as with in Windsor and then Amsterdam, the array of priceless art we were able to view in Potsdam firsthand was dizzying.

Amsterdam Driveby

2007-04-05T15:56:00.000-04:00

Amsterdam, on Wednesday

A quick day and a half in Amsterdam, fun city, a lot of history, but also a little dirty; being the capital of hedonism and drug use in Europe - the continent of hedonism and drug use - has taken it's toll. But, it's not all bad here, history of the East India trade companies is still celebrated, the Rijksmuseum - with the works of Rembrant and van der Heyden - is here and worth visitting, and a celebrated canal culture thrives in Amsterdam. Also, the Heineken Experience is here, with a tour of the original brewery, but I don't know what it is that undercuts the visit. I am not sure if our recent visit to Bruges has spoiled me, or if the presence of so many of Europe's young, spoiled pot smoking kids has tainted Amsterdam, but there was something lacking here.

Worth a visit of a few days - more if you are younger, less if you're not - Amsterdam is a decadent destination of Europe. On to the Fatherland....

And now for something completely different...

2007-04-05T07:04:00.000-04:00

Checking emails after our Amsterdam canal cruise, and found this excellent article from Military.com in my in-box. From first-hand experience with the uniform, I found a lot to agree with;

New Army Uniform Doesn't Measure Up
Military.com By Eric Coulson April 05, 2007

One of the most visible and high-impact changes adopted by the Army since Operation Iraqi Freedom began has been the fielding of the Army Combat Uniform, or ACU. The new uniform replaces the woodland camo Battle Dress Uniform and the "three color" Desert Combat Uniform.

One of the main goals of the change was to have a uniform that worked in all environments - woodland, desert, and urban - and held up to the rigors of combat duty, as well as the strictures of day-to-day work in garrison.

A great deal of time and money was spent on the development of this new uniform and the Army Program Executive Office Soldier did extensive testing with Soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and at home in the United States.

Considering all the testing the uniform went through, it is surprising such a mediocre product finally emerged.

The Good:

The overall layout and organization of the uniform is good, the pockets are generally more useful and accessible in field gear.

Additionally, adoption of the rough-out boot is sensible from the maintenance and appearance standpoint. Soldiers coming out of the field are not going to be immediately gigged for having unshined boots, and while an old Army tradition may have gone by the wayside, no one really misses shining boots - particularly in the field.

The Bad:

Velcro was a good idea, but the execution was simply lacking. This material is just not ready for combat. Putting anything of size or weight in the pant's cargo pocket will often cause the closure to fail if your Velcro has any wear and tear - which in Iraq, it does. Soldiers risk losing belongings and being chewed out by the nearest NCO for an unsightly appearance.

The addition of Velcro on the sleeves to attach patches was intended to keep a Soldier from spending money modifying uniforms with new patches and skill badges. But this savings has been lost in a couple of ways.

First, patches are much more likely to be lost now that they can be easily removed. And, more obviously, Velcro repair kits are beginning to appear in the exchange shops - a tacit admission the Velcro does not last. Instead of shelling out cash to put new patches on the blouse, Soldiers now have to buy new Velcro to replace the material that failed.

The uniform is also poorly constructed. In more than 10 years of active and reserve service, I never once had a uniform "malfunction." Twice in my tour in Iraq I have had the crotch on my pants rip out. Embarrassment was the least of my worries. Had I not been near the end of a patrol it would have been a serious problem if my vehicle had gone down.

And I am not alone. I've talked to many Soldiers that have had this happen. The data is anecdotal at best, but it sure appears to be a problem.

The material itself is a problem as well. The 50/50 blend of cotton and nylon does not appear to have the staying power or the protection of the old 100% cotton or the Nomex of today's flight suits. In fact, Soldiers and Marines that spend a great deal of time in vehicles in Iraq are being issued tan Nomex flight suits to protect them from the possibility of flash fires in their vehicles. The cotton/nylon blend burns very quickly and can add to the injuries sustained in a burning vehicle by melting to the Soldiers skin.

The Ugly:

The ACU in universal camouflage is just not a very attractive camouflage pattern. Admittedly that's a poor reason to choose such utilitarian clothing; especially if I was convinced that it is a highly effective pattern. But I am not.

The pixilation assists in breaking up the shape of the Soldier - particularly through night vision - but in general, it stands out against anything except a concrete wall.

The pattern also shows every last bit of dirt the Soldier's been exposed to. I never once saw my original BDUs stain like my ACUs have, and I was spending more time rolling around on the ground in my earlier days. Even though the new uniform is supposed to stand up to the rigors of daily wear and tear enough that I don't have to buy separate "field" and "garrison" uniforms, a stained ACU isn't going to work in either environment.

Here are some suggestions to improve and complete the ACU:

A new pattern -- Army PEO Soldier is using a so-called "multicam" pattern in its testing of the Land Warrior system. This is a proven all-environment camouflage. It may stand out a tad more in urban environments, but the likelihood is the Soldier has already been detected. I say just adopt this pattern.

New material -- Use Nomex or some other fire-retardant material instead of the 50/50 cotton-nylon blend. The extra cost of Nomex will be more than made up in savings for the treatment and care of burned Soldiers.

Return to sew on patches and buttons -- Velcro is simply not up to the standard needed for combat. A return to sew on patches would also be a morale booster. Soldiers want to have their skill badges sewn on like they were on the BDU and DCU.

When the ACU was first introduced, I was a big fan. Having lived and worked in the uniform for over in year in various field environments - including combat in Iraq - it is clear the goal has not yet been achieved. With a few changes, the Army can complete the process and ensure today's Soldiers have a top-quality uniform ready to take them into combat.

Eric Coulson is an Army officer commanding an Engineer Company in Iraq. He hosts the Badger 6 Blog.

In Bruges

2007-04-03T15:55:00.000-04:00

Bruges on Tuesday

My brother Eric's streak for straight dope on Europe continues. On his urging, we headed out to Bruges today, finding a jewel right near the capital much like Bath in England. Unlike with Bath, however, we did not make the mistake of not alotting the proper time to enjoy it, so we spent the entire day in Bruges today. Beautiful old European city, teeming with history and encircled by/intertwined with venisian style canals, a day was barely enough. There were many cozy small European eateries to find, artisans, historic canal tours, cathedrals, plazas, belfries, and Jerry's Cigar Bar. I bookended the afternoon at Jerry's with a few Montecristo's, with Havana Club and coke, and the barman told me about Colin Farrell and Ralph Fienne's recent visit to film a movie called "In Bruges". That was an interesting bit of trivia, first I had heard of it, but I bet they loved filming in this location.

All in all, this was one of the most spectacular areas in Europe or the states I had ever been to, earns it's monicker as "Belgium's Venice".

Brussels

2007-04-03T15:40:00.000-04:00

The Grand Place, Brussels, on Monday

We visitted Brussels, capital of Europe, home of the EU, etc, etc. I must say, Belgium was a pleasant surprise, it came down to here or France, and I am glad Belgium won. As for the capital, Brussels is a very asthetically pleasing cross between old world charm and new world functionality. The Grand Place and the St. Michael and St. Goedele Cathedral alone are amazing, and we were walking through the streets mindlessly sightseeing when happening upon both. The people in Brussels are very friendly and were quick to offer tips to us while in town, and this stop on the tour turned out to be a very pleasant one of old world charm and European leisure. Definitely a reccomended stop to anyone looking for an enjoyable point of ingress into central Europe.

