2.19.2008

Kosovo a Country? So, over the weekend Kosovo decided to declare independence from Serbia. Some people might have just glanced over this news as if it was nothing worth noting, considering we've been in Kosovo since 1999 and everyone is just bored with it. But Kosovo suddenly becoming its own country is pretty big news, especially considering what it could mean for the Balkans, as Serbia doesn't want to release its hold on Kosovo yet and Russia has been very vocally opposed to Kosovo declaring independence without official UN support. I guess they have a point, as they don't want people to get ideas that they can just break off from a larger nation and create their own country, but I don't think this could happen very often. The only reason Kosovo can declare independence is because NATO forces are there to keep the peace. But unless they can come up with some agreement with Serbia to allow them to remain their own soveriegn nation, NATO is going to be there for a long time, because as soon as we pull out, Serbia is just going to go right back in and take what they think is theirs. I've said this for some time, there really is no peaceful resolution to Kosovo. Good thing the Kosovar Albanians love Americans. Although it would be kind of interesting to be there right now. Labels: Current Events, Kosovo -Risawn: # 7:52 PM - |

6.10.2007

Bush and Kosovo Bush Recieves Heroes Welcome in Albania I found this article to be rather interesting in regards to the update on Kosovo and Bush's stance on it. It doesn't surprise me that Albania greeted Bush with great enthusiasm, as Albanians love Americans, (There is a street named after Bill Clinton in Kosovo, and his image is plastered on a sky scraper in Pristina) and I wonder if he stopped by Camp Bondsteel and said hi to the troops (I'm sure they would appreciate the support as most people forget we are even still in Kosovo) but I found his stance interesting. Bush is taking a Pro Albanian stance on the issue that is Kosovo and declaring independence. To tell you the honest truth, that seems to be the best thing for the war torn international protectorate. Though the Albanian majority and Serbian minority need to learn to get along and live with each other. I don't know how successful such arrangement will be, but it would be nice to see some resolution to this ongoing conflict. Labels: Current Events, Kosovo -Risawn: # 7:49 PM - |

10.20.2006

Vanity, or Lack Thereof I've got this DVD player that I recently bought that records DVDs. Theres also a VHS player attached so you can record old VHS tapes on DVD. Plus, well, its built to take your camcorder and plug it in and convert your home videos onto DVD (or VHS, if your old school like that) I took out my tapes I took last year in Kosovo and was kind of watching them a bit just now. Now, I don't mind what I looked like going through the mobilization process and all of that, but I got a tape of me half way through the deployment (like, in July or something) and I kind of got in a squirm mode. Nothing like a deployment to sap all the feminine qualities out of a person, plus I had my hair short in that awkward mid growth phase and I just felt, well, ugly. The thing is, you were surrounded by ugly people, you looked at yourself every day like this, and you really didn't notice it. In fact, I never really called myself a real beauty ever in my life but when I was in Kosovo and I was looking at some of the pictures of me as a civilian and I remember actually thinking 'man, I did look really good.' Its because Kosovo is what I knew, and seeing myself in that light made everyone else look glamorous. I mean, you looked at people back home or whatever and even if they were average, well, from my point of view they were knock outs. I have come to the conclusion that I only need to cut my hair Dyke short once in my life and I did it January 2005. Never again I tell you. I liked my hair in the spikey look, but the growing out phase is just more hideous then I can stand. At least now I can look in the mirror again and think 'ok, I look pretty good now.' However, any time I go back and see pictures of me last year, I want to scream and run the other way. Strange how you get into those mindsets. Labels: Kosovo, Toys, Vanity, Videos -Risawn: # 6:45 PM - |

10.12.2006

Looking Back and Accepting It From time to time, I look back on my life and assess different situations I have gone through. Often times I look at them and try to figure out how I would do it differently if I could go back and do it again. One thing I get out of this excercise is that if I come across similar situations now, I can see myself handling them differently then in the past. A lot of this thought process goes back to my time in Kosovo. Its no secret that I had a tough year last year and dealing with a complete idiot who seemed to want to make my life a living hell didn't help matters. If I could go back and go through those situations again, I would handle them completely differently. I would know how to handle them. Like when I recieved what was quite possibly the worst counseling session ever (or frankly any counseling session), how I would conduct myself when I lost my KFOR badge, how I would handle that last briefing, or what not. A year ago today I was given a counseling that basically told me that I was worthless as a soldier and had no business being in preventive medicine. My NCOIC was looking at ways to remove my MOS. Yes, an egocentric E6 felt he had the authority to take away the Military Occupational Speciality of an E5. Which in one word is retarded. From this point on was the descent of my professional relationship with that man. I lost all respect for him and in three months I was completely out of his section with no love between the two of us. Looking back and playing the scenerio in my mind, I have discovered that how I would respond now vs then would probably result in me getting kicked out of the military for insubordination. But truthfully, at the end of the rotation, I had my former NCOIC completely on the defensive, meaning he didn't dare try anything with me. And I realize now that looking back I came out on top of the situation. But say that I did happen to find a time travel device and could go back to the start of the deployment and fix things, I realize that I learned so much from this deployment that I wouldn't want to go back and change anything. I have often looked back and realized how much fun I had that year, what I was able to accomplish and the lessons I learned both good and bad and if I could go back in time, I don't think I would change anything. Last year was an important growing experience for me. I had to endure those trials, discover myself, fumble and falter because if I didn't, I wouldn't have learned the lessons I did. Going back to change one thing would likely change everything that followed, especially in that tumultuous year. Change one thing, and the entire year would had a completely different outcome. For good or bad, the experiences would have been different. The memories I gained, the people I met, the experiences I had, it was all worth it. If I had to go back to October of 2004 and make up my mind all over again on whether or not I would go to Kosovo, I wouldn't want to change a single thing. Except maybe telling SSG D to Sod Off a little earlier in the deployment. Labels: Army, Kosovo, SSGDipshit -Risawn: # 1:14 AM - |

