Insid

e STRANGE TRIVIA II . . . 2BRAZILIAN VET . . . . . 3PENCILS FOR PEACE . 4DAWGS OF WAR . . 6-7RETURN TO NORMAL . . 8MP DOG DEMO . . . . . . 9BRCKO BUS STONED . . 10

Talonthe

Serving the soldiers of Task Force EagleOperation Joint Guard, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Volume 3, No. 19 Friday, May 9, 1997

CAMP BEDROCK � Keeping thepeace in Bosnia-Herzegovina requiresmore than superior fire power, tanksand helicopters.

Members of the Tactical Psycholog-ical Operation Team 401, 11th PSY-OP Battalion, from Washington, D.C.,are using pamphlets, magazines andradio announcements to help preservethe peace here.

�In a way, we�re like the artillery,�

said Sgt. 1st Class Mark Gonzales,team noncommissioned officer incharge. �We fire non-lethal rounds inthe form of pamphlets and magazinesthat encourage our target audiencesto comply with the Dayton Peace Ac-cord.�

PSYOP�s overall mission is to dis-seminate truthful information to for-eign audiences to encourage them totake actions that support the unitcommanders.

Non-lethal rounds

By Spc. Janel R. George129th MPAD

See PSYOP page 12

Spc. Sean Mityga, Tactical Psychological Operation Team401, 11th PSYOP Battalion, along with Meho Redzovic,an interpreter, distribute magazines to the locals. Photo By Spc. Janel R. George

The Talon Friday, May 9, 1997

THE TALON is produced in the interest of the servicemembers of Task ForceEagle, headquartered at Eagle Base. THE TALON is an Army-funded newspaperauthorized for members of the U.S. Army overseas, under the provision of AR 360-81. Contents of THE TALON are not necessarily the official views of, nor endorsedby, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Department of the Army or TaskForce Eagle. THE TALON is published weekly by the 1st Infantry Division (TaskForce Eagle) Public Affairs Office, Eagle Base, Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina APOAE 09789, Telephone MSE 551-5230. E-mail: talon@pop1-email.5sigcmd.army.mil.Printed by PrintComTuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Circulation: 6,500.

The Talon

Page 2

1st Infantry Division Commander . . . Maj. Gen. Montgomery C. MeigsEditor in Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maj. William L. DuPont364th MPAD Commander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maj. Frank PartykaOIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st Lt. Robert M. InouyeEditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sgt. William L. GeddesCopy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spc. Terri Cook1st Infantry Division PA NCOIC . . . . . . . . . Staff Sgt. Gregory W. BinfordTranslator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arijana Salihbasic

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ia II UP FRONT -- GETTING IN STEP, STANDARDS REVIEW III

Read and pass along -- a Talon is a terrible thing to waste

Isaac Asimov is the only authorto have a book in every Dewey-dec-imal category.

The most common name in theworld is Mohammed.

Only one person in two billion willlive to be 116 or older.

In the last 4,000 years, no new an-imals have been domesticated.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don�t appear until thechild reaches 2-6 years of age.

The highest point in Pennsylva-nia is lower than the lowest point inColorado.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonousif injected intravenously.

If you have three quarters, fourdimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You alsohave the largest amount of money in coins with-out being able to make change for a dollar.

The first Ford cars had Dodge engines.

Michael Jordan makes more money fromNike annually than all of the Nike factory work-ers in Malaysia combined.

No NFL team which plays its home games ina domed stadium has ever won a Super Bowl.

Cat�s urine glows under a black light.

It takes about a half a gallon of water to cookmacaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot.

In the 80�s, an IBM compatible computer wasn�tconsidered a hundred percent compatible unlessit could run Microsoft�s Flight Simulator.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

The name Wendy was made up for the book�Peter Pan.�

The first toilet ever seen on television was on�Leave It To Beaver�.

Now that we have theright pieces in place in garri-son, let�s talk about �fear gear�-- CTA 50-901, individualequipment. What we�ve beenattempting to do in the divi-sion is achieve a standard lookfor both Load Carrying Equip-ment and Load Bearing Vest.