European Vacation, Leg 1

2007-04-01T12:36:00.000-04:00

Windsor Castle grounds, on Saturday

Our first leg through Europe is complete. London is very fun, but very expensive. Brits are decent enough folks, but there is that famous latent indiffference in everything they do until Saturday, when they go on drinking binges and start Hooligan brawls. We met a scottish businessman last night at the pub(Old Swan, best pub in our travels), and he was funny because he - like most Scots - detests brits, and wasn't shy about it. Very funny.

Saw all the obligatory sights, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Tower, Big Ben, The War Cabinet Room/Churchill museum, Parliament, cruised the Thames, visitted Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Bath was amazing, the only remaining city from when Romans ruled Britain, and it was just amazing. Only regret was we didn't have a whole day there. Spent good solid chunks of time at Windsor and London Tower, and took the guided tour of London.

London Tower and Windsor were both amazing due to the sheer amount of wealth and power at the center of the British crown throughout history, we saw a number of original paintings including Rembrant's "Man in a Turban", the crown jewels, and weapons collections that exceed in one room the arsenals of whole countries. Amazing, but the gulf between the haves and have-nots is much more defined than in the states, as it is all across Europe from what I've read.

Now onto the continent....

Spring has sprung

2007-03-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

The first day of spring in Kosovo was a pleasant one, we made our rounds on patrol, gave some MREs out to some folks in need in Gjilan, and had lunch with an old high school friend that ended up on this deployment, too(we hadn't seen each other since the late 80s before Atterbury). The trees are beginning to blossom, and the grass has taken on a bright green hue, shaking off anything left of the mild winter experienced out here. And then, tonight on AFN Sports, an added bonus - the Red Sox are on.

I am not a huge Red Sox fan, just a diehard Boston fan. I am more of a Bruins and Patriots fan than a Red Sox fan, but I make it a point to go to Fenway at least once a year(as opposed to Foxboro 8+ times a year, and the Garden 15+). And, come September, I will join the playoff race to it's usually bitter end every time. But, beyond that, there is certainly something therapeutic about seeing that Red Sox uniform down in Florida this time every year, one of the most pleasant perrenial rites of passage I can imagine. It makes you wonder what not being from Boston would even feel like.

American Troops In Kosovo May Lose Their Combat Status

2007-03-08T03:14:00.001-05:00

By Josh White

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 4, 2007; Page A06

Top Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to downgrade the combat status of U.S. forces who are part of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, a decision that could cause the 1,500 U.S. soldiers currently deployed there to lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars each month in tax benefits and combat pay.

Such a decision, expected within the next month, would indicate that Pentagon officials do not believe Kosovo is still a combat zone, despite rising tensions in the Balkans over Kosovo's ongoing bid for independence and frequent U.S. missions that involve dangerous interdictions of smuggling rings, raids on armed extremist groups and encounters with improvised bombs.

It would also mean that hundreds of National Guardsmen and Reservists -- many from Virginia and Massachusetts who are on lengthy deployments away from their families and careers -- would lose a coveted tax exclusion that allows them to earn their pay tax-free while tacking on hundreds more in combat pay. They would also lose government-funded flights back to the United States when they take leave.

The issue puts a spotlight on soldiers who are part of a U.S. mission that began in 1999 but now receives little attention amid the worsening wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent interviews, soldiers and officers with the Virginia Army National Guard there said they put their lives on the line every day as part of the Kosovo Force, or KFOR -- and believe they deserve the benefits of combat pay.

"I stand to lose a decent chunk of money, and it's hard to believe that if that came through we'd get paid the same amount as someone who gets to go home to their wife and kids every day, gets to have a beer with dinner, and we're away for a year and a half," said Cpl. Will Larsen, 22, of Fairfax.

Larsen, an assistant infantry squad leader, put his senior year at Virginia Tech on hold to deploy. "It's a very important time here, and it's a big deal. The extremist ends on both sides are angry. . . . There are a lot of people back home who don't even know we're here. I just don't want them to forget about us."

Defense officials said all areas designated as combat zones are under a periodic review and that early policy recommendations from the Pentagon are that all areas in the Balkans -- designated as a combat zone under presidential order since March 24, 1999 -- be downgraded because of improved security there. Top military officers in Europe have officially disagreed, but they have been told the change could come as early as April 1.

"Combat Zone Tax Exclusion and Imminent Danger Pay are both under review for all designated areas," Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman, said in an e-mail. "The Department will not comment beyond that until the reviews are complete."

John W. Warner (R-Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Friday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urging him not to change the status of the more than 500 soldiers from Virginia who are deployed in Kosovo. Warner wrote that he thinks the soldiers "are performing dangerous missions on a daily basis."

"I respectfully request that you carefully consider the ramifications of any proposals that would adjust the combat zone designation for KFOR," Warner wrote, according to a copy of the letter provided to The Washington Post. "I am sure you agree that our soldiers and their families must receive appropriate compensation for their service."

The soldiers in Kosovo understand their work is not as dangerous as that of U.S. troops in Iraq, but they operate in a region where the government is shaky and where criminal enterprises use violence as a means of intimidation. Strife between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo has calmed, but military commanders are concerned about the possibility for increased tension as a plan for Kosovo's statehood and separation from Serbia is scheduled to go before the U.N. Security Council next weekend.

[Yesterday, several thousand ethnic Albanians marched through Pristina, Kosovo's capital, and protested the proposed plan, saying it falls short of full independence, the Associated Press reported. No incidents were reported during the march, but last month a similar protest sparked a clash in which two demonstrators were killed by U.N. police.]

Brig. Gen. Douglas Earhart, commander of the 29th Infantry Division and leader of the Kosovo Multinational Task Force East, said that since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the Kosovo mission has gone from a major military operation to one out of the limelight. But Earhart sees his region as vulnerable to radical Islamists because of high unemployment and porous borders, combined with reports of armed extremist ethic groups forming camps in rural outposts.

"This mission is absolutely critical now," Earhart said. "We stopped ethnic cleansing effectively. We started a peace-enforcement mission. We're doing now what we'd like to be doing in Iraq and Afghanistan."

His soldiers do daily patrols in local communities, seeking to get out in front of potential violence and to help foster tolerance between ethnic groups. Some soldiers have adopted a local school, organized ski trips for Serbian and Albanian youth, and helped fix crumbling infrastructure. They also conduct armed raids on smuggling hideouts and go after masked men who attack drivers at night.

Sgt. James Gerlinger, 22, of Lynchburg, Va., frequently works with children in Kosovo to help them set aside ethnic differences. Previously deployed for a year to the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he was told he was going into a combat zone for his deployment to Kosovo and is relying on the combat pay.

