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KFOR CHRONICLE the MAGAZINE for KFOR PEOPLE October 2020

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KFOR CHRONICLE the MAGAZINE for KFOR PEOPLE October 2020 KFOR CHRONICLE THE MAGAZINE FOR KFOR PEOPLE October 2020 TRAINING PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT POLES ON THE RANGE SILVER SABRE RESUMES CONTENT Practice makes perfect. All militaries must train for all eventualities. Every soldier, from every contingent across every unit in KFOR must remain operationally ready. It is a matter of credibility. This credibility is what makes KFOR a deterrent, ensuring that all operational activities contribute towards the maintenance of a safe and secure environment with freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo in accordance with UNSCR 1244 of 1999. STORY OF THE MONTH Practice Makes Perfect Comdt Brian Lynch, Comdt Paul O’Callaghan, Capt Andrea Marano, Col Mario Renna p.3 FROM THE FIELD Poles on the Range Capt Kerem Barcinli p.9 Medic!! Comdt Paul O’Callaghan p.10 Keystone to Success Capt Ionnis Koutsonakis p.11 Resiliency Training LTC M. Todd Bell p.11 SNAPSHOTS KFOR’s Activities in Pictures KFOR PAO Staff P.12 TROOPS OF KFOR Slovenia’s Long Standing Presence Capt Andrea Marano p.14 Just a Soldier Comt Brian Lynch p.16 New DCOM KFOR PAO Staff p.16 KFOR NEWS News From Around KFOR KFOR PAO Staff p.18 PROFILES USA & Ireland p.22 PHOTO OF THE MONTH ‘Path between Rocks ’ Matteo Corradini p.23 2 STORY OF THE MONTH PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT imagine a great many civilians look at military be overstated. KFOR is made up of troops from 27 I personnel all over the world and think we are very different nations that must act together as one united strange people. We are always running around and force to ensure a safe and secure environment and doing things- playing war games, making noise, and at freedom of movement for all. times, being a nuisance. Soldiers, sailors and airmen Every week, guaranteed, there is some form of training are it seems constantly training. A surgeon wielding being undertaken in KFOR. Some of it makes for a scalpel and about to perform open heart surgery dramatic photographs, like fire phobia training or has travelled a very long road to get to that point. Crowd & Riot Control. Some of it is less dramatic and Years of study, followed by years of understudy. His class room based, though no less important. Soldiers, progress is slow and methodical. Baby steps, observing (and Surgeons for that matter) never stop learning surgery, minor tasks making the incision or closing up, and training. There is always some new weapon or observing a master at work until he is ready. Soldiers communication system to be learned and mastered. cannot take baby steps into their chosen profession Tactics, Techniques and Procedures evolve, even – at least not the real thing. There is no methodical operating environments, climatic, geographic, and path that guarantees progression from peace keeping political, impact on how we train and operate. to peace enforcement, to full blown conflict. In essence, In this edition of the KFOR Chronicle we take a brief that is why military personnel are constantly training look at cooperative training, teaching empowerment – training for something that may never happen – or and learning to engage. These themes are explored could happen tomorrow. through looking at some of the training conducted by In this issue we take a look at some of the training various contingents and units throughout KFOR and conducted by KFOR. Training in a multi-national how they shape us as a credible force. environment has an added importance and benefit: inter-operability. Having soldiers from different nations train together builds trust, confidence and Brian Lynch shared procedures. The importance of this cannot OF-3 IRL- Army 3 COOPERATIVE TRAINING FOR takes its roles very seriously. We train regularly in all Battalion and the Multinational Specialized Unit were Kaspects of what may be expected of us. It is this training involved in the training, which included four phases: aerial that gives us the credibility that all communities in KFOR surveillance, establishment of cordons and observation expect of us and allows us to ensure that our mandate is points, insertion of helicopter-borne troops and evacuation upheld. To this end, KFOR holds large scale exercises on of personnel amidst riots. a regular basis throughout our mission area. Two recent Exercise United Response was a further development of the examples of these exercises were Exercise Western Storm lessons learned in Exercise Western Storm and saw more and Exercise United Response, each of which saw hundreds involvement of our security partners and other KFOR units. of troops put through their paces in Crowd Riot Control For the exercise troops the drills and Tactics, Techniques (CRC). Combined exercises such as these see troops, from and Procedures remain the same. For the commanders, different contingents and units come together to ensure increased scale in an exercise increases the complexity of