Because the majority of us haveLCE, I�ll address that first. We wearall the standard components; pis-tol belt, suspenders, ammunitionpouches (M16 or 9mm), first aidpouch, compass (mandatory forleaders), two canteens, cups andcovers, ear plugs with case, kevlarhelmet, cover and band. We also au-thorize wearing of a knife. Thisknife must be a folding type withthe blade not exceeding four inch-es, (a leatherman or gerber style).No rambo or hunting knives.

Nothing fancy on assembly -- bothammo pouches in front, one canteenon each hip, first aid packet on rightfront, and compass on left front. Theknife is worn on the right side nextto the canteen, (front side). Sew onrank and name strip is preferred onthe kevlar cover and band.

If you are one of many soldiers

with LBV, the same criteria asstated above applies except forwearing of ammo pouches. Youdo not wear them with the LBV.

There are many other itemsthat are or could be worn. Theyare the protective mask, flash-light, strobe light, gloves (black/

white work�snap link may be used tosecure), pistol belt extension, flak vest,butt pack and night observation devic-es. These items are worn per unit stan-dard operating procedures.

All the securing clips and adjust-ing straps on the pistol belt suspend-ers/LBV and the tail ends of the chinstrap on the kevlar are taped with thedark green �duck tape�.

My observation to date is everyoneis in the ball park, so to speak, wejust need to �adjust up� a little. Ourpistol belt should fit snug (not tight)around the waist. Once buckled, thepistol belt will be horizontal to theground. The belt will also be buckledwhen worn. Junior leaders, don�t waitto be told, check your personnel outand lets get everyone looking right!We do this and we�ll be �squaredaway.� See you up front!!Command Sgt. Maj. S. L. Kaminski1st Infantry Division (Forward)

As I approached the clearing barrel by the dining facility, I watcheda second lieutenant improperly clear his weapon. He neared the bar-rel, unholstered his weapon and never stopped. I did not hear theslide being pulled back; the weapon was never pointed at the barrel.

Catching up with him, I asked him why he had not followed theproper procedures. He told me that he knew the weapon was clear.

This young soldier�s parents, as well as the rest of the Americantaxpayers, pay me to determine the root causes of accidents and mis-haps, thereby preventing future accidents.

The young officer in question had the appearance, demeanor, com-municative skills, respect and bearing of a professional. The only thingthat was missing was the awareness that setting the example, as aleader, is a 24-hour-a-day job.

In all activities, we must remember that we set the standard forothers to follow. Pray that you will never hear the excuse from a sol-dier taking a shortcut: �I saw Officer/NCO whoever do it that way.�

By Maj. Gary Spegal, 1st Infantry Division Safety Office

Leadership issue

The TalonFriday, May 9, 1997 Page 3

Info briefs

EAGLE BASE -- Serving on the Stabiliza-tion Force, U.S. soldiers work side by sidewith soldiers from other nations. For manythis is their first experience working withsomeone from another country.

But for soldiers serving with Spc. LuizZingra, he brings international flavor to hisunit daily. With seven years past experi-ence in the Brazilian army, he is now aninfantry soldier in the United States Army.Zingra belongs to Company C, 2nd Battal-ion, 14th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 10th Moun-tain Division.

Last July, Zingra informed his familyin Mogi Mirim, Brazil, of his plans to jointhe U.S. Army. They were concerned. �Mymother didn�t like it,� he said. �They knowthe United States always deploys to othercountries, and the U.S. Army is for realand not just for drill and ceremony likethe Brazilian army,� Zinger said. �I saidtrust me, I know what I am doing.�

Zingra joined the Army at the rank ofspecialist, not because of past military ex-perience but because of education. �Therecruiter said you�re going to start as anE-4 because you have a college degree,� hesaid. �For me that was a surprise.�

�Here, my position in the squad is ri-fleman,� he said. �We have grenadier, wehave a SAW (squad automatic weapon)gunner, and I am a rifleman. I like to beoutside and see what is going on.�

As a platoon sergeant in the Brazilianarmy, he went out on patrols, often inwooded areas of Brazil. He worked withmaps and provided some reconnaissancein the area. �The Brazilian army works likea police force,� Zingra said. �Their pres-ence would say to Brazilians, �The army ishere people, don�t do something wrong inthe area.� �

�We knew we were not able to deployany of our army because of the economicsituation,� Zingra said. �The Brazilianarmy is well-trained physically but theweapon system is still kind of weak in com-parison (to the U.S. Army).�

While working every day as a soldier,Zingra still found time to attend nightschool at nearby University of Santa Ce-cilia and earn a degree.