"We don't do this job for the money, and it's always mission first," Gerlinger said, adding that he is concerned about morale in his unit if the combat-tax exclusion is revoked. "I think a lot of times, any other mission than Iraq and Afghanistan is long forgotten. While it may not be as dangerous, the sacrifice here is still the same."

The Enlisted Association of the National Guard has contacted members of Congress because it is concerned that soldiers deployed to Kosovo could suffer financial hardship if they were to lose significant amounts of pay. "The families are counting on this every month to pay their bills," said Frank Yoakum, the group's legislative director. "And it's a morale killer. It says that what they were doing was important yesterday, but today not so much."

Should a status change occur, Staff Sgt. Stanley Britton, 34, of South Boston, Va., would probably lose about $1,000 of his monthly salary -- money he uses to support his wife and two daughters while he is away from his job as a sheriff's deputy in Halifax County. After a 2005 tour in Iraq, he said he enjoys helping the people in Kosovo because they trust U.S. forces and come to them for help. "It's an honor and a great opportunity to be a part of a team and to help people who are in dire need of assistance," Britton said. "And yes, I do think it's a combat zone here."

Welcome to the party, KFOR9

2007-03-07T06:48:00.000-05:00

Minn. Guard Troops Headed To Kosovo
(AP) St. Paul Another overseas deployment for Minnesota National Guard troops -- this time to the Serbian province of Kosovo.

The Guard says more than 400 Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers will be responsible for NATO peacekeeping operations in Kosovo for one year -- starting this fall.

The Guard members will support the Kosovo International Security Force. The soldiers are from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry headquartered in Mankato.

The soldiers will leave in late June for training at Camp Atterbury, Ind.

The deployment comes at a time of increasing tensions in Kosovo, where some ethnic Albanians have rejected a United Nations plan intended to push the province toward statehood, arguing that it does not go far enough toward full independence.

Leaders in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, have rejected the proposal as going too far toward independence.

© 2007 The Associated Press

Camp Clarke

2007-03-05T05:02:00.000-05:00

My squad just returned from a week embedded with the Irish army up in Camp Clarke. We worked hard and played hard, the Irish sure know how to run a war. They told us all about their ops and SOPs, and about Ireland, we regaled them with tales of all things Irish back in Boston - the Dropkick Murphys, the Brothers Bulger, Denis Leary, the Irish mafia at Partners and at my Monday night hockey league, and our St. Patrick's Day breakfast and parade. Quite the cultural exchange, hopefully one that extends beyond end of mission.

Gracanica Monastery

2007-02-27T07:37:00.000-05:00

During joint operations with our Swedish KFOR allies, we gave them a tour of our AOR, and they in turn gave us a tour of theirs, including the Gracanica Monastery, the epicenter of Serbian orthodoxy in Kosovo. Quite humbling to tour this historic site, that predates our entire nation.

Pen Pals from Kosovo

2007-02-24T02:14:00.000-05:00

http://www.townonline.com/boxford/homepage/8998913860509368319

By Nadine Wandzilak/tri-town@cnc.com
Friday, February 23, 2007 - Updated: 11:18 AM EST

Mackenzie Hood and members of her Middleton Brownie troop received a package Saturday from halfway around the world. It contained photos of a mountaintop shrouded in clouds and many people who were strangers, along with one face Mackenzie recognized: her beloved uncle and godfather, Scott Singelais.

The package also included a certificate of appreciation to the 13 third-graders from a unit of soldiers stationed in Kosovo.

The group of about two dozen soldiers, part of Task Force Patriot, thanked Brownie Troop 607 of the Spar and Spindle Council of the Girl Scouts of America for the letters and drawings the girls sent them.

But that’s far from the end of the story. Scott, a member of the Army Reserve, has started a pen pal exchange between his niece’s Brownie troop and children in Kosovo.

The story started in August, when Scott was deployed to Kosovo on a peacekeeping mission, according to Shelley Hood, who is Mackenzie’s mother and Scott’s sister and only sibling.

Mackenzie “had a hard time with him leaving,” Shelley said. “She worships him.” Scott adores Mackenzie, she said.

This fall, as part of a community service project, the troop filled Christmas stockings for soldiers in Iraq, Shelley explained Tuesday.

Then Mackenzie got the idea for her Brownie to send Christmas cards to Scott and his unit, part of the 182nd Cavalry. “He said, ‘We love to get letters,’” according to Shelley.

“I miss my uncle,” said Mackenzie. She had heard, she said, that the unit doesn’t get “anything from home.”

So the Brownies drew and sent the soldiers Christmas cards. Mackenzie wanted to troop to send cards “instead of everything coming from me.”

Some of the cards were funny, according to troop leaders Shelley Hood and Gail Kroll. Some, Hood said, like the one that said, “You’re a hero,” brought them to tears.

And the project continued to grow. Scott helped set up a pen pal program between the Brownies and about 30 children in Kosovo. The Middleton troop has collected candy and soccer balls to send to their pen pals.

“Scott enjoys getting things” to bring to local children, Shelley said, “and Mackenzie enjoys staying connected to him.”

Rebecca Shea, another member of Troop 607, has had pen pals before, from as far away as Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

But never one from “so far away” or a pen pal who is also a soldier. “I really support that they risk their lives to help us,” Rebecca said Tuesday.

She described the Brownie troop’s relationship with the soldiers as sort of like an adoption. “When you adopt (someone) you get to see them and know what they like and dislike,” she said. But “We never get to see them.” The Brownie troop hadn’t seen the package from Kosovo, with the certificate of appreciation, yet.

Rebecca has thought about what is the same and what is different between them and their pen pals. Their foods are different, she said. So is their money, language and clothes. What’s the same, she said, are “the basics. They have children.” But they probably don’t have high-tech things, Rebecca added.

She asked if her pen pal has “pets, sisters, a favorite color, favorite food – “mine is asparagus” —and favorite sports and activities.

Rebecca’s mother, Jody, is “enthusiastic” that her daughter is participating in the letter exchange. “It’s good to (have the Brownies) learn how lucky they are,” she said.

Jessica Kroll, also a member of Troop 607, has never done anything like the pen pal exchange before, she said Tuesday. “It will be neat,” she said, to hear from and about children in Kosovo. Scott has arranged for someone to translate the letters, Shelley Hood said.

Jessica’s mother, Gail, who co-leads the troop with Shelley Hood, pointed to another issue that the pen pal program raised – the opportunities for girls here, she said, in sports, for example. And “We take for granted we can go to school,” she said.

Shelley Hood plans to ask that the certificate of appreciation be hung in the Fuller Meadow School, where the girls go to school and the troop meets.

Scott is due home this coming Thanksgiving, Shelley said.

In the meantime, he’s shared important family events, such as birthdays, via a laptop computer and video program. Scott “sits” near the party table, Shelley explained, where he can see what’s going on. The Hood family includes dad, Tom, and brother, Matthew.

Mackenzie has concerns about Scott’s safety, according to Shelley. ”It makes her feel better that she can pick up the phone and call him.”

Mackenzie will turn 9 Monday. The family celebrated her birthday this week —without Uncle Scott here. Even with her impending birthday celebration, Mackenzie was thinking about Uncle Scott, too, and calling him as soon as she gets home from school Monday.