4.26.2006

Hidden Posts brought to light I went back, looked at my blog, and unhid some things I had hidden from view. As I had hid them while I was deployed, or else I never posted them for whatever reason. Well, its safe to post them now. Some of these are definitely in par with the things I shouldn't post on deployment, and they fit how I felt at the time. Well regardless, I brought them out from hiding. YOu can make your opinion on them be known. I didn't really get along with my first couple of roommates. Here is evidence. She turned out to be a decent person, we just, well, didn't mesh well in shared living conditions. A little story I wrote about my NCOIC. He told me that he felt that it demeaned his authority and told me to remove it. Well, guess what? The guy can kiss my behind. If he wants to get sensitive, he can stop being a complete ass. Besides, I'm far to kind to him in this story (which has not been altered in any way). This is a Rant I was told to remove this post, because it tells of me and the boy going to Freedom Park, where we proceeded to. . . watch Night of the Living Dead. Oh, and I made a crack at the Kosovo police, and their inability to do their job. Restlessness with the Army, and Deployment This is but one of many warnings of what a gargatuan ass my NCOIC was, and I didn't post it because I thought I was being to hard on him at the time. 2 Problems with the Army How I really felt about getting out of my section For whatever reason, these posts were not considered to be appropriate for military viewing. Mostly because I'm probably being to honest in them. Heck, some of them are unfinished because I would do that a lot. But this is some of the posts I made, cut dry and to the point. Some of them are rants, but hey, it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't give a good rant from time to time. Labels: Army, Blogging, Kosovo -Risawn: # 10:17 PM - |

12.23.2005

Die Schützenschnur The Schützenschnur is, as I have mentioned before, the German Marksmanship Badge, which you get for firing german weapons. Its one of the few badges that is authorized for wear on the American uniform. And ever since I heard about it, oh so long ago, I wanted a shot at it. When I found out that I had the opportunity to acquire this most prized item while in Kosovo, I knew that eventually, some day, IT WOULD BE MINE! Well, I got it! So, a little background on the Schützenschnur. The badge is worn on the uniform as a silver chord on the right shoulder. It looks high speed too. You have three different levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold. In my opinion Bronze and Silver look best. Gold is just, to shiney. Then again, I've never been a fan of gold. Well, I got the Schützenschnur, though sadly, I wasn't presented it in a formal ceremony like previous acquirers of it before me. I nabbed bronze, only because I have learned that I am killer on a rifle but I need help on a pistol. I am lucky that I have had previous experience with the HK and the G36, so I was ahead of the game, a little bit. But I'm going home and taking a pistol to the range a lot more. Anyway, the Schützenschnur has three parts. The G36 Battle Rifle, the HK Pistol, and the German Machine Gun. Somebody help me, I don't remember its nomenclature. SO anyway, you have 16 shots with the G36, you fire at targets from 200 M, 150 M, 100M and 80M. 4 shots from each location. Leaning against the wall, standing, kneeling, prone unsupported. If you can fire an M16, the G36 is a cake walk. Beautiful weapon. you have 8 targets, you have to get a round in each of them at least once. You have to hit 9 to get Bronze, 12 to get silver, and 14 to get Gold. I think. I know I just got gold. I was cold that day. The HK is fired from the standing position, you have to fire it from 25 Meters at a bullseye target. 5 rounds. If you score 45 or better, you get Gold, 40 is silver, and 35 is Bronze. This got me. Unlike the M9, the HK fires low, so you have to kind of aim high. I didn't know what I was shooting at back in June, so I just fired rounds down range back then. I had to fire this weapon 3 times just to get the ligit bronze. This is me (in unauthorized headgear) and a German dude in front of the Wolf, which is Mercedes' version of the Hummer. You can see the targets in the background. To the side is three more sillhoutes. You have to shoot five rounds at them as well. One in each is Bronze. Two in one and one in the other two is silver. Two with two and one with one is Gold. Gold was easy. How they grade the Schützenschnur is your lowest score is your score for the whole thing. I got Gold, Gold and Bronze. That means I got Bronze. So, what about that Machine Gun you might ask? Well, at this particular range, they didn't have us fire with a Machine Gun. This made me sad. Hence, why I don't have its nomenclature down. The Machine Gun is the toughest one to shoot from what I understand. Dude, firing that thing would have been worth getting a Bronze for. Instead, I bit the HK. *sigh* Indeed, back to the range for me. As to the Unauthorized Headgear? Army's live for trading things. In this case, we traded Hats! Patches are a plus too :) I got my badge now. I'll need to get a picture of it. They had the final range yesterday. I did this about a week and a half ago. This is what makes these deployments so worth it. Did I mention that the German Army is one of the coolest Armies in KFOR? Labels: Army, Guns, Kosovo -Risawn: # 12:22 PM - |