Disillusioned and frustrated with highinflation, the economic situation and po-litical corruption within Brazil, the youngman decided to leave. �Instead of beinghere and doing bad things, let�s have anadventure, let�s go out and see differentstuff,� he said to a friend. �Let�s try it.�

Zingra chose the United States, �thegranddad, the big dad to everyone outsidethe United States,� he said.

�One day I was walking down the streetin Manhattan and I saw some guy dressedin a uniform,� Zingra said. �I got a feelingto be in the military... and I said, �whynot.�� To join the military one does not needto be a U.S. citizen, just a legal resident.

The training for the infantry was verysimilar in both Brazil and United States.Tactical movement is the same. �Here wesay squad, there we called it combat group,�Zingra said. Both consist of nine soldiers.

Zingra learned from working in botharmies. �It is an exchange of knowledge,�he said. Zingra feels he could also sharesome of his knowledge. �It upsets me some-times, no one came to me and said, �HeyZinger, how did you do that in Brazil.��

�The weapons system is much better,the uniform is much better and the sup-ply system is generally much better thanBrazil,� said Zingra. �But sometimes it ismuch more complicated here, too much pa-perwork to get something. And that�s whatmakes this the Army.�

By Staff Sgt Vonny Rohloff364th MPAD

International flavor

Spc. Luiz Zingra, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 10thMountain Division, checks civilians for contraband while on guard duty.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Vonny Rohloff

Smoke grenadekills soldier

In the early morning of May 4th,five soldiers were injured and onesoldier was killed when a smoke gre-nade accidently went off in their quar-ters at the Modrica NORDPOL bar-racks in Multinational Division-North.

The soldiers suffered smoke in-halation injuries (pulmonary injuries)as a result of the incident.

The soldiers were unable to getout before smoke filled the room,killing one soldier, seriously injuringtwo soldiers and causing minor in-juries to three of the soldiers.

The chemical in the smoke gre-nades that caused the damage isPhosephene.

Dischargeconsequences

Negligent discharge of a firearmis an offense punishable under Art-cle 134, UCMJ. The maximum pen-alty upon conviction is forfeiture oftwo-thirds pay per month for threemonths, confinement for threemonths and reduction to E-1. If thecommander elects to dispose of theoffense by Article 15, UCMJ, the pen-alties are more limited, but may stillresult in an official record which willlimit opportunities for retention, pro-motion and schooling. Even admin-istrative actions for wrongful dis-charge of a firearm, such as an offi-cial letter of reprimand, can result inan end to an otherwise promisingcareer.

The heat is onThe warming weather increases

the risk that soldiers will becomeheat casualties. To help prevent thissoldiers should drink twice as muchwater as they normally do on warm-er days. If it becomes too hot out-side units should use a work/restschedule. Soldiers should wear looseclothing.

Keeping in good physical condi-tion helps to climatize and keep heatsickness away. As the temperaturesoars the heat categories will be im-plemented. Soldiers should be awarewhat category the temperature is inand act accordingly.

The use of ample amounts of sun-block will also help prevent heat in-jury.

The Talon Friday, May 9, 1997Page 4

EAGLE BASE -- Last December, Sgt. A.G.Stockstill asked his mother to send him afew pencils to give to children he wouldsee on routine patrols around Eagle Base.Stockstill figured his mother, LaDonnaStockstill, would mail a few pencils in hisweekly care package.

But Stockstill, an early warning sys-tems operator of the 4th Battalion, 3rd AirDefense Artillery, underestimated hismother�s goodwill and enthusiasm.

�If you want anything to happen, mymom will do it. But if you don�t want it ina large quantity, don�t ask her to do it,�said Stockstill.

