The Frontline, March 1, 2001 Page: 2 of 14
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2A T11E FRONTLINE Thursday, March 1, 2001
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Kosovo deployment nears for Marne Division units
By Dina McKain and Maj. Jim Horey
Fort Stewart Public Affairs and 3220th Public Affairs
Three thousand more division soldiers are preparing for deploy-
ment to the Balkans. This time the mission is in Kosovo.
The 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) will provide the heavy
force of the 7,000 U.S. soldier component of the NATO-led force.
Called Task Force Falcon, the force is headquartered at Camp
Monteith in the southern Kosovo province. The headquarters ele-
ment for Task Force Falcon comes from the 101st Airborne
Division.
.3rd Inf. Div.'s 1st Brigade soldiers are rotating through Individual
Readiness Training, Platoon Situational Exercises and Company
Situational Exercises. Preparing for deployment as part of Kosovo
Force 3A during the summer and KFOR 3B next fall.
With individual training complete the soldiers now work togeth-
er in platoon-sized elements in non-lethal weapons training.
Peacekeeping duties involve learning how to deal with foreign civil-
ians in crisis situations, and teaching soldiers how to properly react
to civil disturbances - a distinct difference to war fighting training.
KFOR training is more intense than SFOR training for Bosnia,
observed Brigade commander, Col. Vincent Brooks. He will be the
senior division commander on the ground in Kosovo.
"While the missions are similar in helping to provide a safe and
secure environment to help the Bosnians and Kosovars develop sta-
ble, normal daily lives on their own, the difference is in the maturi-ty of the operations," said Brooks.
The Army has been conducting peacekeeping and nation build-
ing operations in Bosnia since 1995 and has only been in Kosovo
since the summer of 1999.
Brooks conducted a pre-deployment visit to Kosovo in January.
He returned with insight into the situation and provided valuable
feedback allowing 3d Inf. Div. (M) feedback to trainers to develop
realistic training here.
Recent violence in Kosovo has included a bus bombing, convoy
attacks and a 500-person riot. All of these have upped the intensity
in Kosovo.
"We need to make sure all soldiers are prepared for anything they
might face in Kosovo", said Lt. Col. Tyrone Brumfield, commander
of the 10th Engineer Battalion, and the commander responsible for
the platoon training lanes.
"We're constantly being updated from Kosovo and trying to
incorporate those situations into training here day by day," he said.
In doing so, Brumfield and his trainers have created "worst-case"
scenarios as part of the training. Soldiers from Company C, 3d
Battalion, 7th Infantry train on reacting to a variety of crisis situa-
tions.
Under the watchful eye of observer controller, -Capt. Craig
Caswell, of 2d Battalion, 7th Infantry, Sgt. 1st Class Peter Tice, 3d
platoon sergeant of C Company deploys his soldiers once they hit
the ground at the sight of a simulated explosion. Caswell's watch-
ing to make sure Tice and the platoon leader, 1st Lt. Holland Sutton,get their soldiers into the right positions to provide security while
others contend with a civilian hanging around the sight.
"This closely replicates what realistically may happen in
Kosovo," said Caswell while watching the scenario unfold.
After soldiers get the explosion sight under control and turn the
location over to another unit, they are called to the crash sight of a
downed helicopter. When they arrive soldiers are met with heavy
smoke from the burning aircraft and a group of farmers upset about
an Army helicopter in the middle of their fields.
Tice and Sutton immediately go into action ordering soldiers to
clear civilians from the immediate crash sight. The soldiers then
create a secure perimeter with concertina wire and armed soldiers
the crash sight. All the while Sutton calms the locals, who spoke
only Spanish to add realism to the exercise, with the aid of an inter-
preter.
"People are people. When you're dealing with civilians if you
don't treat them with respect they won't return it," said Caswell.
Caswell added that he and his observer-controllers had noted a
few problems with the platoons' reaction to the two scenarios, but
would bring those up in a "hot wash", or informal after action
review, immediately after the exercise.
Thirty-nine platoons have been through the KFOR platoon train-
ing to date. The units proceed to Company Situational Training.
Deployment begins in May and ends in November.Photo by Sgt. Eric Reinhardt
3-7 Ca v officially joins KFOR
The "Cottonbalers" of Fort Stewart's 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment became
part of KFOR in a ceremony Feb. 23. In his address, Battalion Commander Lt. Col.
Richard Dixon reminded his troops about the proud history of their unit.
He cautioned his troops about the seriousness of the job that lies ahead. "The task
is a peace-enforcment mission ... but it does not equal a safe endeavor."KFOR troops break up four demonstrations
Army News Service
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - U.S. sol-
diers in Kosovo responded to demonstrations in
four towns last week, breaking one up by firing
rubber shotgun rounds into the crowd.
Most of the demonstrations remained peace-
ful, officials said, although one in Pasjane Feb.
20 escalated with rocks and bottles being
thrown at the troops. U.S. soldiers then fired
non-lethal munitions into the crowd as a self-
defense measure, officials said.
After the rubber shotgun rounds were fired,
the crowd dispersed, officials said, allowing
United Nations Mission in Kosovo Police to
arrest five alleged instigators of the demonstra-
tion.
Soldiers from Multinational Brigade (East),
the American sector of Kosovo, responded to
other demonstrations last week in Silovo, Partes
and Ranilug.
The Kosovo Force barricade of the town
Cernica ended Feb. 20 after a week where nei-
ther personnel nor vehicles were allowed to
enter or leave the town without KFOR clear-
ance. Serb and Albanian community leaders and
Lt. Col. Richard Douglass, the commander of
1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, addressed
the citizens Feb. 21 to denounce violence in the
town. After the public address. Albanians andSerbians of Cernica kicked off their first joint
humanitarian event by picking up garbage in the
town.
KFOR soldiers continued teaching and train-
ing children on mine awareness throughout the
sector, officials said.
In the past two weeks, mine awareness teams
from the Greek 501st Mechanized Battalion,
40th Engineer Battalion and the Polish-
Ukrainian Battalion presented instruction to
over 1,450 children in 12 towns.
Ten medical civil-affairs programs were con-
ducted in the MNB (E) region last week. MED-
CAPSare short-term primary medical care mis-
sions that officials said provide treatment to
local residents for minor medical illnesses.
KFOR medical soldiers treated 670 patients in
the towns of Laniste, Rezance, Podgrade,
Debelde, Letnica, Vitina Church, Donja Bitinja,
Donje Nerodimlje, Dubrava and Pancelo. An
eye doctor also issued 35 pairs of glasses to
patients in Kotlina Feb. 23.
Medical soldiers from the 47th Forward
Support Battalion donated over $8,000 worth of
medical supplies to the Ranilug clinic Thursday.
These medical supplies were requested by the
clinic during a MEDCAP conducted by the unit
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The Frontline, March 1, 2001, newspaper, March 1, 2001; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth887973/m1/2/: accessed June 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting National WASP WWII Museum.