interoperability through the rehearsal of the management Command and Control (C2). The command and control of emergency situations and the applicable command & elements were exercised in a pressure environment to get control and communications procedures between the units. the plan right, the sequencing of the phases right and the The NATO-led KFOR mission is the third security responder successful execution and withdrawal right, all the while after the Kosovo Police and EULEX. Through cooperative dealing with the dynamic environment. training and interaction with our security partners in the Major General Michele Risi, the Commander of KFOR, Kosovo Police and EULEX, these exercises ensure that observed both exercises along with representatives of the seamless escalation of response can be implemented European mission EULEX and the Kosovo Police. if KFOR is called upon to assist restore order. Training Major General Michele Risi, COM KFOR, while addressing conditions must be realistic; they should be as close to Exercise United Response highlighted the importance replicating the real thing as possible, but maintain control of training to upholding United Nations Security Council at all times to guarantee the safety of all participants. Resolution 1244: “by training we ensure our readiness, it is Exercise Western Storm was organised by Regional from this readiness that we draw our credibility. Our mission Command West (RC-W) and was conducted at Gjakova/ requires us to be a credible deterrent.” Djakovica airfield. It consisted of realistic simulations of crowd and riot control and military personnel evacuation Paul O’Callaghan OF-3 IRL- Army which were performed by Soldiers from Italy, Poland, & Hungary, Austria, Moldova, Slovenia and Turkey. Andrea Marano Units from KFOR Regional Commands, the Tactical Reserve OF-2 ITA-Army 4 A member of the Multinational Support Unit handcuffs a ‘trouble maker’ after he was removed by the Crowd & Riot Control element during exercise ‘Western Storm’. KFOR is fully committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo. Commander of KFOR Major General Risi attended the exercise conducted in RC-W. Cooperative training exercises such as these, involving Kosovo Police, EULEX and KFOR ensure that an integrated approach is taken to achieving any mission in support of UNSCR 1244. Training should be as realistic as possible yet maintain safety for all participants. An exercise troop from the Austrian Contingent of RC-E keeping the Turkish CRC Company on their toes. Maintaining a high level of operational tempo throughout equips soldiers with the mental fortitude to withstand the pressures of dynamic kinetic environments. KFOR troops must be prepared for all eventualities, including our medics. Here a medic from RC-E triages a simulated casualty from Exercise United Response. It is through constant training and refinement of all of our skills that KFOR maintains its operational readiness at all times. 5 LEARNING TO ENGAGE n a cold and wet 08 October 22 newly deployed approach and act with people of different gender, age Omembers of KFOR Liaison Monitoring Teams groups and religious beliefs according to KFOR code (LMT’s) underwent an intensive day of In Theatre of conduct. Training (ITT) in Camp Film City. LMT’s play a very As the link between communities and KFOR, LMT’s important role within KFOR, as they act as a vital link play an important role in selecting CIMIC Projects. between the communities and the Kosovo Force. The The participants on the course learned how to select In Theatre Training reinforces the training most would a CIMIC project, how to evaluate it and initiate the have already undergone back in their home countries project, and how to monitor its effectiveness. prior to deploying to Kosovo. Much of the ITT is theory All these lessons and practical exercises, and a few based, but there are also practical interaction type more besides were packed into a very full day, at exercises. The focus is very much on bringing the LMT the end of which the participants headed out to the members up to speed with the latest developments municipalities they had been assigned to. Special Officer in Kosovo. Starting with a broad overview, giving Mike Zimmermann from Switzerland was one of those the participants an insight into cultural and religious participants. He told me he was on his first overseas diversity in the Area or Operations (AOO). They also tour of duty, and he had been assigned to Zubin Potok. received briefings on security awareness, an important Prior to his deployment he underwent mission specific aspect as LMT’s operate in small unit sizes. On the same training, two weeks of which were devoted to his theme, participants are also taught how to perform a future role as an LMT. Much of the ITT he received was link up with other KFOR units. In order to perform reinforcing what he had already learned, but in theatre engagements with the communities more successfully, was a bit more in-depth as he learned more about his participants learn about face to face communication, specific municipality.
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