10.13.2005

Us vs Them Well, first off, I did make it back to Kosovo, safe and sound, but note necessarily sane. Secondly, upon arriving, I was informed that I am no longer allowed to post pictures on any website. Period. This is apparently DOD wide. Note - This post had been edited at the time I posted it, but now it is back up in its full grandeur. Ok. . . the military has been set on micromanaging my every move, and I'm not really liking it. And considering that I am a soldier up for Re-enlisting, this gets docked into the pile of Reasons Not to Reenlist. That list is getting rather large as of late. I feel like saving myself a lot of grief and heartache by just quitting blogging altogether, except for this has been an important outlet for me and has really helped me cope with this deployment during the rough parts. And those have been more frequent then I would have hoped. Kosovo isn't that bad of a place to be, except for I have to deal with the army all of the time. You know what? I made up my mind today officially on my reenlistment. I'm not going to. The only reasons for me to reenlist is because the army will pay me 15 grand tax free if I do it, and an obligation I feel to serve my country in a time of war. I have always felt that if you're joining the army for money, then you're joining for all of the wrong reasons. Which means that this is not a good enough reason to reenlist. Well, if the army wants to retain this soldier, they need to pull their head out of their ass and chalk up some better reasons to keep me. I've got to the end of this deployment and I'm out. I'll find another way to serve my country that doesn't require me playing these stupid games that the military keeps throwing at me. Sorry, I had to rant and this is probably not the best place to do it. But maybe the higher ups can read this and maybe it will give them a clue as to what the Pee-ons are thinking. Cause I know I'm not the only one thinking it. The army is not for everybody, that is a very true statement. The thing is, I thought it was for me. I guess I was wrong. Further Note - I have since learned that it wasn't so much the army I had a problem with, it was my stupid NCOIC who micromanaged my every mood. I've never had an issue with the army before this deployment and I haven't had an issue with it since. Bad leaders will ruin everything. Labels: Army, Kosovo, Picture Ban, SSGDipshit -Risawn: # 6:53 AM - |

8.26.2005

Getting Closer to the End of the Stretch, and the Restlessness has Kicked In So yeah, still house keeping. It will probably take me two weeks to get that organized, and then I'll be gone. And I will be grateful. The Sergeant in Charge noted my moodiness lately. In which I'll likely reply 'eh.' I was thinking of this and I realized that I don't get outside the wire enough. So most people probably look at me and think "what do you mean, you don't get outside the wire enough? You're PM! PM always goes outside the wire!" Yeah, Preventive Medicine is always going out of the wire, but when I go out of the wire, I'm usually going someplace else TO DO WORK! And to do work that I don't particularly like, however I do it because its my job. I just realized that I haven't been in any other sector except for MNB-E, which is where I live, and MNB-Central, which is where the Airport, KFOR Main, and all that Jazz is located. I drive through Pristina to get there, however I've never actually been to Pristina. We had a women's conferance in Ferazai last week that I went to, and it was just nice to get to go someplace I had never been before. Traffic was crazy, like it usually is, but it was just a Nice Change of Pace. Just seeing parts of the country and stuff that I hadn't seen yet. I want to go to the German camp or something, but I can't seem to go to anyplace unless I have a valid reason to go there. Is 'I need to get out more' a valid reason? And not just Ghilane and Ferazai, I mean seeing parts of Kosovo I hadn't seen yet. I don't want to tour the streets and go shopping, I've done that already. I actually want to see some of the other camps and cities and such. That, and we're not even allowed to stop and mingle to and from places. So I go to Monteith, or one of the other camps. My mission is to go there and come back. You aren't allowed to stop for any reason. Big Duke was a really nice change. But I'm still restless. Good thing Leave is quickly approaching. Can't wait for that. Labels: Deployment, Kosovo -Risawn: # 3:45 AM - |

