Golan Journal 102, January
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- the UNDOF Journal 1 Dear Reader! and UNTSO. It has been an Stefan May, former UNDOF honor and a pleasure to work MPIO. Since he has not yet with all of you. I sincerely been offi cially replaced, Maj Spring has arrived once appreciate your friendship, Siegfried, the UNDOF FWO, again to the Golan Heights. cooperation and assistance. has kindly stepped up to the Such beautiful scenery sur- task and his assistance has rounds us; colorful, wild fl ow- been of great importance. ers, valleys and mountains I would like to thank him, Editorial covered with green. he is indeed a most reliable I am lucky enough to be and dependable friend and welcoming spring for the sec- offi cer. ond time since my mission On behalf of the UNDOF has been a year long. Unfor- MPIO offi ce, I would like to tunately, the time has come l-r: Maj Perr, Capt Horiguchi, Capt say thank you and goodbye. to leave this beautiful and I am sure that the new MPIO exciting area. In the middle of I would like to take this offi ce staff will continue to March I will return to Japan opportunity to introduce my serve UNDOF and provide the and to my work at the Ground successor: The new Deputy best of public affairs service. Staff Offi ce of the Japanese Military Public Information Ground Self Defense Force. Offi cer (or D/MPIO) is Capt Health and success to all. Throughout this past year, Takashi Kobayashi. I am sure he will enjoy the same hospi- I truly enjoyed my working Sincerely, Capt Daisuke Horiguchi, tality and patronage as I have environment, mostly because D/MPIO UNDOF of the many good and profes- received from you. Recently sional people within UNDOF we also bid farewell to Maj Editorial Staff: Unit Press Offi cers: D/MPIO Editorial ................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Editor: FC UNDOF Force Commander’s Message .................................................................... 3 AUSBATT - Maj H. Hutter Maj Siegfried Peer COS UNDOF COS Words ................................................................................................................................................ 4 CANCON - Capt S. H. Usborne Managing Editor, New People New People in UNDOF / Donation............................................... 5 J-CON - Lt I Y. Hiramitsu Layout Designer and Visits Visits to UNDOF .............................................................................................................................. 6 Force Photographer: POLBATT - Capt J. Barczewski Sport International Sports Day ............................................................................................. 7 WO II Gernot Payer SLOVCON - Lt I T. Hunal AUSBATT Same, same but different ............................................................................................ 8 Co-Editor: OGG - Maj K. Bring SLOVCON Why we have to train .......................................................................................................... 9 Capt D. Horiguchi MP - Capt E. Walla POLBATT New Quality / Original Story ................................................................. 10 Proofreader: POLBATT STS COOPERATION ...................................................................................................... 11 E. Lynn Elvaiah Miscellaneous The Apple Story ............................................................................................................................ 12 Miscellaneous The Apple Story ............................................................................................................................ 13 Editorial Offi ce: CANCON Visit of General R.R. Henault .................................................................... 14 UNDOF HQ CANCON Dead Sea Half-Marathon and 10 km run ................... 15 Camp FAOUAR J-CON COC / New Year Celebration ................................................................. 16 Tel: 6130214-5203 MP Force Protection - VBIED ........................................................................................... 17 E-Mail: [email protected] OGG OGG HQ / New COGG-T ................................................................................ 18 Civilian Staff UNDOF - Finance Section .................................................................................. 19 The Golan Journal is the magazine of the United Na tions Dis en - Memorial In Memory ................................................................................................................................................... 20 gage ment Ob serv er Force and it is in tend ed to pro vide in for ma tion about the Force and events with in it which are of interest to its Miscellaneous Int. Womans Day / Taxi Story ............................................................ 21 mem bers. The UNDOF Mil i tary Pub lic Affairs Of fi ce publishes History The Hidden Monastary ............................................................................................. 22 the Golan Jour nal eve ry third month. While articles and pho to - Recreation Skiing in Lebanon .................................................................................................................... 23 graphs are wel comed from all mem bers of the Force, the view and opinions ex pressed are those of the in di vid u al au thors and do not Front (Page 1): Capt Wöhrer, OPI of the apple transport nec es sar i ly co in cide with those of the United Nations or the Force Photo and Graphic by WO II Gernot Payer Com mand er. The cop y right of all material in this jour nal is vest ed in Unit ed Back (Page 28): J-CON members show their skills Na tions Pub li ca tions ex cept where an ac knowl edg ment is made Photo by WO II Gernot Payer to an oth er hold er. No articles or il lus tra tions may be re pro duced with out the per mis sion of the ed i to ri al staff. 2 - the UNDOF Journal Force Commander’s Message FC UNDOF Dear Fellow Peacekeepers It is with great pride and pleasure that I am able to address you all in our UNDOF Golan Journal. I would like to warmly welcome all the recently arrived Peace- keepers, both military and civilian, to UNDOF. I hope that every-one of you have a peaceful and enjoyable tour with us here on the Golan. I look forward to seeing as many of you as I pos- and this is especially all those involved – well sibly can on my visits, true in a region such as done! tours and duties around this where the situation So, maintain the excel- the Mission. can very easily and rap- lent standards and keep I wish to welcome the idly change. We must morale high. Stay safe, new rotation of OGG remain ever vigilant and remain alert and enjoy UNMO’s from UNTSO continue to maintain our your time with UNDOF. to the UN Golan peace- high standards when For those of you who keeping family. Have a there is so much politi- are just about to return successful and reward- cal tension and dialogue home, thank you, best ing tour. in the Middle East at the wishes to your families The seasons are now moment. and have a safe journey. changing. The sun and UNDOF continues to heat are once again mature and go from Thank you Ďiakujem returning to Mt. Hermon, strength to strength. I Danke Dziękuję signaling the advance of am delighted to see the Arigato Merci the summer. Thankfully, progress of our moderni- since my last Golan mes- zation program and all sage, the overall situa- the benefi ts that this will tion has remained rela- bring. We have also seen tively calm and stable. an historic event with the There is an old saying transfer of the apples; it that “peace can never has been a tremendous Major General B. N. SHARMA be taken for granted” and rewarding effort by Force Commander UNDOF - the UNDOF Journal 3 Chief of Staff Words Comrades of UNDOF! Since the last Golan Jour- nal issue, three months have passed by as if they were merely three days. Having COS UNDOF been here for ten months, I am not surprised by this feel- ing anymore. I hope you feel the same because it would mean that you also are very busy and, thus, enjoying your time in UNDOF. Let me tell you why I am so happy here. I see things improving. I see the hard work on the modernisation program. In this context, I of cooperation and quality of We are on a good way to want to express many thanks work. I see a very good coop- make sensible use of the to LtCol Hussey and the eration between the battal- budget granted to us by the members of his branch. The ions. I congratulate the Com- United Nations. The Section same goes for the improve- manding offi cers who con- Chiefs, as well as the mili- ment of the use of our Infor- tribute a lot to it. LOGBATT tary budget OPIs do a fi ne mation Technology and the is delivering an impressive job under the guidance of Mr. better understanding of the performance and I thank Jerry Smith. I am not sure if procedures. especially LtCol Myers for we could fi nd a more correct One of the aspects of mod- the immediate assistance and supportive CAO than ernisation is the establish- and effective support that the him anywhere. ment of the HQ structure Force always gets from them. Last but by far not least, 2005, which is in the fi nal I see a high degree of I want to thank our Force stages, and for example, the fl exibility and effi ciency in Commander for his wise and establishment of the Ops the Force. During the apple strong leadership. For me it is centre and the improvement transfer, many of you took on a great pleasure to work with in the organisation