LaDonna, program director for KZEEradio in Weatherford, Texas, did as herson requested and sent a few pencils toBosnia-Herzegovina � at final count, shehelped collect nearly 66,000 pencils, aswell as 3.2 tons of other school supplies.And through the efforts of the U.S. StateDepartment and the U.S. Army, Air Forceand Navy, those supplies were distribut-ed to school districts in northern Bosnia-Herzegovina desperate for pencils, pens,paper and other supplies.

�This is for the kids,� said Stockstill,

who organized the distribution with hiswife, Pfc. Shelli Stockstill, also a memberof 4th Bn., 3rd ADA. �There are kids onboth sides of the (Zone of Separation) thatare wanting to get the supplies. They aretotally innocent in all of this.�

Supplies were distributed on April 27-28 at three schools near Eagle Base, theheadquarters camp for the American sec-tor. The schools serve nearly 1,700 stu-dents on the Federation side of the ZOS.An equal amount of supplies will be dis-tributed by the Russian Brigade to schoolson the Republic of Srbska side of the ZOS.

This effort has been called �Pencils forPeace� and began a few months ago witha simple idea: giving pencils to children inneed of even the most rudimentary learn-ing tools. The impetus behind �Pencils forPeace� came after Sgt. Stockstill visitedthe refugee village of Jeginov Lug, locatedjust southeast of Eagle Base. The refugeescame from Srebrenica, a city all but de-stroyed during the war. Stockstill wasappalled by the conditions he saw.

�These kids were truly impoverishedand it really touched my heart,� said Stock-still. �They were holding classes in theback half of a bombed-out building. I toldmy mom to send a couple of boxes of pen-cils, because they didn�t have much of any-

thing.�LaDonna � described by her son as �car-

ing� and �energetic� � took the idea a fewsteps further. Why send only a few pencilswhen the kids also need paper, books andother supplies? A local radio personality,LaDonna went on the air, calling for dona-tions for the children in war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina. Soon, the donations � rang-ing from pencils to cash � were rolling in.

�The groundswell was incredible,� saidSgt. Stockstill.

Before LaDonna knew what was hap-pening, her Pencils for Peace had collect-ed more than three tons of supplies. Get-ting the supplies from Texas to Bosnia-Herzegovina would be no easy task. Butthanks to the efforts of many governmentagencies, the supplies were airlifted toFrankfurt and then to Eagle Base.

�We were able to airlift the suppliesthrough the Denton Program, which allowsthe shipment of humanitarian supplies onmilitary aircraft if there is space avail-able,� said Sgt. Stockstill. �It worked outthat there was a flight from Fort Worth,Texas, to Europe and from there it wasnot hard to get the supplies to Bosnia.�

Shelli, who works in the command andcontrol element of the 4th Bn., 3rd ADA,was able to track the supplies from Texas

Pencils for PWhen KZEElisteners heardabout the lack ofschool supplies inBosnia, they knewthey had to sendsome...

By Sgt. Steven Collins129th MPAD

Pfc. Shelli Stockstill (far left) and Sgt. A.G. Stockstill sharetheir uniforms with two students at a school whichreceived school supplies from Pencils for Peace.

Photo by Sgt. Steven Collins

The TalonFriday, May 9, 1997 Page 5

to Europe to Bosnia-Herzegovina. She talked to the pilot ofthe aircraft before he left Texas to ensure the supplies wouldbe loaded. She also contacted Ramstein Air Force Base inGermany to alert them that 3.2 tons of supplies were com-ing. The supplies arrived at Eagle Base on April 26.

�I had just gotten off the night shift on Saturday morn-ing and was asleep for only an hour when the call came inthat the supplies had arrived,� said Shelli, a native of Pas-adena, Texas. �But it was worth waking up for. I was defi-nitely running on adrenaline.�

The couple, with the help of other 4th Bn., 3rd ADA mem-bers, Air Force personnel and members of the 431st CivilAffairs Battalion, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Arkan-sas, separated the shipment and followed through on thedistribution. Over two days, the couple were able to per-sonally hand out hundreds of pencils to children. One ofthe classes joined together in song to thank the Americans.

