It's our big day!...

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Some days were just meant to be great days! I woke up to a bright and shiny morning, the air was crisp with a light layer of frost on everything. We could actually see the mountain, the entire peak and surrounding foothills, which is quite unusual. Normally, it is either covered with a layer of fog, the clouds engulf the top or a hazy glare surrounds the total pike.

Today was the day that KFOR 12 took charge of the mission here in Kosovo. Since our arrival we have been in training with our predecessors. It has been a painful and arduous process. In fact, this past two weeks have been the most challenging for me on this entire deployment. Maybe it’s a North Dakota thing, but we are extremely organized as a Task Force and have a level of customer service that I believe is unmatchable. The command that we relieved were just less focused on care of their soldiers, didn’t really have an overall bond between their soldiers and leadership and were not very articulate in the delivery of their organizational processes. It was for me, absolutely miserable.

So today I was able to make a fresh start. Renew my energy and be able to do what I love to do. Meet people! I was afforded the opportunity to work with the Joint Visitors Bureau (JVB) and partake in the official turn over procession. I was snatched up by a wonderful NCO who asked if I could help her at the front gate as the distinguished visitors and VIP’s entered Camp Bondsteel. I jumped at the opportunity.

For the past two weeks the JVB had been working diligently on inviting really important dignitaries and local legends, and had designed a plan that was wonderfully orchestrated and executed today. The escort officers were all lined up, vans parked in rows ready to shuttle attendees. Security guards were inspecting vehicles before they came onto base and the dogs were sniffing for potential explosives. Radios were chatting away as the JVB soldiers were linking up the visitors with the soldiers who would escort them.

Earlier in the morning the leadership of both the outgoing and incoming soldiers had their final rehearsal for the actions at the ceremony. Unbelievably, they have rehearsed nightly for five nights in a row, just to ensure that the ceremony went off without a hitch. Just to let you know, we didn’t rehearse for the riot training in Germany half as much as these Colonels did for this ceremony. Guess when you get that high up in rank you forget how to march and where to stand! Needless to say, they performed well during the ceremony in front of all the guests.

Back to the front gate escort duty. Vehicles were buzzing around, soldiers were opening doors and being really polite to all who drove through, saluting and standing at attention when the Generals would pass. There had to of been 30 Generals at a minimum, 10 different country Ambassadors, Heads of State, Directors of Police, Dignitaries from Germany, military attaché’s that I never knew existed, USAID officials and the very important local Kosovo leadership. Most names we couldn’t pronounce and many of them travelled with interpreters which assisted with the communication barriers a little. My job was a simple task. Greet the vehicles when they came through the second set of gates. Introduce myself, welcome them and give them a special security badge. It was simple, but it was the best job there. I wasn’t tied down to spending the day with just one dignitary, I was able to meet everyone who came through the gate. It was the perfect job! I truly was in my element.

Then it happened. I was in the right place at the right time… Only a few minutes until the ceremony started and the gate 1 radio blared, “Distinguished Visitor number one coming through the gate.” We looked around at each other, excitement and a pep to our steps. Holy cow, it was the President of Kosovo. Where is his escort? We had no time to waste. The motorcade of black vehicles was only 100 yards from our location. The gate swung up to allow them entry and then I heard those lucky words. “French, you need to escort the President!” I looked at the NCO, smiled a big smile, pumped my arm like I had won the lottery and scurried over to greet the long line of Presidential vehicles.

At first the driver just looked at me, I motioned for him to roll down his window and reluctantly he obeyed and then he couldn’t resist my smile as we spoke broken English to each other. Shaking my hand he gestured that the President was in the back seat. I promptly realigned myself a few feet back and opened the door to find his presidential aid glaring at me. I smiled, she didn’t. I looked right past her, saluted smartly at the President and then shook his hand as I welcomed him to KFOR 12 Country. He had a very kind smile and spoke something back to me that I did not understand. But I think it sounded something like, “Hey, welcome to Kosovo and I hope we can do coffee some day.” Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite those words, but a girl can dream!

My vehicle driver drove perfectly to the drop off point right in front of the giant airplane hangar which was the building host for the ceremony. The Lieutenant Colonel was standing tall at the base of the stairs, I could hear him call the group to attention and announce, “The president of Kosovo”, as the long black line of vehicles came to a stop. I blasted out of my escort vehicle, dodged back to the President’s door and smartly opened it and as he exited and then gave him a snappy salute. He turned to me and gave me a true Presidential smile and thanked me for my service. And then away he went. End of story.

Having completed the best moments I’d had since arriving here in Kosovo, I went back to the gate and found that the excitement was all over. So off I was to the next event. The Post Ceremony Reception. I’m here to tell you, It Ain’t Easy Being Cheesy. But I really love rubbing elbows with the big dogs and just walking up to people I don’t know and starting conversations.

At the reception it was all the visitors who had entered through the gates or flown in on one of the many helicopters that came from all over the area. Uniforms from dozens of countries, hats of all shapes and sizes, interpreters yapping like crazy, American soldiers talking slow and louder than we normally do. For some reason we think that if you don’t speak English that that qualifies you as deaf also, so we just talk really loud and deliberate. We are a funny breed indeed!

There was a wonderful finger food spread and civilian workers served cake and poured non-alcoholic beverages. Cameras were clicking and the entire crowd seemed to be smiling those fake smiles and saying, “It’s so good to meet you.” There was a cake the size of a small football field which the kitchen workers had labored over for days. Overall, the ceremony and the reception was worth all the effort, but when we all wake up in the morning will just be a memory that none of us probably want to do over again. Dog and pony shows take a lot of energy, and I do believe that we are more than ready to put our energies toward our mission that will hopefully keep the peace in this small piece of real estate in the Balkans.

After all hoopla the visiting General from North Dakota had a Town Hall meeting with hundreds of North Dakota soldiers. It really was nice to have him fly all this way and witness the Transfer of Authority which was symbolic of his soldiers and leaders being the headquarters element of such a large mission that will be operating during such a historic time. A familiar face was wonderful to see and he did such a great job of talking to the soldiers.

As we close this day it will probably not be with thoughts of sugar plums dancing through our heads, but instead we will dream of how to make a difference in this land where the youth is the future. We will teach the people of Kosovo to help themselves, and work hand in hand with all the leadership factions that attended the ceremony. This is our chance. The soldiers of KFOR 12 are ready. Ready for a challenge that none of us have experienced before, ready to build relationships, and ready to spend each and every day representing our country the best that we can.

Let the Kosovo journey begin…

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