Gjilan Nights

2007-02-15T00:48:00.000-05:00

Been running the nights here in Kosovo for a while, and some of the political unrest felt in other sectors has spilled into ours, but not to a significant degree. The protest by the Self Determination movement - Vetevendosje in Albanian - up in the capital, Prishtine, turned deadly, and in past years may have spread more, but most Kosovars viewed the incident in it's proper context; young students swept up in a radical political movement put near over-zealous security forces is always a bad mix.

Vetevendosje is the movement led by radical Albin Kurti, and it's goal is nothing short of an all-Albanian Kosovo. He is Kosovo's answer to Slobodan Milosevic, no less arch-nationalist, though motivated more by ethnic martyrdom than consolidating an empire as Slobo was. His movement's position is that the Ahtisaari proposal grants too much freedom to Kosovo Serbs, using Bosnia as a point of reference. In modern Bosnia, there is an autonomous region known as Republika Sprski, the Serb Republic, that is a de facto Serb nation(the Bosnian war amounted to a land grab between Croatia and Serbia, with Bosniaks caught in the middle). The Serbians brought this about by declaring regions of Bosnia to be Serbian nations unto themselves, such as in Knin. Kurti uses this as a reference for what is to come for Kosovo, and thus decries any powers granted to Serbs in Kosovo, and apparently, the removal from Kosovo of all Serbs - an international non-starter for obvious reasons - is the only acceptable outcome for the budding nation-state.

This is what the protest in Prishtine was about, and it had a hostile edge to it from inception. To add to this, the UN in Kosovo is viewed with general distrust here, much as us Americans are viewed as well respected saviors. So, when the UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosovo) Police were part of the riot response, along with Kosovo Police Force officers, things boiled over. 2 people were killed during the riots, still pending autopsies. Initial reports were from rubber bullets, and the UNMIK police commissioner has since been sacked.

Sentiment on the Albanian street is that it is a tragedy for young Albanians to die like this, but most of the people here bear a bit of resentment towards the Vetevendosje movement, as these incidencts jeopardize a peaceful transition to democratic independence for Kosovo. But, most here agree, having the UN participate in riot control is a major agitant to already agitated protesters, a strictly domestic (read:KPS) response would be less exacerbating. On that front though, the KPS has made great strides, but is still a police force in it's infancy, so I am not sure I have a perfect answer for the monday morning quarterbacks.

Best advice I have been able to offer the many people I meet and discuss this issue with is to somehow moderate the Vetevendosje movement. There will be no independent Kosovo without equal rights protections to all citizens. That is a fundamental truth. To that end, some more seasoned politicians should be recruited by Vetevendosje, and they can morph into a credible political party, as the Kosovo Liberation Army did (the KLA became the PDK), and Rugova's pacifist movement did(the LDK). Having violent protests while this country tries to stand up on it's own 2 feet does nobody here any good.

The underlying facts are simple to see; economic instability will remain an issue in Kosovo and that will feed political instability. Political instability - ie, a continued delay to a final status - will feed economic instability, and the cycle will continue another 8 years. In that vein, accepting a fair compromise that returns Kosovo's autonomy and grants eventual independence from Serbia will have a stabilizing effect(after the brief throes of radicals on both sides of the issue who are inconsolable within realistic parameters, quelled by us in KFOR and the KPS)

On a final note, I see many people trying to paint a rising Islamic tide here in Kosovo. Any muslim with ties to Kosovo caught in a terrorist plot is painted as Kosovo's Osama Bin Laden. This is agenda driven news, common to the conflict(on both sides at one point, but with Albanians nearing their goal, moreso on the losing side), and is categorically false. The muslim Albanians here are a far different stripe than middle eastern Islamists, they are very much westernized, and enjoy a lifestyle accordingly. I am a staunch anti-terrorist, I came back in in 2003 because I wanted to be part of the WoT, and I see no inroads to terrorism here. As a matter of fact, from what I have found out in my readings and speaking to locals here, jihadists did try to insert themselves into the conflict in 1999, and the muslim Albanians turned them down. The KLA's goal always was to attract western support in general, and the U.S.' support in particular, and wanted nothing to do with sacrificing their regional goals for what they considered to be radicals that had perverted Islam.

There are problems to be resolved here, but they are far nearer to resolution than they were 8 years ago. Hopefully, we keep taking steps forward here for the people of Kosovo, and not steps backwards like what we saw on Saturday.

Gregory Wright, R.I.P

2007-01-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

Sad news reached us at Camp Bondsteel today, that SGT Greg Wright, formerly a member of our company, died in Iraq a week ago. Many of the soldiers here, including my roommate, served a year of active duty with Greg on a Noble Eagle mission, and were closer to him than I. But the news hit home with all of us, and we hope to have our chaplain here hold a service for him sometime in the coming week. R.I.P. Greg.

South End soldier killed in Iraq
By Michele McPhee
Boston Herald Police Bureau Chief

Saturday, January 20, 2007 - Updated: 08:42 AM EST

Twice a week, Army Sgt. Gregroy A. Wright would call his little girl from Iraq and whisper these words to her: “Daddy loves you.”

But 3-year-old Tiaja Wright received her last call from her father this past week. On Jan. 13, the 28-year-old father from the South End was killed when a bomb detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in Muqdadiya, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Wright was carrying pictures of his daughter in his battle gear when he died, the soldier’s father, Conroy Wright, said last night from the Tremont Street apartment he shared with his son.

“She is too young to understand that her father can’t call her anymore,” he said. “I know my son loved her more than anything in the world. He had hundreds of pictures of her with him in Iraq, and had some with him that day he died.

“She will be heartbroken to know her father is not here with us.”

Gregroy Wright had immigrated to Boston from Jamaica in 1997 when he was 19 years old. Two years later, “to give something back to the country he loved,” his father said, Wright enlisted in the Army National Guard. In 2004, he went on active duty with the Army.

Wright was assigned to the 1st Engineering Battalion, 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division based out of Fort Riley in Kansas, U.S. Department of Defense officials said yesterday.

“He loved America. He wanted to give something back. He saw the achievement he could make here in the country, and he joined the Army as a career,” Conroy Wright said. “My son was going to be something big in this world. After he finished his service, he wanted to become a state trooper. He loved Boston and wanted to stay here for good.

“I’m very sad to lose my son, but I am very proud of my son.”

Wright said his son will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His fellow soldiers also held a memorial service in his honor at Fort Riley.

He is one of 47 soldiers from Massachusetts to die in Iraq, according to a Department of Defense Web site.

So, how did you spend your Friday?

2007-01-20T00:14:00.001-05:00

U.S. troops stage exercise in Kosovo before Serbian elections, U.N. status proposal

The Associated Press
Friday, January 19, 2007
MOGILA, Serbia
Dozens of U.S. peacekeepers on Friday jumped from helicopters and scattered across cornfields in eastern Kosovo, in a show of force before weekend elections in Serbia and an expected U.N. proposal for the future of the disputed province.

The troops, part of 16,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force that has patrolled Kosovo since mid-1999, conducted a drill to test their readiness to react should violence arise in the ethnically divided province.