�It was very overwhelming. When they sang to us, it washard not to cry your eyes out just to imagine that they wereso happy under the circumstances,� said Shelli. �I don�t thinkyou could walk into an American classroom and see kidsthat happy over something like this. It�s great.�

The school at Jeginov Lug, as well as two other schools,now have enough supplies to last for many months. Theteacher at Jeginov Lug, Nastavhik Salic Ekrem, said hisstudents will always remember the generosity of the Amer-icans, especially the Texas woman who they have never met.

�For these kids, this is the most interesting thing to hap-pen in their lives,� said Ekrem. �They will never forget theAmericans. We are really grateful for the supplies.�

While the first mission of Pencils for Peace has been com-pleted, the organization will continue to collect materialsfor other people in need. LaDonna will continue to collectsupplies, probably next focusing on the needs of areas rav-aged by floods in the Midwest.

�She�s made the connections now and she will continueto do what she can to help,� said Shelli.

A little girl happilyaccepts a gift ofpencils and otherschool supplies fromPencils for Peace.

Photo by Sgt. Steven Collins

EAGLE BASE -- Visiting with people is a big part of Maj. JoeSmith�s job in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Every week, Smith and theother members of the 431st and 486th Civil Affairs Battalionsgo throughout the area immediately outside the gates of EagleBase, learning the mood of the local population.

The contacts Smith and his team, all members of the U.S.Army Reserve, have made since arriving in Bosnia-Herzegovi-na were important during the last week in April, when the schoolsupplies collected by �Pencils for Peace� were distributed toschools in the vicinity of Eagle Base.

�We routinely go out to talk to individuals and are continual-ly building rapport,� said Smith, chief of the civil affairs teamattached to the 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery. �We lo-cated the schools and determined which schools needed thesupplies.�

The civil affairs team helped Sgt. A.G. Stockstill and his wife,Pfc. Shelli Stockstill, both members of the 4th Bn., 3rd ADA,divide and distribute the school supplies which arrived fromdonors in Texas. The supplies were gathered by Sgt. Stockstill�smother, LaDonna, a radio personality in Weatherford, Texas.

�We were doing a routine patrol and discovered the refugeearea (Jeginov Lug) just southeast of Eagle Base,� said Smith, asupervisor in a semi-conductor manufacturing plant in Arkan-sas. �(Sgt. Stockstill) and I talked about bringing pencils to theschool, which was in a bombed-out garage. Well, they got a lotmore than one little package of pencils.�

In all, Pencils for Peace collected 3.2 tons of supplies � pen-cils, pens, books and other school tools. Smith was called uponto help find the appropriate schools for the supplies. He and histeam traveled throughout the area and located schools in Du-brave, an extended village on the north side of Eagle Base.

�There are two school districts in the area,� said Smith. �Theamount of supplies we delivered was just right for the nearly1,700 students in the area.�

For example, the Vukovije school in Dubrave, located abouttwo miles from the east gate of Eagle Base, has 731 students,ranging in age from 7 to 15. During the war, the school wasdamaged and a Swiss humanitarian team rebuilt it. But schoolsupplies are at a premium.

�There is not enough school supplies,� said Ascic Suljmon,principal. �This action (Pencils for Peace) is really helpful andwill make friendship between Americans and Bosnians. Thiskind of help is always welcomed and always needed.�

The civil affairs teams maintain constant contact with theschool leaders, who are often community leaders as well. Forexample, the chancellor of one of the schools in Dubrave, Ha-sib Bandovic, is also the local leader, the equivalent of a mayor.Saban Alibasic, spokesman for the refugees at Jeginov Lug,has come to know Americans as friends.

�I�m happy you kept your word and returned. Everyday thechildren would ask �When are the Americans coming?� The chil-dren will always remember the Americans,� said Alibasic.

The goal of the more than 300 civil affairs soldiers in Bosnia-Herzegovina is to keep commanders apprised of the mood of thelocal population. If the teams work closely with local citizens,they can gather information which will help commanders planoperations, maintain security and enhance peacekeeping efforts.

Operations like Pencils for Peace give Smith and his team adeep sense of satisfaction. Although the Americans cannot helpall the local citizens, the civil affairs teams feel a sense of ac-complishment by meeting local citizens and making friends.

