We went to a riot...

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TODAYS BLOG IS RELAYING TRAINING EVENTS ONLY...

I figured that today might be a good day to hang out with Dobie. It started out about as rotten as it could be. It was snowing! The wind was whistling unforgivingly and it was actually accumulating on the ground. Geez, just what all the soldiers needed. Going out to the field for the first time here in Germany and now its all slushy and people are a little complainy. Not my little friend though. He was so excited to be in the mix of real training that he barely slept last night.

Having watched from the headquarters level I knew that this would be the best hands on training that Dobie would ever be involved in. It was the culmination of months of train up, hundreds of civilian role players, villages that were living and a scenario that would be impossible to change. The lines had been drawn, the evaluators were leading us to a full blown riot, not just in one town but in multiple towns. The ratio of populous to soldiers was designed to be an equal match, but in reality I don't think with all the training and all the planning that had been conducted, we were going to avoid what was being staged as "The Worst Day in Kosovo".

As soon as we got into the hummer for the ride out to the small village area I could feel the tenseness in the air. Soldiers were mentally rehearsing, leaders were planning and even I was a little nervous for Dobie to be involved in something so realistic. When we arrived in the area, we went through the checkpoints made of concertina wire and barracades, received a situation briefing from the Commander on the ground and began setting up for possible crowd control actions.

As Dobie was doing his preparations I noticed how fastidious he truly was. He did a visual recon of his surrounding area, checked his army buddies to make sure their gear was on properly, went through the steps to proper crowd control and then even took a little time for himself to gather his thoughts. I also checked out the situation. I could see small pockets of people gathering on the other end of the city block, there were stacks of wood and debris strategically placed alongside the edges of the road. People were hanging out the upper windows of the village houses, all attention focused on the growing crowd heading towards our location.

Leaders began to give direction to the soldiers, forming them up in lines, stacking them closely in rows, each person having a specific duty to perform during the exercise. I was so close I could see the sweat rolling down the sides of one soldiers face and I couldn't make a good assessment whether he was really warm or was it the expulsion of true stress. How exciting was this. I have not been this close to an angry crowd since I was in Iraq. Wonder if some of the previously deployed soldiers were thinking about some of their past experiences? About the time when I was a little lost in my own thoughts I heard a commotion to my rear.

Just that fast the crowd had turned into protesters and canisters of smoke were released and the air filled with a colorful haze and the familiar sounds of chaos. The soldiers went into action. Shields went up and without being too aggressive the soldiers used a show of force to establish their primacy on the streets of that small village. The crowd had erected small barricades and began throwing rocks. I wondered how Dobie was handling all this excitement. After locating him I witnessed for myself how immersed he was in the operation.

Dobie was following behind the soldiers closely, he was staying tucked into the formation, and doing exactly what was expected of him. I saw alot of rocks flying and thought I would take a closer look. After picking up one of the stray rocks I chuckled to myself. They were just pieces of styrofoam with tape wrapped around it. How creative, and I felt a whole lot better knowing that they weren't real rocks. In fact, when I looked around I realized there where almost more safety officers in the area than soldiers. They were keeping an eye on the level of aggression by both sides. They did a marvelous job ensuring injuries were not occurring.

"Dobie, get over there and hop up onto that hummer and give me a update on what the crowd looks like from a higher vantage point." I heard the first sergeant yell over the noise of the crowd to my little buddy. Then I watched Dobie run and jump up to the turret box on one of the vehicles and survey the situation, reporting back to the leader. "The crowd is thinning First Sergeant." I couldn't have been prouder, he really was turning into quite the little soldier. In fact, as I glanced around, all the soldiers were engaged and doing such a wonderful job.

While the face to face engagement was occurring the leaders were using the communications skills taught to disengage the anger from a human perspective. It wasn't long until all sides were talking and the underlying issues were being discussed. Wow...training events like this are great but always make me stop and think about why we do the things we do.

THE ABOVE BLOG PORTRAYS TRAINING EVENTS ONLY...

Soldiering is a tough business and through staged training events like these not only are we allowed to practice our learned military skills but also assists us in developing personally. There are no bigger advocates for peace than the soldier on the ground.

Dobie and the other soldiers passed the test of crowd control and inside I am glad that we have these events, but am aware of the situation that we are going into Kosovo for. The environment is calm, and the people of Kosovo are much friendlier to us than most of the other places that we have traveled to in the past few years. We will have the opportunity to see the country through the eyes of the children, through the farmer and through the local businessman. Just to have the prospect of traveling in and amongst the locals, to build the relationships that will facilitate stable community relations across the country and to be able to give of ourselves is a great thing to look forward to. Soldiers do have a warrior spirit, but part of that spirit is gentle and heartfelt and that is why wherever we go we are impacted by the human side of our surroundings. We look down the narrow alleys and see not only darkness but also the old man with tired eyes sitting in the corner. We see the children playing on the street and with that can feel the hopefulness for a future that they can live in peace. Training has been hard. Training has been realistic. Sometimes it is necessary. But one thing for sure as we prepare to head into Kosovo...

Blessed are the Peacekeepers!

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Photos

The fog of the moment
Photo Courtesy KFOR 12 Safety

My buddies are doing a great job
Photo courtesy KFOR 12 Safety

Crowd in Chaos
Photo courtesy KFOR 12 Safety

Busy village streets
Photo Courtsey KFOR 12 Safety

Sitting tall in my turret
Photo courtesy KFOR 12 Safety