The display of force included Black Hawk and Apache helicopters hovering above the village of Mogila, inhabited by both ethnic Albanians and Serbs, communities at odds over what the future of Kosovo should hold.

The purpose of the exercise "is to evaluate and test our capability to rapidly move our forces" anywhere within U.S.-controlled area, Lt. Col. Lapthe Flora said.

Kosovo has been administered by a U.N. mission since mid-1999, following NATO's air war that halted Serb forces' crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

The province's status has been a point of dispute between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who are seeking to secede, and Serbia, which offers broad autonomy but wants to keep the province within its borders.

With the two sides deeply divided, chief U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, who facilitated yearlong talks on the issue, is set to present his recommendations following Sunday's parliamentary election in Serbia.

Diplomats say the province will likely get some form of independence, supervised by an international presence, while NATO is set to keep troops in Kosovo for several years.

There have been fears that Ahtisaari's report could spark renewed violence between the ethnic Albanian majority and the Serb minority.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-26T00:45:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from Kosovo. Here's one of our soldiers from my task force playing Santa for the local kids yesterday(at the end of the video).

Kosovo Polje

2006-12-18T12:20:00.000-05:00

Today we visitted the Field of Blackbirds, at Kosovo Polje. This place was the birthplace of Serbian mythology, the Christ-like story of Lazar that created a 'nation' of martyrs that chose the Kingdom of Heaven here. This folk story was nurtured and manipulated by Slobodan Milosevic in 1989, on June 28th, the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, on this very spot. Here he in effect declared the Yugoslavia Constitution open to reinterpretation, as he sought to build a greater Serbia from the ashes of the crumbling Federation, which first fractured with Tito's death in 1980.

June 28th was also the day that Serbian radical Bogdan Zerajic started World War I by assassinating Arch Duke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, and that date and this place are central to the entire notion of a Serbian state, where any earth a Serb walks upon is Serb land.

Of course, most Serbians do not subscribe to Slobo's madness, but all in one way or another have been subject to the folklore of Lazar, the martyr, who died at the Field of Blackbirds on June 28, 1389, on Kosovo Polje.

Sultan Murat, leader of the Ottoman warriors that fought this 3 day battle against the Serbs, Illyrians, and other Eastern Europeans of the day, also died in this battle. His tomb could be seen about a mile away. Little did Balkan brothers-in-arms of the time know how this battle would be used as a cudgel by Serbian arch-nationalists in the 20th century.

The Slovakian sentries on duty here were very friendly, helpful, and knowledgable about this place, a hostile monument to Serbian nationalism in a country that was almost destroyed by it 8 short years ago.

KFOR on ice

2006-12-18T12:13:00.000-05:00

When the fog rolls in in Kosovo this time of year(as it does almost daily), it brings very cold air with it. The other day, it brought frozen roads to go along with the dangerous visibility, creating a calamatous mixture. We responded to one accident, then witnessed 2 others occur while we directed traffic and assisted KPS in their investigation. One vehicle involved was a box truck which fishtailed and flipped over on the side of the road. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured, and no lawyers got involved (let's hope we can keep them from learning those habits over here). The Mercedes pictured flipped over onto it's roof a few moments later, and a group of his friends and a few of us KFOR MPs helped him flip it back over. They then pushed it through the field, and he drove away. Can you imagine that on an American road?

Happy Birthday National Guard

2006-12-17T15:38:00.000-05:00

Three of the Army’s Oldest Units Celebrate National Guard birthday in Kosovo

SPC Eric Varela, PFC Randy Demand and PFC Joseph Levesque (left to right) demonstrate their cake-cutting prowess with BG Douglas Earhart, commander of Multi-National Task Force (East), during the unit’s observation of the 370th birthday of the National Guard. Each of the Soldiers is the youngest member of one of the three oldest units in the Army, all of which are serving in Kosovo as part of Operation Joint Guardian.(Photo by MAJ Cotton Puryear, MNTF(E) Public Affairs)

12/14/06, Camp Bondsteel, KOSOVO—The National Guard celebrated its 370th Birthday on Dec. 13, and three of the oldest military units in the nation honored the day with a cake-cutting ceremony in the Serbian province of Kosovo as part of Multi-National Task Force (East) and the 29th Infantry Division (Forward).

BG Douglas Earhart, commander of MNTF (E) hosted the cake-cutting ceremony at the Camp Bondsteel North Dining Facility Wednesday evening. Earhart cut the cake along with the youngest Soldiers from each of the respective units.

The Soldiers, PFC Randy Demand, PFC Joseph Levesque and SPC Eric Varela demonstrated their cake cutting prowess as they assisted Earhart. Demand, age 19, serves as a cavalry scout in B Troop, 2nd Squadron, 182 Cavalry; Levesque, age 19, is an infantryman in Company A, 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry and Varella, age 20, is a combat engineer assigned to A Company, 101st Engineers. Demand is a native of Salisbury, MA, Levesque is from Springfield, MA and Varela is from Peabody, MA.

“It is a special honor to be here with these young Soldiers representing three of the oldest units in the National Guard,” said Earhart. “The fact that we are deployed here in Kosovo demonstrates the important role we all play as Citizen-Soldiers. Just like the militia men answered the call at Lexington and Concord, these Soldiers answered the call to duty here in Kosovo to help promote the ideals of peace and freedom in a foreign land.”

The three units from the Massachusetts National Guard - 1st Squadron, 182 Cavalry, 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry and A Company, 101st Engineers are recognized as three of the oldest units in the United States military. The units arrived in late November and took charge of their respective areas of operation in Kosovo on Dec. 6 as part of Operation Joint Guardian.

MNTF (E) is part of a larger NATO-led international force known as the Kosovo Force (KFOR). KFOR is responsible for establishing and maintaining security in Kosovo. The organization entered Kosovo on June 12, 1999 under a United Nations mandate, two days after the adoption of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244.

The objectives of KFOR are to establish and maintain a secure environment in Kosovo, including public safety and order; to monitor, verify and when necessary, enforce compliance with the agreements that ended the conflict; and to provide assistance to the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

The National Guard traces its history back to 1636 when the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which functioned as the colony’s legislature, ordered existing militia companies from the towns surrounding Boston to form into three regiments: North, South and East.

While other English colonies like Virginia and Spanish colonies like Florida and Puerto Rico had individual towns with militia companies before 1636, Massachusetts was the first place in the New World where the population was large enough to justify organizing companies into regiments for command and control.

These regiments became a kind of military “family” for members. Although their names have been changed and individual companies have come and gone, the three regiments still exist in the Massachusetts National Guard.

1st Squadron, 182nd Cavalry
The 1st Battalion, 182nd Infantry Regiment traces its origins to the North Regiment which was constituted and organized on October 7, 1636 from existing train bands at Charlestown, New Town, Watertown, Concord, and Dedham. After several redesignations over the following years, the unit was redesignated prior to 1733 as the 1st Regiment of Militia of Middlesex.

The unit served in the American Revolution and continued serving under several different unit designations through the early 1800s.