�There is a lot of stuff being sent to Bosnia from the states,�said Smith. �We do what we can to help and we enjoy doing it.�

By Sgt. Steven Collins129th MPAD

Making contactsor Peace

The Talon Friday, May 9, 1997Page 6

ensure �Dawgs

From top left, clockwise,Pvt. Michael Pizzone, 1st

Platoon, Company A, 82ndEngineer Battalion, in a

kevlar-lined suit, prepares fora mine sweep near a bridge

during a route reconnaissancemission... Staff Sgt. Joseph

Saunders, Headquarters,Headquarters Company, 1st Infantry

Division, and Cad, a military workingdog, support the 82nd Eng. Bn. during

reconnaissance by checking a bridge forexplosives... Engineers from the 82nd Eng.

Bn. inspect the inner structure of a bridge inthe mountains near Camp Demi... Background,

Sgt. Michelle Picard, HHC, 1st Inf. Div., and Cad,check a bridge for explosives before the 82nd Eng.

Bn. measure the structure.

x

The TalonFriday, May 9, 1997 Page 7

CAMP DEMI � Yugoslavia was the primary mineproducer for the Russians before the Berlin Wall camedown. This left the Balkan region with a large sur-plus of mines as the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina start-ed. The former warring factions tapped into this dead-ly resource for years.

Sown with mines, the land throughout the regionremains an unpredictable threat long after the fight-ing has ceased, according to 2nd Lt. John Kane, 1stPlatoon leader, Company A, 82nd Engineer Battalion.As the engineers, also known as the �Dawgs of War,�conduct their daily missions, mines and unexploded or-dinance remain the number one safety concern.

�We have been concentrating on route and bridgereconnaissance missions,� Kane said. �This ensuresthe mobility of SFOR troops along these routes. Dur-ing our missions, we are not pretending or training tobe in a minefield, we are actually in it.�

The engineers work along the various routes mineproofing and ensuring the routes and structures aresafe for travel. They are often assisted by military po-lice dog handlers and their military working dogs.

During a recent bridge survey, military working dogstrained in explosive detection sniffed over the bridgesfor unexploded ordnance. The skilled dog handlers, StaffSgt. Joseph Saunders and Sgt. Michelle Picard, bothof Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1st Infan-try Division, worked with Cad and Rocky as they as-sisted the 82nd Eng. Bn.

�Our primary purpose is to survey what a bridgecan handle,� said Kane. �We make sure that if anM1A1 Abrams crosses a bridge, it doesn�t fall into thegap. Safety is our first concern. First platoon providesits own perimeter security of the area of operationand are equipped with mine deflecting suits, minedetectors and probes.�

Engineers often need to go off the beaten path whentaking measurements for the bridges. Following themilitary tradition of yore, Pvt. Michael Pizzone, the low-

est ranking individual in the platoon, hasthe duty of donning a special suit and en-tering the questionable area first,equipped with a mine detector. The suitconsists of kevlar-lined shirt and pants,along with special overboots designedto direct the blast outwards.

�The suit is designed to protect youfrom the blast� he said. When askedwhat shape he�d be in if he�d actual-ly step on a mine, he answered,�Let�s just say I�d be better than I�dbe if I wasn�t wearing one.�

The �Dawgs of War�, stationedin Bamberg, Germany, also pro-vide mobility and countermobili-ty to SFOR troops and have themeans to get troops out of Demiand through minefields shouldthe situation arise.

�Hopefully that will not hap-pen, but we are prepared,�Kane said. �Also, we can pro-vide blockades to prevent aninflux of too many people, for

example during a resettlement.We can prevent a situation from getting out of

hand. Our platoon is incredible and we can do greatthings. We work hard but enjoy it.�

Story and photos by Spc. Susanne Aspley364th MPAD

ure mobilitygs of War�

lockwise,zzone, 1stny A, 82ndlion, in a

prepares forar a bridgeonnaissancegt. Josephadquarters,y, 1st Infantrylitary workingng. Bn. duringng a bridge for

m the 82nd Eng.ure of a bridge inmi... Background,Inf. Div., and Cad,fore the 82nd Eng.

