Our deployment to Kosovo really began right after the first rotation from my battalion left in June of 1999. We began tearing our equipment apart and making sure everything was in working order as well as getting ourselves ready for a seven month deploylemt. We rail loaded our equipment in late October at the railhead on Harvey Barracks in Kitzingen, Germany. I had one of those disposable cameras with me and took pictures, but when I went to take the camera to the PX to get the film developed, I couldn't find it. Anyway, after we sent our vehicles and shelters off to Thessaloniki, Greece (where we were to pick them up at), it was time to get ourselves ready to deploy. There was a lot of paperwork, the troops in the barracks getting all their stuff packed up and in storage, and cleaning up much of the company area in preperation for being gone for seven months. Then, the day in November arrived and we held one last formation in the motorpool on Larson Barracks as the busses waited for the trip to Rhein-Mein AFB.
Just after getting on the bus at Larson Barracks. Everyone was pretty hyped
up to finally be getting on the way. This is SSG Craig, my section sergeant.
Then we waited at Rhien-Mein AFB for about eight hours as our flight kept getting
delayed for whatever reason. That's SGT Cook on the left with the water bottle,
SPC Barrett in the background to his right, SPC Gifford next to him, and SSG Haley
to the left. We were flying down on a commercial plane with some members of the
101st Military Intelligence Battalion from Leighton Barracks in Wuerzburg, Germany.
And we waited. As usual, anytime a bunch of soldiers are in the same place doing
just about nothing for more than five minutes, the card games begin springing up.
It was the beginning of seven months of spades games.
We flew into the airport at Skopje, Macedonia arriving around 11pm that night. After
the initial processing, it was off to our unit tent assignments for a few hours of
sleep. Most of us were expecting to be gotten up at like 5am or something, but the
First Sergeant had pity on us and let us sleep in until 7am! ;-) This is part of the
pretty big tent city which had been put up on Camp Able Sentry just outside Skopje.
Camp Able Sentry had been there since about 1992 when troops from the Berlin Brigade
first deployed there to keep an eye on the border of Macedonia and Yugoslavia.
The tents were pretty nice with wooden floors and gas powered heaters. We were
to stay at Camp Able Sentry for about a week before finally going to Thessaloniki,
Greece to pick up our trucks and equipment from the port. On the left reading
the book is SPC Benoit, in the far background with the coffee cup is SPC Lopez,
SPC (now SGT) Riggle is reaching for something on the floor, and
SPC Broussard is on the right with the walkman headphones on.
One of the things we did to pass the first couple of days was to hang out in the
recreation room they'd set up nearby. They had Foosball which was a pretty big
hit. There was also a nearby snack bar type place where MWR had set up all
kinds of things for the troops to do. At night they would show movies and give
out free popcorn. They had Playstations for the troops to play games on and
morale phones to call back to Germany or the states. Not sure who that is on
the left looking away, I think one of the 2nd platoon troops. Then there is
SPC Lopez and SPC Broussard is looking at the camera.
Here is a game in progress with those waiting for the losers to leave the table so they
could play. From left to right: SPC Davis from 2nd platoon on the far left, SPC Barrett,
SPC (now SGT) Pena with the water bottle, SGT Cook, and SPC (now SGT) Hinojosa.
They also had a Ping Pong table which a few people, who could, played.
This is SPC (now SGT) Rainey getting ready to serve one up.
The food while at Camp Able Sentry (aka CAS) was outstanding.
Brown & Root had been contracted to take care of a lot of the quality
of life things in Macedonia (and Kosovo) and I have to say they had hired
some people who knew how to make good food! Smiling at the camera is
SGT Larson from 2nd platoon with SPC (now SGT) Riggle behind him. We're
here at the entrance to the dining facility on Camp Able Sentry.
They finally allowed us to go in groups of at least two people off the main
post and of course, everyone took off. We were only allowed to go to either
the Norwegian compound or the British compound nearby. Myself, SPC Hinojosa,
and SPC Riggle took off to the Norwegian PX one day. Not much to see, but
it was something to do and better than sitting around on Camp Able Sentry.
This is, of course, me standing outside the exit to the Norwegian PX.
Finally, we got on yet another bus for the six hour trip to the port in
Thessaloniki, Greece. We'd left in the late evening since we'd be on a
convoy of about 80 vehicles back to Camp Able Sentry and wanted to avoid as
much of the traffic as we could. Here we are on a bathroom stop at the border
of Macedonia and Greece. Once over the border, we wouldn't be allowed to stop
due to the anti-NATO (American) groups in Greece being very vocal about our
presence. Here is SSG Craig, left, and SPC Christian, right, stretching a bit.
Once at the port, there were hundreds and hundreds of military vehicles from
many of the different NATO countries. They basically got us in group and told
us the general area our trucks were at and it was off to find my truck, B121!
The next morning. I had finally found my truck the previous night but the Army mechanics had deadlined it due to a class 1 leak around one of the wheel hubs. I had the misfortune to be standing next to my truck watching everyone roll out and being pretty pissed off that my truck, with less than 2,000 miles on it, was deadlined. At least I wasn't the only one. There were several trucks that didn't pass the inspection and I can understand them being hard on us about that. It wouldn't be good to break down in Greece since the Communists would probably begin calling you names, and I'd hate to break down in Macedonia just because it's in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, myself and all the other guys were taken to a nearby compound where the US Army had set up a base with 20 foot high walls and razor wire along the top. During the drive, we had to remove our BDU tops and cover our weapons up in the back of the vans we rode in. The next day, after some sleep, we were taken back to the port where a mechanic took apart the hub, said it was good to go, and then we loaded the trucks on flatbeds for the trip to Camp Able Sentry. I rode in the cab of the semi carrying my truck with a Greek driver who spoke no English but we managed to talk a bit in German. It was an interesting trip and I was glad to get back to Camp Able Sentry with the rest of my unit.
Here is a picture of my truck. Notice the SGT Casey on the right hand side of the window. We arrived at Camp Able Sentry around 2330 that night and our convoy into Kosovo was supposed to leave at midnight. I did some quick running around getting things squared away and then we had formation with the Rules of Engagement given out and breakdown procedures. Then we jumped in our trucks and rolled out into the seven month deployment. I wish I'd gotten some pictures of everyone that night, but I was so busy trying to get my stuff ready for the trip I didn't have the time. My shotgun was SPC Broussard and he'd also had to stay in Greece the night before. He slept just about the whole way to Camp Monteith.
Just another picture at the port. It says "Port of Thessaloniki" on
the yellow crane, but you can't really make it out in the picture.
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