The unit was ordered into active service for the defense of Washington on April 19, 1861 with attached companies from the 1st and 7th Regiments of Infantry, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and Major Cook's Light Artillery Company. It was mustered into federal service on May 1, 1861 at Washington, D.C., for three months service, and assigned to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division. It participated in the first battle of Bull Run before being mustered out on August 1, 1861 at Boston. The unit served in various capacities before being mustered out on November 16, 1864 at Readville and resumed state status.

The unit continued to serve until inactivated on November 29, 1945 at Fort Lewis, WA. The regiment (less 2nd Battalion which inactivated on December 2, 1945 at Fort Lawton staging area, WA) was relieved from the Americal Division and assigned to the 182nd Regimental Combat Team on July 8, 1946. It reorganized and was federally recognized on December 5, 1946 with headquarters at Charlestown. Its Headquarters relocated to Melrose on September 30, 1955.

The unit was relieved from the 182nd Regimental Combat Team on May 1, 1959 and reorganized as the 182nd Infantry under the Combat Arms Regimental System.

In recent years, the 182nd has supported Operations Noble Eagle, MFO Sinai, and deployed one Troop in support of relief effort to New Orleans. The unit was re-designated the 1st Squadron, 182nd Cavalry in 2006 as part of the Army transformation plan and was deployed as to KFOR as Task Force Patriot.

181st Infantry
The 181st Infantry (Light) is one of the five oldest units in the U.S. military, tracing its lineage back to 1632. It was formed in 1636 as part of the Massachusetts Militia. The unit fought during the King Phillips War, repulsing various raids by Native Americans. In 1775, Paul Revere led the regiment against British forces on Lexington Green and in Concord.

During the Civil War, the unit was the first to defend the nation's capital and later campaigned in Virginia. The unit arrived in Cuba in 1898 to fight in the Spanish-American War and became a National Guard unit in 1907.

The unit participated in World War I and II, and in World War II as part of the 26th Yankee Division. The unit became the 181st in 1921 and was assigned to the 26th IN Div. in 1923, remaining in that division until 1991, when it deactivated. In 1996, the unit became part of the 29th Infantry Division.

The 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry Regiment, deployed as part of SFOR 10 to Bosnia-Herzegovina, as part of the command Task Force Eagle as part of the ongoing rotation of active Army and Guard divisions in support of Operation Joint Forge.

An element from Company A, 181st Infantry (Light), based in Worcester, was mobilized for Homeland Defense and comprised Natick Lab's Installation Defense Force.

On September 19, 2003 the 2/116th transferred authority and the mission of supporting Joint Task Force Guantanamo to the 1/181st Infantry Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard.

101st Engineers
The 101st Engineer Battalion was originally organized in 1636 as The East Regiment from existing militia companies of Saugus, Salem, Ipswich, and Newbury. After numerous redesignations and name changes, in 1855 it changed to The Eighth Infantry, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.

The Eighth Infantry was mustered into Federal Service on April 30, 1861 as The Eighth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and served in several campaigns until the regiment again entered Federal Service July 26, 1864, for one hundred days and mustered out November 10, 1864.

The unit served in Cuba and coastal defense duty during World War I. On March 30, 1920 the 101st Regiment of Engineers and Train, Massachusetts National Guard, was organized. It was re-designated as the First Regiment of Engineers and Train, September 1, 1920, and then First Engineers, November 30, 1921. It was re-designated 101st Combat Engineers September 30, 1921.

A Co, out of Newburyport MA, B Co out of Reading, MA, and C Co out of East Bridgewater MA are deployed along with the 125th MP CO out of Puerto Rico as Task Force Semper Lex, Multi-National Task Force (East).

Better late than never, Army Times chimes in....

2006-12-16T10:43:00.001-05:00

29th Infantry takes charge in Kosovo

By Melissa Vogt
Army Times Staff writer

There are new faces at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, although the patch of 29th Infantry Division has been seen in the Balkans before.

Task Force Falcon, made up primarily of the Texas Army National Guard’s 36th Infantry Division, turned over authority for the peacekeeping mission in a Dec. 6 ceremony, according to a press release from Multi-National Task Force-East.

U.S. participation in the Kosovo mission is now under Brig. Gen. Douglas B. Earhart and the 29th Infantry Division. The division served in Bosnia in 2001.

Multi-National Task Force-East is part of a larger NATO-led international force known as the Kosovo Force, which began operating there in 1999. Right now, the force in Kosovo includes units from Armenia, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.

The U.S. contribution is about 1,500 personnel. Almost two-thirds are currently from the Virginia and Massachusetts National Guards, the release said, although others come from California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Active-duty soldiers and airmen are also part of the mission.

Multi-National Task Force-East consists of one infantry battalion, one cavalry squadron and one aviation battalion, and public affairs, medical support, military police, explosive ordnance disposal, civil affairs and military intelligence units.

Kosovo Peaks

2006-12-13T17:44:00.000-05:00

We took a drive to Debelldehu on the Macedonian border today, and saw our first snow in Kosovo. It had fallen this week, while we got rain down at the lower elevations. This area reminded us a lot of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

I gave my driver today off, and I got some stick time myself, here in the lead vehicle.

The Black Madonna

2006-12-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

We visitted the sites in Kosovo where Mother Teresa lived, in the Letnica area this week.

By Lt. Col. Lars Ekblad, KFOR Theatre Chaplain and WO 2 Giuseppe Mattiello, Italian Air Force

"I have decided before the Lady of Letnica to become a missionary and to dedicate myself completely to God and to serving souls." Mother Theresa said these words to a friend when she was just 17 years old after being on a pilgrimage to Letnica in 1928.

Letnica has an ancient history as a center of pilgrimage to the Madonna in the Church at Letnica beginning in the 14th century. On the 15th of August - the day of the assumption of The Holy Virgin Mary - thousands of faithful Catholics came from all over Kosovo to the small village of Letnica in Southeastern Kosovo.

Welcome home KFOR7

2006-12-05T07:40:00.000-05:00

A lifetime ago, 142nd's departure ceremony a year ago

With their work here complete, our predecessors from KFOR7, TF Dragoon, return home. Congrats on a job well done, guys, and thanks for your dilligent work on the left seat-right seat and getting us settled in here these past few weeks.

The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas

Crowd Welcomes Soldiers Home at Fort Sill

By Robin Mero
FORT SILL, Okla. -- The emotional charge inside Rinehart Gym seemed to rush into the legs of 7-year-old Drake McIntire.

"Daddy! Daddy!" he chanted and bounced on the bleachers, as a military band played and the crowd called the Hogs.

It was 7:15 a.m. when the corner metal doors swung open and -- with a swoosh of icy air -- in marched 116 members of the National Guard 142nd Battery A, 1st Battalion.

"Daddy!"

Drake's daddy, Spc. Sean McIntire, won't return home to Rogers to be with his wife and three boys for six days. But, as of 6:30 a.m. today when their plane touched ground, the soldiers stood on American soil.

They stayed motionless before a 38-foot U.S. flag as more than 100 wives, children, girlfriends and parents waited -- some dabbing eyes, others clutching Welcome Home signs and the hands of anxious offspring.