The Talon Friday, May 9, 1997Page 8

�We have seen that the love of commercecan overcome the hatred of bigotry.�

-- Maj. Gen. William L. NashCommander, 1st Armored Division

TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina � During the Transfer of Au-thority ceremony Nov. 10, 1996, Maj. Gen. William L. Nash, 1stArmored Division commander, commented on how the ArizonaMarketplace had brought the three former warring factions to-gether again and would only be the beginning of a return to nor-malcy in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Six months after the 1st ArmoredDivision returned to Bad Kreuznach, Germany, his statementhas come true.

Seventeen countries from all over the world have taken thefirst step towards helping this war-torn country reestablish it-self as an economic power by participating in the InternationalSpring Economy Meetings, also known as Promo �97, held herelate last month.

The trade show featured eight festival tents stocked with waresincluding the latest in computers and cars for sale, cows and farm-ing equipment and the latest home entertainment systems.

�This is a big thing,� said Tuzla Mayor Selim Beslagic. �Showslike this never happened before the war.� Beslagic added that thetiming is right for Tuzla to make great leaps economically.

�The people of Bosnia are proving that we can do anything we

want now,� he said. �We are going (forward) with tradition.�The mayor�s sentiments could be seen on the faces of the

people throughout the trade show and even Task Force Eaglesoldiers who were at Promo �97 could feel the peoples� positiveattitudes emanating through the fairgrounds.

�I think it�s really good for the economy,� said Sgt. JeffreyGraf, 108th Military Police Company. �This will help them getback on their feet.�

Other countries also have seen conditions here improve sincethe implementation of the Dayton Peace Accord.

Sahir-ul-Islam, vice chairman, Pakistan-Portugal Trade &Industry Committee, said this show is just one of many steppingstones for introducing Pakistani products here.

�One year ago, we saw the conditions in Bosnia improved �the fighting stopped and the process of rebuilding started.� Is-lam explained. �Because of the normal conditions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, there are more business opportunities here and,as such, more of a temptation to come here.�

The urge to open businesses here are exactly what Beslagicwants. He explained that he feels Promo �97 is a great opportu-nity to show other countries what Tuzla has to offer.

�What I expect personally is for two or three firms to cooper-ate with us and further business opportunities here,� Beslagicexplained.

Local entrepreneurs are also using Promo �97 to expand theirbusinesses throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Cilimkovic Mithat, owner of Pivara Tuzla, a local beer compa-ny, said that this fair has enabled him to renew contacts withbuyers from all over the country -- contacts that were cut off be-fore the war.

Mithat said that he envisions being able to produce items inquantities that will hopefully rival his production ability beforethe war and to expand his business in the near future.

While Promo �97 is just one instance of the rebuilding takingplace all over Bosnia-Herzegovina, the event in itself is promising.

�It�s still hard to tell, but I think things are looking betterthan it was when I got here,� said Spc. Sean Mityga, 11th Psy-chological Operation Battalion. �You can see a noticeable changein the peoples� attitude. I feel this signifies a return to normalcyin Bosnia-Herzegovina.�

Arijana Salihbasic, Task Force Eagle Public Affairs Officetranslator, contributed to this story.

Return to normalcy

By Sgt. Chris Fletcher1st Infantry Division PAO

The TalonFriday, May 9, 1997 Page 9

EAGLE BASE -- Military working dog,Lyka and military police dog handler StaffSgt. Daniel O�Brien, Headquarters, Head-quarters Company, 1st Infantry Division,were working as a team again. The baglying on the ground needed to be inspect-ed and this time they were under a littlepressure.

Lyka had a very critical audience. Themanagement of Brown and Root had ex-pressed concern that the dogs were fright-ening the employees and that the employ-ees didn�t quite know what to do while be-ing searched by the animals. The MPsknew something needed to be done to avoidany accidents.

One sniff of the bag and she sat down,the action that alerts her handler of some-thing dangerous. This time it was 30rounds of ammunition hidden carefully inthe bottom of the bag. Her audienceclapped and O�Brien awarded her with apat on the head for a job well done.

