Wisconsin National Guard unit trains for Kosovo mission

By Staff Sgt. Matt Scotten
Atterbury-Muscatatuck Public Affairs

EDINBURGH, Ind. - Spc. Michelle J. Weissinger squinted her eyes as wind and cold rain pelted her face. The weather is typical of Indiana in late fall and early winter - but more than that, it is typical of where she is training to deploy to Kosovo, right down to the hilly and wooded terrain.

Weissinger, a member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, is at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center training to deploy with Multinational Battle Group East Kosovo Force 15 this month. The approximately 150 members of the 157th MEB were notified March 6 of a potential deployment, and sendoff ceremonies were held Sept. 16 and 24.

While in Kosovo, the 157th MEB will serve as the brigade headquarters for Multi-National Battle Group East, referred to as Task Force Falcon. They will command foreign military units from Poland, Turkey, Greece, Armenia, Ukraine and Romania, as well as more than 700 U.S. Soldiers from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Georgia, Mississippi, North Dakota and Wyoming.

"It's a three-pronged mission," said Col. Jeffrey J. Liethen, an Onalaska, Wis., native and KFOR 15 commander. "We monitor the pulse of the populace, so to speak, keeping track of the feelings and opinions of the people. We also act as third responders to demonstrations and riots, and maintain freedom of movement for other KFOR forces."

According to Sgt. Angie J. Gross - a Bismarck, N.D., native and human resources specialist with the aviation element of KFOR 15 - one of the biggest benefits of coming to train together at Camp Atterbury is that everyone has learned how to work as one team.

"When we all first got here, everyone had their own little cliques. We are all from different places and even different states altogether," Gross said. "Now, you see the entire KFOR coming together. You see little things, like how many people sit together at chow time. We are really all coming together."

Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center is the only mobilization site in the United States for American forces training for missions in Kosovo. Besides the installation's historical expertise as a world-class training site, the weather and the terrain are all very similar to what Soldiers will encounter in Kosovo. "The support we have received here from the installation cadre has been excellent," Liethen said. "I would encourage other units to train here."

KFOR 15 will continue to train at Atterbury until they are ready to leave for Kosovo. Weissinger said, however, that she feels she is ready to go today.

"Our National Guard Soldiers have been trained on crowd and riot control, reacting to improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordinance, and law and order." Liethen said. "Our aviation task force has been practicing troop movements and sling loads, and the aviation and medical facilities here at Atterbury closely resemble what we will have in Kosovo."