March 7, 2016 –
Over the past several years of U.S. Army involvement
in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, one peace-support operation in Europe
still holds great significance for the U.S. Army. That mission is the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission. NATO has
been leading a peace-support operation in Kosovo since June of 1999 and it was
established when NATO’s famed, 78-day air campaign against Milosevic’s regime,
aimed at putting an end to violence in Kosovo, was over.
Some of KFOR’s original objectives were to deter
renewed hostilities, establish a secure environment and ensure public safety
and order, demilitarize the Kosovo Liberation Army, support the multi-national
humanitarian effort and oversee with the international peacekeeping presence.
Today,
KFOR continues to contribute towards maintaining a safe and secure environment
in Kosovo and freedom of movement for all U.S. forces and their allies in the
region.
This region, recently saw an increase in the use of a
multi-component Army capabilities to help meet this intent. Elements from the
National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve, more specifically Army Reserve Aviation,
have been involved in this peacekeeping mission since 2014.
Units from the 11th Theater Aviation Command (TAC)
deployed utility and aeromedical evacuation company size elements over the past
several rotations. The most recent
rotation included an 11-month deployment of a UH-60 Blackhawk company from 7-158th
Aviation Regiment based out of Los Alamitos, CA and a HH-60 aeromedical
evacuation detachment from 5-159th Aviation Regiment, based out of Clearwater,
FL.
During the span of their deployment aviators and
aircrew members from the 11th TAC were able to amass over 1500 flight hours,
conduct actual aeromedical evacuation and forest firefighting missions, as well
as participate in several humanitarian training exercises including riot
control training exercises. Deployment
are often a primary means for US Army Reserve units to build readiness and KFOR
was no exception.
“This was a
very exciting and successful deployment which allowed my aircrew members to
participate in various humanitarian training exercises as well as two
real-world firefighting missions by way of our bambi bucket capabilities,”
added Capt. Stephen Kramer, Commander of Alpha Company 2-238th Aviation
Regiment.
A high percentage of the forces that made up this
aviation task force were volunteers.
“The fact that so many of my soldiers volunteered to
take time away from their families, often missing birthdays and holidays, I
feel speaks wonders about the character of those soldiers that serve alongside
of me”, added Kramer.
Several soldiers, from the 11th TAC, volunteered to
teach English to the local population as part of one the main initiatives of
strengthening relationships with the people of Kosovo.
“I am extremely proud of all of my soldiers and still
amazes me that we had soldiers volunteer to teach English to the people of
Kosovo all while still maintaining their operational requirements,” added
Kramer.
It is safe to say that we, at the command, are very
pleased with the accomplishments of all of our soldiers who made this mission a
success. The results of this latest rotation to Kosovo, was yet another example
of the unique set of skills that our Citizen-Soldier aircrew members bring to
table. The Citizen-Soldiers of the 11th TAC will continue to consistently
improve our craft so that when, and if, our number is called to support this
region, we will be able to bring extraordinary training and real-world value to
our allies and the people of Kosovo.