7.30.2005

Climbing Big Duke Ok, so my weekends shot, right? Wrong! Fortunately for me, I had a back up plan. It was an unintentional back up plan to boot. See, there is this mountain in Kosovo that overlooks our sector. Its official name is Lubojan, but the soldiers seem to prefer to call it Big Duke. Anyway, when we first got here, we were told that they might give us an opportunity to climb the Dukedom, just for bragging rights if nothing else. This is Duke, back when there was snow on top. . . I was bent on climbing duke ever since. And the first opportunity we got conflicted directly with my Pass to Bulgaria! GAAAHHH!!! Well, since Bulgaria has since been blown out of the water, for this weekend at least, I fell back on plan number 2. I found out what I needed to do so that I could climb Big Duke. Because we don't take rifles to Bulgaria, I found out I had to get my weapon out of the safe because I would need it for this climb up the mountain. Then I had to make sure there was a slot for me to go in as this is rather last minute. Fortunately for me, two people in my task force had to drop out. So I slid into one of their places instead. Which meant, I had to be prepared to leave Bondsteel at 6 in the morning. So I was up and eating breakfast, ready to go by six. Then I headed for the TOC. And ran into a snag. I wasn't on the Mission Request. Enter Explative here. For a moment I didn't think I would get to go and was gettin prepared to back to my room and sulk about how rotten this weekend was going to be when the Sergeant in the TOC fixes it for me. Now I'm in the Clear! WooHOO! Time to head over to the busses. Where we wait for an extra fifteen minutes. . . . . . and when the busses do come, they take us to Brezovica. . . Which is a Ski Resort, not the start point for Lubojan. But oh well. Kodak Moment! We were supposed to be up on the mountain ready to ascend by 0800, or something like that. After getting the location squared away and everything in order, we were at the Sawmill at 1000. Then came the ride up, which is in a POLUKR Deuce and a Half, as this is a POLUKR sponsored event (for you civilians, POLUKR is Polish Ukrainian, and a Deuce and a half is a really big truck) and so we load up into the back of one of these things and head up the mountain. That road is not meant to be driven on. Especially in the back of a Deuce and a Half. Its this really beaten dirt road with ruts and turns every which direction and I think some people were asking for some Preperation H by the time the 30 minute ride was all said and done. I just laughed, I thought it was a riot. So we get to the top of Lubojan, to our start point, and I'm looking at this at first and thinking "hmm, this isn't bad." The following picture is me at the start point, the end point is the tall point in the background. It is further then it looks. . . and it's steep! So off we go! Loaded down with food, water, and an Amber M16 (magazine loaded, no round in chamber). Along with a video camera and a digital camera. This is a kodak moment through and through folks! From start to finish! Well, we started our ascent at about 1115 or so, give or take a few minutes. The first little uphill battle already had me breathing hard but I was determined to finish this! I've wanted to claim Duke since I got here. So as you can see, the pathway behind me is laid out, I just need to head up. So we started heading up, everyone at their own pace. And I was drinking LOT'S of water. It still had me smoked very quickly, but not smoked enough to take away from the photo whoring. . . Man I was already hurting at this stage, as is evident by my posture. But no, I wasn't going to quit, see the little black dots to the right of my head? Those are the start points, which is the vehicles that bussed us up this insane mountain. Are you getting an idea of how steep this thing was? Yeah, it was steep. . . But don't worry, I reached the pinacle, I mean, it felt so close, I felt like I had gone so far, and I could see out into the horizon of Kosovo smog. . . . . . only to discover, um, not quite! Yes, I hadn't reached the top yet, but I was through the tough part, now I had a bit of an easier walk going to the next hill as we were gifted with a ledge to walk along. But this did not make the last leg of our trip that much easier. This thing was uphill the entire way. And my feet were seeking revenge by producing blisters. . . But I did make it to the top! It was my goal, and I swore to succeed! They even had nifty little certificates of achievements to hand to us upon completion! Only thing is, um, it doesn't have my name on it. Somebody told me to pose with it anyway, as nobody can read it *true* but because this was a last minute thing, I didn't have one made for me. The Pols said they would make me one and send it to me, so cool Beans! After all, I did make it to the top! This is a ridgeline of mountains (obviously), and Brezovica is somewhere to my rear. I don't think you can see it. I was so freakin' dirty. And sweaty. And altogether smelly. I had an orange for a snack. I reached the summit a little before 1400 (2pm for you civilians) And just to reiterate the Kosovo Smog. Yes, that is smog behind me, not landscape. I think that's Bondsteel on my Left Shoulder, but I might be wrong. And to make it known that I indeed conquered this mountain and it didn't conquer me! I was the champion! I had climbed its summit! This mountain was now mine! Oh wait, we still have to go down, don't we? Um, my feet are soar and I'm tired. And I have to now hike DOWN this thing to the little area to the right of the screen. Oh well, its all down hill from here, right? I learned the hard way that going down hill can be just as painful as going up. I acquired more blisters, on other parts of my feet, and my former blisters were getting worse. And because we were going down, I took advantage of my battle buddy's photography skillz. . . But anyway, I made it all the way down in just under two hours. I had stayed on the mountaintop itself for a little over an hour (and proceeded to be eaten by bugs, which had me wondering what bugs were doing all the way on top of this mountain. And then, when we got to the bottom, we were bussed back, soar and tired, in the back of a Deuce and a Half, on a rickety road, for the next 30 minutes. My feet got even with me in the shower by letting my blisters all pop. But honestly, it was worth it. For bragging rights and whatever else, (plus I got a T-shirt!), I can now say I climbed to the top of Mt Lubojan. Man I'm beat! Labels: hobbies, Kosovo, Pictures -Risawn: # 1:57 PM - |

7.12.2005

This Post Knows No Title Yeah, so I've been a little quiet on this front. I guess I'll just give a rundown of whats going on. . . Harry Potter comes out on Saturday. And here I am having to wait on the mail to get my copy. BWAAAHHHH!!!!!! I think I'll have to take a break from the internet until I get caught up in fear of spoilers, and everyone I know rubbing it in that they've read it and I haven't. To much to bear. Went to Monteith today, and on the way there an interesting an interesting event occurred that was actually kind of funny. In its own strange way. We were driving along route Stag when I came to an intersection. Because I'm on a priority road, I don't have to stop but there is a blatant stop sign at the intersection for anybody wanting to cross Route Stag. Well, a little Volkswagen Golf slows down enough to make the turn without rolling over, cutting me off as he turns along the road heading the direction in which I just came. I just stare at this dude as I cross the intersection only to look in the opposite direction the guy came from to see two police officers next to their vehicle, taking a smoke break, and WAVING AT ME!!! Not thirty feet from where it happened. Yeah, that's law enforcement of Kosovo. Anyway, one of the amusing things I've discovered about dating in a War Zone is finding unique things to do. Other then, you know, make out. In bunkers. You can go into any given bunker here on Bondsteel and find something unusual in it. Like, say Bunker 2050. Has a blow up Mattress inside of it. Yeah, you know whats going on there! Um, I'll pass thank you. Anyway, me and the Boy decided to do something different so we took my laptop to Freedom park, laid out a blanket and sleeping bag in one of the gazebos (yeah, sounds like an combat zone, huh?) and watched Night of the Living Dead, the original version. Which I have never seen. And Nate hates Zombies so it was amusing. Its actually fairly amusing to listen to him talk about Zombies. That was better then watching King's Ransom, which was amusing but far from quality entertainment. But another interesting thing to do is check out what other people do with their limited free time. We went to one room occupied by Task Force Tornado soldiers and they have a huge campaign going on with WarHammer. I know one JAG officer spends his time making Rap songs about Bondsteel and Kosovo in general. Or you can watch videos of what the natives do out in sector. Like the night vision imagary of a couple of Kosovars doing something interesting to one of their farm animals. I think I'm going to see if I can get a copy of that video. Its rather amusing. TO say the least. I think I got my illustration fix out of the way. Maybe Now I can start updating my webcomic regularly. Next up, Planning my European Vacation. And deciding on what I want to do when I get back to the states. Labels: Fandoms, Kosovo, Opsec -Risawn: # 7:34 AM - |

