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Published: September 5th 2009
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From around the world the experts on Kosovo Operations have flown in and are preparing to first educate us and then evaluate our performance. Military Officers, civilian contractors and staff members from the current KFOR rotation stationed in Kosovo are standing by for the start of the exercise that will test soldiers from headquarters to the soldiers on the ground.
We had a three star General try to motivate us about preparing us for the “Worst Day in Kosovo” scenario. We will have to study, research and apply our skills to a series of circumstances over the next 18 days that will be issues we have never had to deal with. He spoke about how National Guard soldiers have a depth of experience that the active duty can’t touch because of the ability we have to combine our civilian acquired skills with our military specialties. The training/evaluation teams are here to direct our efforts of focus, and we should embrace the helpful hints.
Then a small statured Colonel pops up and scurries across the stage and in a gravelly voice he addresses us with a energy that should be bottled up for those days that I feel sluggish.
“Failure is not an option! The American people have put their trust in you and we expect you to know and do the right thing,” he spoke in a near whisper with his southern preacher style and with an accent that made you smile. He yelled out “Hell Ya, You Can Do This Mission” and in my heart of hearts I knew that all this training would be worth it. There must be a young Kosovar child that will benefit from this peace keeping mission that we will take over in a few weeks. Message taken…His final words…”Dag-gum, you have a choice to make during this grueling exercise! Either you just set your sights on enduring the events or you take the opportunity to build your skill sets and remember your experiences so they can be applied at a later date.” His words of sincerity sucked me right in and gave me a boost that hopefully will keep me going for the next few weeks.
Last up was our North Dakota General. I could tell he was way jacked up because as he started to address the crowd he spewed enthusiasm. “I love this stuff, I’m excited for myself
and I’m excited for all the soldiers to be able to take part in training of this caliber.” Then he went on to make the crowd chuckle as he explained how he was doing his best to not get sick, mentioning how his hands were turning into little bloody stumps from using so much hand sanitizer~
I am lucky enough to be a staff officer in this circus, and as one of the spokes of the giant wheel of the army I can hopefully add something relevant to the process. Many things to still learn, but as long as we focus on how to communicate and coordinate with each other that should lead to building relationships within the staff sections. I will do my best to try to convey some of the training that is happening simultaneously outside as I sit behind my computer reading policies and writing orders.
Welcome to the training event…
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