A speech, a few formalities and finally the men were released. Most wives spotted their husbands in the sea of pale camouflage and ran -- in some cases leaped -- into soldiers' arms.

The Bentonville-based battery spent one year serving as military policemen in Kosovo, a war-torn province in southern Serbia, which has been under U.N. administration since 1999.

Deployed the day before Thanksgiving 2005, the soldiers joined others from Texas to provide police protection in the area, said Capt. Kevin Cox of Evansville, the battery's Task Force Dragoon.

Kosovo has a population of two million people, predominately Albanians, with smaller populations of Serbs, Turks and Bosniaks. The Albanians and the Serbian government have for years disputed the region's politics and territories, and residents are still recovering from widespread sectarian violence and terrorism. A Kosovo police force is formed, but National Guard soldiers provide assistance in military situations.

Soldiers from Massachusetts and Virginia recently took over the duty. The soldiers live at Camp Bondsteel but operate much of the time outside its gates.

First Lt. Chris Brock of Westville said the rooms at Camp Bondsteel had telephones, and he communicated with his wife, Kim, via the Internet almost daily.

Kim and their son, Lex, who's in kindergarten, stayed home today, Allen said. Some soldiers recommended their families wait until they return home Sunday rather than disrupt routines. The drive to Fort Sill was almost five hours each way from Northwest Arkansas.

Drake's daddy and the 115 other local soldiers haven't seen friends and family for more than one year, with the exception of a two week leave.

"It's been much harder than I expected, admitted Tammy McIntire, Drake's mom. The last few days, the boys have "been beside themselves" with excitement. Lately, when she needed good behavior, all Tammy had to say was "behave for daddy" to get results.

The soldiers get one night with families before spending the next week undergoing medical exams and debriefings.

Many soldiers will return to their jobs in two weeks. Some, like McIntire, are taking a month off.

Cox said life in Kosovo was highly structured, so he expects re-integration issues.

Many soldiers with the Bentonville battery were also deployed during Operation Desert Storm in the late 1990s.

John Bemer, the "Voice of Fort Sill" and emcee for the homecoming ceremony, said he was part of the Bentonville battery from 1992 to 1996, when he went to active duty, but "the only place we went was Fort Chaffee."

The soldiers ranged from ages 19 to 62 when deployed on this latest mission, Operation Enduring Freedom. Many have been with the battery for years.

"I recognized half the faces today," said Bemer, who's now a civilian.

In a speech, Col. Albert Johnson Jr. described the moment of return as a battery's finest: Mission accomplished.

"Very few times in history has America asked so much of its soldiers," Johnson said. "What's most important is that you brought everyone home safely."

2006-12-01T03:16:00.000-05:00

This is the area outside our gates. It looks poor, but the economy is finally starting to improve around here. People own nice cars, the restaurants in the area are decent, and basic commerce is on the rise. A lot of foreign inverstors are waiting to get in to the Kosovo economy, but have to wait for the UN to finally settle the status here.

So, don't be too quick to judge appearances here, it's better than it looks. I mean, it's not great over here for people, but it's a) a lot better than 7 years ago, b) conditions are getting better all the time, and c)things are set up in such a way that once the province's status is resolved, things should get even better even faster. I predict a pretty decent boom if independence is granted, and full EU integration within a decade of that.

Happy Thanksgiving from Kosovo

2006-11-23T06:59:00.000-05:00

I saw a sign while in Ferezei the other night that sums up the feelings of Kosovars towards the US, it said "November 23, Thank you America. American Thanksgiving". Also, in Gjilan, a store owner had painted his white store front with American flags and "Thank you Amerika Army and Marines", and today, a group of local citizens came to the Bondsteel gates with flowers and a prepared statement of thanks they read to our staff officers. We did not do it single handedly, but NATO intervention here stopped the slaughter of innocent Kosovars in ethnic cleansing campaigns, and during reprisals. The people here are duly appreciative as I am coming to see, and at every turn want to give thanks to us, as peacekeepers here. Well, we just got here, and will certainly do our part to maintain this safety, but the thanks goes back to America, and I hope people back home are aware of it.

My first week out on patrols, I see a very poor country, but one with economic hope brewing just below the surface. There are many independently owned businesses beginning to crop up - petrol stations with restaurants/pizzarias attached to them are popular, as well as inner city commerce of foods and personal items - with assumedly more to come once future status is decided on January 23rd. Indeed, the long oppressed people of Kosovo seem very optimistic, though frustrated by international footdragging on the future status, and the largess of international waste surrounding various infrastructure rebuilding projects. Despite steady progress, some areas are without electricity altogether, and still others experience scheduled brown outs, regularly. Many wish it would do so faster, and arguably have a right to expect it to do so, but progress crawls on.

More importanly than economic and rebuilding progress, though not unrelated, there is peace here, and the majority of Kosovars seem to be pleased with this. The majority is anxious, having had their autonomy given and taken on a whim by Eurpoean superpowers for years, but are hopeful for independence of the province finally being settled. The minority Serbs remaining are not so happy, having to endure the scorn of the Albanian majority here for Milosovic's crimes of the past, but we hope for normalization of their relations also. Serbs now find themselves in places of power in limitted capacity in the forming government that hopes to take over administration of Kosovo after January, but this limitted capacity is a stark departure from Serb rule when no Albanians enjoyed any control over their own affairs in the 1990s.

In short, though this country appears downtrodden and dishevelled to the naked eye, there is much to be hopeful for here in Kosovo, for all citizens involved. And a vast majority of these citizens here are thankful for that to the people of America.

As for myself, I am thankful to be here helping make this happen in my own small part, have much to be thankful for back home, and am preparing to hit the gym, enjoy a Bondsteel Thanksgiving feast being prepared for us now in the chow hall, then watching some football on AFN before going back out on patrols tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home, all is well in Kosovo today.

General Pace comes to Bondsteel

2006-11-15T13:33:00.000-05:00

Not too shabby, less than 48 hours into my stay at Bondsteel, I am shaking hands with the most powerful soldier in the US military and receiving one of his coins, none other than the honorable General Peter Pace of the USMC, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Pace was brief in his comments to the theater full of KFOR7 soldiers, and a few of us KFOR8 soldiers who heard he was visitting, thanking us and our families all for our service before opening the floor to questions. This type of low-key, soldier's-first attitude is one of the things that has made me a fan of General Pace since he was named the first ever Marine to serve as the CJCS, and I was duly thrilled to meet the man. His sticking around long enough to shake all of our hands and give us each his coin was just another Pace-like act of quiet,thoughtful graciousness that has become the Chairman's calling card.

Fewer, More Predictable Deployments Coming, Pace Tells Guardsmen
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo, Nov. 14, 2006 – Changes being made in the way the force is structured, trains and deploys ultimately will mean fewer deployments and more predictability for individual troops, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told National Guardsmen today during a town hall meeting here.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace told about 500 National Guard troops wrapping up a year-long deployment with Kosovo Force 7 the most important thing the military can offer them is a basic idea of when and how frequently they’ll be called up for duty.

Questions from the group focused on the frequency and length of National Guard deployments, as well as train-up time between mobilization and deployment. This pre-deployment training typically brings Guardsmen’s full active-duty time to 18 to 24 months.