7.04.2005

The Fourth in Kosovo So, another holiday in Kosovo has come and gone. And I am now back at work. It was nice to get a two day weekend for once (we work on Saturdays) but not entirely. Monday started with a Formation to Celebrate the independence of our great nation, which also had dignitaries from Kosovo and some of our other multi-national allies who attended. Fortunately, the last couple of days have been overcast, unlike the hot Tattooine type cloudless skies that have been beating down on us for the last month or so. Still, the formation was the last place many people wanted to be. Most people expected to have the day off, so that just means a chance to sleep in. You don't know how much this little luxury means to a lot of people. Anyway, in the middle of the Star Spangled Banner, a formation of Apaches flew over our head, Eight in all, five in the lead and three in the rear and did a cool little formation thing. Wish I had my camera, but alas, I was in formation. The rest of the day, I was a bum. Meaning I didn't do a whole lot of anything. I wanted to play with fire works but we are in a combat zone known to many as Kosovo. No fireworks for us. I came up with a great idea of firing tracers up into the sky all at once, but that would have probably not been a good idea. *note sarcasm* One of my friends suggested this to get my firework fix. I did a lot of clicks to get a grand finale going a couple of times, so I'll take what I can get. You know, you take for granted things like Fireworks on the Fourth Of July until you are in a place where you can't see them. And to think in the past, I got into my Bum phase and just wrote off the whole firework experience so I could do something less important. They had a lot of activities going on all weekend, I wanted to get in on a few of them, but I had a PT test on Sunday where I strained my leg running that 2 miles, and now I'm having difficulty moving. But the sacrifice was worth it, I passed the PT test and now have to heal my leg so I can shave two minutes or so off my run. I already improved my situps by 18. And then it rained all Sunday and most of the activities got canceled. And somebody threw a grenade in Pristina and now all unneccessary missions have been canceled until further notice. Yesterday was actually a really pretty day, overcast which helped things cool down and it looked like it wanted to rain, but refrained. The Multi-Nationals came and competed against us, we had a Tug-o-war competition and the Greeks kicked our butts. It was rather funny watching them wave their flag around and chant "Hellas! Hellas!" over and over again as they creamed all of the competetion. And they kicked butt in Soccer too. Yes, nothing like celebrating Independence day like getting your butt kicked by people in other nations. Hah. A few British soldiers even showed up. We asked them if they were celebrating the Fourth of July with us. The irony was a little, well, Ironic. We chatted with them for a little while, they were pretty cool and all, and we even offered to buy them some drinks (non alcoholic of course, seeing that Bondsteel is a no drinking zone). All but one declined. Then of course, I called home and talked with my family for a while. That felt good. After a while, since phone calls are limited, I went to my room and chatted via Yahoo IM. A few technical difficulties later, I was forced to go to bed finally, as I had to get up early for work. Today. I realized how much I really miss the states. It will be good to be home, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying myself here as best as I can. Labels: Army, Europe, holidays, Kosovo, Life -Risawn: # 10:53 PM - |