Pace said the benchmark he’d like to see on the active force is a one-year deployment, followed by two years at home station before deploying again. For Guardsmen and reservists, the ideal would be five years at home between one-year deployments, he said.

Efforts under way are helping make this goal achievable, Pace said. The Army is building its active brigade combat teams from 33 to 42, and now has 36, he noted. At the same time, the National Guard is reducing from 34 brigades that weren’t totally manned or equipped to 28 brigades that will be, he said.

These initiatives will provide 18 to 19 Army brigades, as well as one or two Marine regimental combat brigades, ready to deploy at any given time. Pace said this would ensure “a sustainable tempo” for troops that matches his deployment benchmarks.

The problem for now, he said, is that current operations require 25 brigade-size units at a time. That demand will require more frequent deployments until the force restructure is completed, he said.

Another problem is that many Guardsmen and reservists needed for these rotations already volunteered for deployments in the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Deploying volunteers as individuals, rather than calling entire units to duty involuntarily, “made really good sense -- until Iraq came along,” he said. “And then we needed units in Iraq.”

Many troops in those units already had served voluntary deployments in Afghanistan, so they weren’t required to deploy again. That left holes in their units that had to be filled by pulling troops from other units, he said, solving the short-term problem but exacerbating the long-term one.

“We’re up now, after doing this for four or five years, to having some units having to pull from seven, eight or nine different units to kludge together the unit you need,” Pace said. “We need to stop that. And we need to stop it on a predictable basis.”

Pace said the best way to do that is to “reset the clock and do it properly.”

Every Guardsman and reservist would be told “where you are in your cycle — when you are going to be eligible to go for one year and when you’re not going to be eligible for the next five years,” he said.

The cycle would continue, regardless of whether a deployment-eligible troop actually deployed. “And we’ll just keep the cycle going so that trainers, recruiters, everybody in the unit understands when you are eligible to go and when you’re not,” he said.

This predicable timeline will help Guardsmen and reservists tailor their time between deployments to hone skills they will need for their next deployment, the chairman said.
In doing so, he said, they can reduce the training they need after they’re mobilized for that deployment and speed up the timetable, he said.

“Nirvana for me would be that you have four to six weeks of active duty at home before you went, because you would have already been trained up well enough and all you’d have to is get out and do your final touches before you fought,” he said.

This would be a win-win situation, the chairman said. “If we need you quickly for something, you’ll be available more quickly,” he said. And troops will have the advance notice they deserve to plan, prepare and plan for a deployment.

Pace emphasized that while this formula would work well for routine missions that can be planned ahead, it won’t necessarily work in cases “where something strange happens in the world and we need more troops.”

When that happens, “we just fight the nation’s battles,” he said. “But we can give you a predictability of when your unit would be subject to mobilization and activation. And then, if the nation needs more than 20 brigades at a time, we would have to dip into the rest of the pool.”
Photo Essay on Pace Visit to Kosovo

One year after WARNO, we are in Bondsteel

2006-11-14T02:40:00.000-05:00

I am officially in Kosovo, landed in Pristina this morning and drove out here to Camp Bondsteel. The KFOR7 boys are really glad to see us, bordering on annoyingly so, but I can't blame them for being a bit stir crazy after 12 months here. We will probably be as glib as them with KFOR9 in a year. The base is nice, all the amenities are in place here - fantastic chow hall, free laundry service, decent SEA huts to live in - 2 men to a room for my rank - the MWR center is decked out with all the diversions you could imagine, and the PX has everything a soldier could need/want from a store. Also, AFN news and sports are broadcast across post, and are available in our rooms, as well as AFN Spectrum(like USA network), and AFN Movies. The view of the mountains - most prominently Mount Duke - is breathtaking, but the poverty level and trash strewn little hamlets all across the country side look even more dishevelled in their shadows. It's kind of wierd. But, there is a lot of new construction going on here, as Kosovars of all stripes seem to be of a mind that there has been a corner turned here on atrocities of the past decade. We shall see, I will be becoming quite intimate with the locals here in short order, and there appears to be a good amount of latent tension remaining, though tempered with optimism that was not present here 10 years ago.

The transition of the mission from KFOR7 to KFOR8 will begin in earnest now, with painstaking efforts made to make sure we are dialied in to everything we need to know about the Job before they depart. Glad to be here, finally unpacking my stuff in a semi-permanent home, and beginning our long mission as KFOR cops.

When in Germany...

2006-11-11T07:43:00.000-05:00

drink like a German. With our MRX complete, and a few days to kill in Germany, the Task Force moved out on various MWR trips to German cities. I chose Munich, and was not disappointed. A combination of old-Europe charm and Newbury-Street style storefronts, it reminded me more than a little bit of Boston, though larger and 100% German in character. And the beer was outstanding. The Hofbrau Haus in particular had excellent ice cold mugs full of crisp pilsner that can be addictive. Munich is like the Napa Valley for beer lovers.

The more hedonists pursuits can be found in Nuremberg, I was told, and of course, Berlin is the metropolitan center of Europe, but for good German beer, food, and charm, Munich is the place to go.

Auf wiedersehen to Germany, and on to the Balkans.

X-Games

2006-11-05T15:21:00.000-05:00

We have been in the box for a couple of weeks now, living as we will in Kosovo on a mock Camp Bondsteel, complete with fortification and contractors at the gates. Pretty high speed training, with lots of COBs(civillians on the battlefield) wargaming our peacekeeping missions, and some fine built up MOUT sites that fully replicate the terrain and cultural makeup of Balkans villages(see Stars and Stripes article on one of our sister units here). Also, the Bavarian countryside is breathtaking out here, both in the late fall colors and the recent snow cover. And with the swift shifts in elevation, we can see for miles around while conducting our mock missions.

We expect a day or two pass soon, to see some of this fine country beyond the Hohenfels gates, and to enjoy some Bavarian hops. I'll keep my fingers crossed as we finish up MRX, or "X-Days" as our trainers call them.

The Falcon has landed

2006-10-19T07:20:00.000-04:00

We are in Deutschland, with zee Germans now. Entire task force is here, crammed into a relatively small area on post, but with a few days of light duty while our equipment catches up with us we have free reign to hit the post proper. Beautiful country out here, even though I've just seen a tiny bit of it, and the novelty of being in Europe for the first time has not worn off. We will be crossing the final t's and dotting the final i's on the mobilization, and performing some field training before landing in the Balkans to begin The Job.

Home sweet home

2006-10-09T08:39:00.000-04:00

The Task Force commander signed the mobilization validation certificate yesterday, and dismissed us for block leave. I landed in Boston last night to begin my leave before going to Germany. It will be a busy week, and will be over before I know it, but it is certainly good to be back in Beantown, even if just for a week. I'll be up to the Lakes region in NH, out to Gloucester for a day, and a few days in and around Boston. Looking forward to watching a few Bruins games as well, even if it is on TV. There is no hockey in Indiana, just one of that state's many endearing charms.

KFOR8 videos

2006-10-02T22:14:00.000-04:00

We put a few videos up of the training here so far.