7.03.2005

Latest On Kosovo Update NOTE - Since current events have made Kosovo a hot topic again, this post is gaining a lot of attention. So here is my disclaimer. I was stationed in Kosovo in 2005 at Camp Bondsteel in South Eastern Kosovo. I dealt with the Serbian and Albanian populations of Kosovo while I was stationed there, and we were not allowed to ask them about their opinions on the events of Kosovo. I never wanted to take sides, and the US Forces there were to treat the matter with neutrality and not take sides. This is merely my opinion on a matter from my observances back in 2005. I am not a journalist, you are reading a blog that is filled with my opinions. I personally see that both sides have a stake in Kosovo, and there was never a peaceful resolution unless the Serbians and Albanians could come to some sort of agreement. Unfortunately, Milosavich's ethnic genocide of Albanians during the 1990's is what brought Americans into the matter and Kosovo to it's present state. Again, these are just my opinions. I personally am neither for the Albanians nor the Serbians, I think both sides have an argument to be made, which is why the situation in Kosovo is as volatile as it is. If you have a problem with my opinions, please feel free to post your thoughts in my comments, I will not delete them and I will eventually read them. ~Risawn, February 2008 "Down here at the bottom of the world they don't tell us anything. Got any news on this?" - Murray Apparently CNN has some news on Kosovo. . . PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) — At least three blasts rocked the center of Kosovo’s capital on Saturday, and one targeted the U.N. mission headquarters. An Associated Press reporter saw at least three U.N. vehicles set ablaze in the parking lot of the U.N. mission headquarters in Pristina. There were no immediate reports of any injuries after at least three near-simultaneous blasts, said Hua Jiang, chief U.N. spokeswoman. The second blast happened near the building of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE, which is some 100 meters (100 yards) down the road from the U.N. compound. The third blast went off near the Kosovo government building which also houses the province’s parliament and damaged it slightly, said Jiang. She did not say what caused the blasts. Police sealed off the areas after the explosions. You wanna know something that's funny? In a strange sort of unfunny way? This was the first time I heard about it. The basics of Kosovo, it's split up into four sections, MultiNational Brigade (MNB) Northeast is run by the French, Center was in control of the British but recently transferred to the Finnish, West was controlled by the Italians but merged with Southwest and is controlled by the Germans. East is controlled by the Americans. Pristina, which is where the UN Headquarters are located, is located in KFOR MNB-Center. We go up there from time to time, because KFOR Main is located there. This isn't the first time the UN Headquarters have been bombed. The UN is dawdling with what they want to do with Kosovo, as whether or not Kosovo gets transferred back to Serbia (which will cause the Ethnic Albanians to riot and go to war against Serbia), given Independence (which will cause Serbia to get upset as they don't want to lose Kosovo which is a huge part of their culture and history) or just left a protectorate of the UN for a few more years until everyone decides to get along (which will cause both groups to get impatient, and probably cause the Albanians to Riot). I predict, and this is just my opinion and has nothing to do which side I'm for or against, as America has tried to portray themselves as a Neutral Force between the Serbians and the Albanians of Kosovo (Serbia itself has recently been declared neither an Ally nor an Enemy, but rather a 'competitor') where our task is to keep the peace until the fate of this land is decided. But I predict that Kosovo will eventually get its independence. Ethnic Albanians are 90% of the population of Kosovo. And Serbia wants to join the EU so they need to play Nice. And the Albanians here love Americans. I think it is the one predominantly Muslim region in the world that really loves the Americans. They have a freakin' shrine to Bill Clinton, I kid you not. He is their hero. . . It was predicted that there would be some tension about this time here in Kosovo due to people getting impatient with the UN. KFOR has a mission slightly different then the UN's, our job is to keep the peace, pure and simple, while the UN decides what to do. The people of this country are bombing the UN headquarters (which is thankfully fairly far away from the US Base Camp) because they are growing impatient with the UN. We haven't had very many problems with the people of Kosovo, other then they drive like maniacs. That's where most of the danger in this region is, on the road. I went more into detail in those whole issue with my milblog, Foxholes and Dogtags, on the tension between the two groups. Fortunately, besides perhaps the Organized Crime problem, we haven't felt much conflict with the people here. They are just getting impatient and want their independence, and mostly they want the UN to make up their mind. They were supposed to have talks in June, those got delayed until October. The whole thing is a mess. Whatever the case, this isn't going to be an easy fight, one way or the other. It just takes a lot of patience from both sides, and a freakin' lot of understanding and coming to terms between two groups of people who have for centuries hated each other and hold 600 year old grudges. But otherwise, the Americans have just been chilling. . . guess I won't count on that trip to Pristina this week though. Hat Tip - Murray and Little Green Footballs Labels: Current Events, Kosovo -Risawn: # 12:20 AM - |

6.29.2005

DNBI is going to be the end of me. . . To understand what this means, you'll have to understand what exactly the DNBI report entails. You see, DNBI is Disease and Non Battle Injury, its a report of all of the people that come in through the hospital on account of things that were not caused by direct warfare. Sickness, injuries, things of that nature. Most of the time its preventable. Anyway, Preventive Medicine was the one tasked to take all of the information from various sections and different Troop Medical Centers in the Theater and compile them together to make the report, which gets sent up to higher. I'm the one that got tasked to do the report, and i've been doing it ever since I got here. Now, granted, you can see that there is some sensitive information that goes along with the DNBI report, and therefore, I can't illude to too much information in regards to what happened to whom or what not. But basically, I'm the eyes of whats going on in the task force and the purpose of the DNBI report is to keep an eye out for trends and such things, especially in regards to illnesses and communicable diseases. Which is a preventive medicine function, hence why we are tasked with compiling the report, as we use it ourselves. Most of the time its pretty ho-hum, just gather the information (when you can get it on time, which most of the sections have been very good about) but what gets me is that lately everyone is thinking "oh, you're doing that, how about you help us by giving us THESE numbers" and so on and so forth so a report that was initially consisted of just taking information and putting it on a spreadsheet has now spawned into taking this information by individual Task Force and giving it to whom ever. I found out today that I'm getting a hair overwhelmed in this tasking. So I put my foot down and told my NCOIC about it. He kind of looked at me and then said "if anyone else gives you any grief over this, send them to me." This is what my day has come to consist of. Hence, why I don't tell you a lot about whats going on in theater. It ain't exciting! Ahh. . . gotta love paperwork. . . Labels: Army, Kosovo, Work -Risawn: # 3:01 AM - |

6.25.2005

PUPPIES!!! Busy at work a couple of days ago, and one of our jobs is to check out the outposts located in the MultiNational camps where we have soldiers stationed. Its nothing much, we just go in and check in on them once a month, but while we were at one of the camps, I was smitten with absolute cuteness! PUPPIES! Fat furry rolly polly puppies. Eek! Adorable! I want to hold it and squeeze! And they are at that stage where they make cute little puppy noises and whimper. Of course, these puppies will grow up to become Kosovo Mutts, and they will be big. I can already tell that they will likely dwarf their momma, but they are still so friggen cute! I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist posting pictures about puppies. Four fat and furry puppies. I wanna puppy. But I will resist, as I know they don't stay cute and cuddly for long. No, they become big and smelly. Labels: Kosovo, Pictures -Risawn: # 10:58 AM - |

5.01.2005

Extra Curricular Plans for this Week Note: I posted about this earlier, and then my internet connection promptly up and died, which by the way, is one of the reasons why I haven't been posting to this thing lately. I got talked into doing Karaoke tonight. This should be interesting. I guess I'll take my camera and get a shot of me singing. I have a video camera that I bought that I haven't used once however. Added Note: Did Karaoke tonight, had a flippen' blast! That is now one of the main things I get to do every night week, or every other week, maybe, from this point on. Video to follow. I promise. Then you can hear me sing, I sang four songs in all, When I'm Gone By 3 Doors Down, Disease by Matchbox 20, Don't Speak by No Doubt, and a duet to Picture by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, to which I might add, I sucked majorly so, but had a lot of fun. I got videos off all, and I will snibbits from each I think I'll take that with me tomorrow to the Lit concert. Yeah, a band with some name recognition has come to sing for the troops in the balkans. They have automatically assumed a level of ultra coolness in my eyes. I will give the laydown on Lit tomorrow night, or Tuesday morning, depending on how out of it I am. Also, my Gee came in. For Kajukenbo. I'm taking my camera with me on Tuesday and I'll get some pictures of me doing some Roundhouse Kicks in the proper attire. In other plans that have been eating at my free time, I've gotten to a point where I'm actually updating regularly with my Comic. Mt Lubojan (commonly referred to as Big Duke) has made a candid appearance within it. This is the mountain we see every day to the South of Camp Bondsteel. It really is a beautiful mountain. I plan on going on the DANCON road march next Sunday. However, I've been tasked with Driver's Duty, and now i have to find somebody to take over Drivers Duty over so I could go on a 25K road march sponsored by the Danes instead. There will be pictures, and I will post about that, and I'll probably make use out of my neglected Milblog once again. And the latest on the iPod, because several people have asked about it. It works now. I threatened it, and it has since behaved. It hasn't paused on me once today and I've been listening to it practically all day too. It has been a good little iPod, I just wish it would be a bit more random in its song selection. Note: As soon as I typed this, it started scratching up songs and pausing once again. But I don't know if it was becuase it was out of juice or not. Is plugged in and juicing up batteries as we speak In work related news, this week we plan on having the website up. I just have to get the content from the other sections. And I need to learn some different scripts to put up some pictures. Those pictures are going to be the end of me. I swear it. Bulgaria is officially on. I even went shopping for some real normal clothes that don't say KFOR or Army on them. I've bought a lot of T-shirts while I've been here and none of them are wise to wear outside of the United States, and we aren't allowed to wear civilian clothes here. Which means I got to be a girl and go SHOPPING for real clothes!!! When shopping for clothes makes me excited, something's going on. Or I'm just getting burned out on Camouflage, Combat Boots and PTs. Something obviously. Labels: Comic, Concert, Kosovo, MartialArts, Meanwhile, technical difficulties -Risawn: # 3:12 PM - |

4.09.2005

Duke'n It Here's another take on that picture with the 3 weapons (though the M16 is a bit obscurred.) I look far to happy for my own good. Almost sadistic like. *Insert evil laugh here.* (and I can do quite the evil laugh) Labels: Army, Guns, Kosovo -Risawn: # 4:10 AM - |

4.01.2005

No Particular Exciting Title I think I should look up the history of April 1st and why it was chosen to be known as all Fool's day. Maybe its the fact that the weather will tempt you with all this beautiful March "in like a lion, out like a lamb" Springiness and then on April First it goes "Gotcha!" and the weather turns to near freezing. Well, at least it was pretty this morning. Anyway, I have no joke today. Usually I do something mischievious, and I had something planned but it didn't work. *sigh* Maybe next year. Meanwhile, I updated some pictures in Dogtags. I took a few pictures of the outlying areas via HUMM-V, so not all of them came out. The ones that didn't I didn't post. I also got some good pictures of some vehicles, I think those will wait until tomorrow. But I was particularly pleased with this one. I haven't seen one person ride a horse since I've been here. They are all cart horses used to pull these log things that I think they use to prop up the cement when they build houses. Becuase there are no wooden houses here. Meanwhile, I did a double whammy yesterday, the computer I was trying to post from was having technical difficulties and suddenly it posted twice and I didn't realize it. And I can't edit it until I get to a computer that allows me to read comments. I don't want to delete the one post that has all the comments and leave the other one barren. In other news, I woke up looking like a rooster yesterday. Proof attached in a particularly hidious looking photograph. I wonder what kind of grief I will recieve for posting that online. Labels: Kosovo, Pictures -Risawn: # 4:24 AM - |

1.28.2005

Pictures from Kosovo Ok, to those of you who didn't think I was serious about the Bill Clinton Worship in Pristina (which got bombed to hell in 1999). He's also got a street named after him. Case in point. Anyway, along with other pictures of Kosovo is the real estate around here is interesting. Granted it is winter, but there is a lot of buildings around here that have the potential to be really nice, if they would finish them. Hmm. . . And the propping up of the floors with sticks is particularly amusing. And these people aren't very rich, their houses are usually missing windows, but at least they have their MTV. Sattelite Everywhere. Aside from Kosovo, I flew in here on a C130 for the first time, got a picture with my helmet looking all ate the hell up. My weapon is my battle buddy. It is with me 24-7. I think I might get sick of it after a while, but to tell you the honest truth, as long as I am required to have it on my person all of the time, Uncle Sam pays me another 250 a month and waives my income tax so I think I can live with that. In other news, though I saw Team America World Police about three months ago, it is just coming to the theaters here. The team we are replacing saw it not to long ago and have been quoting it mercilessly. Unfortunately, I have fallen suit. Damn them. Movies are free here, though they are usually about three to six months old in the theaters. This will make things difficult in regards to star wars (curses). Luckily, there is a 'cd/dvd' shop outside KFOR Main that sells Cds and DVDs for dirt cheap. The thing about them is they are generally still theaters. Yes, that's right, they are all pirated. I picked up the Incredibles and Meet the Fockers for a paltry 6 Euro. I just had to pick up a pirated movie just to say I have one. But don't worry Disney, I will indeed buy a Real version of the Incredibles when it comes out. I still haven't seen Meet the Fockers, so I can't say the same thing about it. (but I liked Meet the Parents soo. . .) Labels: Kosovo, Pictures, zzz -Risawn: # 1:26 PM - |

1.26.2005

More in Kosovo Like I mentioned before, I'm now in Kosovo. Internet is more consistant, unfortunately it is still a bit finicky. These next couple days are going to be fairly interesting, they went ahead and gave us the tour of the camp today and went over some things and now I have the rest of the day off. Apparently, these next 12 months are going to yield a few things to us, including educational opportunities, a chance to get my butt in some serious ass-kicking shape, a mission that includes like seven countries (including possibly Italy), and a lot of free time. The task force has designated this to be a non drinking deployment, which appears to be upsetting some people, but I don't care as it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I don't drink. Which makes a lot of people starving for things to do. The Task Force we're replacing appears to be seriously beefed up, they must get a lot of time in the gym. I have a feeling that Amazon and Ebay will become near and dear to me. The PX is good, supposedly the best in the Balkans and the second highest grossing one in the chain (because the other multinational forces like to shop there too, as well as eat our food). And I've seen quite a few people in foreign uniforms wandering the region. We share this specific sector with Greece, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and a fifth country that escapes my mind at present (only because they represent 1% of the task force here). The Norwegians are here on post too. I see a lot of Germans, Italians and French wandering around as well. What's really hilarious is the locals. So far they appear to be really cool, and they LOVE the Americans. Its kind of an interesting thing we've got going on here. The Albanians love us because we came in and bombed the crap out of the Serbians back in '99. The Serbians love us (though they don't love us as much as the Albanians do) because we are preventing the Albanians from completely over taking Kosovo. That, and we protect their churches and other various places of importance. Long story. In Pristina, largest city in Kosovo, they have a shrine to Bill Clinton with various signs exclaiming "thank you" and a big picture of him hanging off of one of the buildings. They love him here. I will get plenty of opportunities to talk to the locals. They have both Serbs and Albanians on post working under contract so I'll get a chance to interact with them. They don't always speak great english, but we'll see how much Albanian and Serbian I can pick up before I leave. This should be an interesting year. I'm looking forward to getting to work. Labels: Kosovo, zzz -Risawn: # 3:56 PM - |

1.25.2005

It's Official I am now in Kosovo. More to come when I get some time (and it isn't midnight) Labels: Kosovo, Random -Risawn: # 3:36 PM - |

11.20.2004

The Goodbyes Start Today is my last day of work at my civilian job. We had a store meeting at 6:30 this morning, which was difficult for me because I'm not a big morning person and I stayed up really late the night before. First of all, let me explain something about my work. I work with a bunch of people that lean to the left of the political spectrum. Now, don't get me wrong, their are some really cool people I work with that will give you the shirt off their back if you need it, and they are all really kind to me despite the fact that they know I voted for Bush, their enemy number One. This is probably due to the fact that I live by an important rule while at work. Don't talk about Politics. Still, it's kind of hard to ignore where they stand some times. Everyone knows its my last day, and they are all wishing me goodbye and good luck, and a few 'see you in 18 months' and handed me a card. Everyone scrawled their thoughts and well wishes in it, and of course, the usual sentiment. And then there was a simple message. "Good Luck in Bush's Invasion!" I thought everyone knew I was heading to Kosovo. Strange, in this day and age when you say you're in the military, most people immediately place their sympathy with you and hope you don't go anywhere (despite the fact that I DO want to go somewhere). When they hear your deploying, their first thought is Iraq. Then Afgahnistan. Not a lot of people think about Kosovo, its apparently pretty quiet. Which I find in this scrawled statement a bit of irony. Kosovo has nothing to do with Bush, other then that we were in the middle of this issue when he took the presidency. Kosovo spawns from Clinton's era. And what's more, its a NATO mission. The US has approximately 2500 troops over there right now. A small number. Otherwise, Kosovo is a huge multinational task force, I think they said about 30 nations are involved, with the US of course having the largest force there. I guess the guy jumped to conclusions, thats all. But still, what a thing to write on somebody's going away card, don't you think? Labels: instalaunched, Kosovo, Work -Risawn: # 3:29 PM - |

11.17.2004

My Mission I'm beginning to like this Kosovo thing more and more. So apparently, I'll be on orders for a year, and I should have an opportunity to see some of the surrounding countries while I'm there. I'll be taking advantage of that. Most specifically, Greece and Germany. Apparently I'll have the opportunity to brush up on my german and learn a bit of the language from the surrounding areas as well. I'll be jumping on that. Here's a little info from the net about Task Force Falcon. My orders so far. George W. Bush is my commander in chief. Other then that, don't mention him. Don't discuss politics or religion. And absolutely do not utter the words 'Tito'. My mission will be US Troops. Take care of them. We will offer our services to the Multinational forces if they want our assitance, but mostly, I will be on hand to take care of the Troop needs and make sure they are healthy and fit to do their part, which means preventing them from getting sick in the first place. And when I get approached by brass looking for a few warm bodies to pull guard duty, I am to utter the words "i'm on a mission." If I'm lucky, I'll spend christmas at home. If things go as planned, I'll be in country in less then two months. I need to get that passport really soon. This is going really fast. I've got less then two weeks at home getting my affairs in order. And if weather cooperates, I've only got two days to get my snowboarding fix in (if you think I'm bad with Guns, you should hear me in the dead of winter drone on and on about boarding!) I'm just crossing my fingers and watching the respective ski area's websites! (year round whistler's out of the question, being in Canada, and I've been heavily warned about attempting to cross the border at this time) Labels: Army, Kosovo -Risawn: # 1:54 AM - |