Lyka, O�Brien, Spc. Colleen Neubert,HHC, 1st Inf. Div., and her dog, Fedor,held a demonstration for the Brown andRoot employees. The main concern was toshow the workers that unless they are do-ing something wrong they need not beafraid of the dogs.

Other areas covered during the dem-onstration were how the dogs do theirsearches, what procedures workers shouldfollow while being searched and to showthe workers the control the handler hasover the dogs.

�We want to help the Bos-nians understand what the mil-itary dogs do, what their job is,�said Staff Sgt. Emanuel L. Snow,Headquarters and Headquar-ters Company, 1st Infantry Di-vision, �We want to help themunderstand that they have noth-ing to be afraid of. We wantedto show the locals exactly whatprocedures to follow if they gothrough a gate and they are be-ing inspected.�

While some dogs can seem like they arevicious and out of control, another obedi-ence test followed to show the workers thatthe handlers do in fact have the animalsin check at all times. Neubert unhookedthe leash and with a few short commands

and hand signals showed that she con-trolled all of the dog�s movements.

Walking through the crowd of workersFedor stayed at her heel the entire time.Even standing a few feet away from thedog, Neubert used one hand signal, the dogstopped and sat down, eyes on the han-

dler at all times. Impressed at the dog�sobedience, the audience again applaudedthe handler and dog.

�We needed to show them even if thedogs seem aggressive, the handlers alwayshave control of their dog,� Snow said. �We

need to teach them that when they see adog, they shouldn�t run, they shouldn�tscream and don�t make any suspiciousmovements.�

�From my experience I just try and tellpeople to keep doing what they are doingand let the dog do the search,� O�Brien

said. �If people just keep doingwhat they were doing the dogjust ignores them. If they startto run, scream and get scaredthe dog gets really interested.�

�If the dogs do get aggressiveI think it has to do with the ac-tions of the people,� Neubertsaid. �Actually most of the timehe�s (Fedor) pretty mellowaround people.�

By the time the demonstrationended most of the workers

weren�t moving away from the dogs andthey knew they could stand within a rea-sonable distance of the dogs. If they ignorethe dog, the dog will ignore them. The fearof the dogs was gone, replaced with respectfor the animals who are just doing their job.

Photo by Pfc. Wendy R. Tokach

Staff Sgt. Daniel O'Brien, Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1st InfantryDivision, and military working dog, Lyka conduct a demonstration for localnational workers, who expressed concern about the military working dogs.

�If the dogs do get aggresive I think ithas to do with the actions of thepeople. Actually most of the time he�s(Fedor) pretty mellow around people�---- Spc. Colleen Neubert

Be not

afraidBy Pfc. Wendy R. Tokach129th MPAD

The Talon Friday, May 9, 1997Page 10

BRCKO, Bosnia-Herzegovina --Capt. Kevin D. Hendricks stood out-side the Office of the High Repre-sentative Building in Brcko anddidn�t like what he saw. The 30-year-old commander of Company D,2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry, noticeda lot of young males picking uprocks and getting into cars and leav-ing the scene.

Realizing the men weren�t col-lecting these rocks for purely geo-logical interests, and having an ideawhere they might be going, Hen-dricks climbed back into his up-ar-mored HMMWV and, with rest ofhis patrol, drove away from thescene at the OHR Building as well.

The �scene� Hendricks left hadgrown steadily since the arrival atthe OHR Building that afternoon oftwo buses loaded with Bosnian Mus-lims, reporters and members of theSocial Democratic Party. Havingdeparted from a May Day festivaland political rally in nearby Brka,they were there to meet with the re-cently-appointed Brcko supervisor,Robert Farrand, to discuss the grad-ual resettlement of the controversialcity. Their visit was not welcome bysome of Brcko�s residents.

�The majority of the population of Brcko right now is a lot ofrefugees who have lost family members, and who have movedseveral times in the area,� said Maj. John J. Bryant, 486th CivilAffairs Battalion out of Broken Arrow, Okla. �And they werepretty upset about the fact that there were Bosniacs in the area.�

A crowd started to gather across the street from the OHR Build-ing. Some yelled and gesticulated at the people getting off the bus-es. Just behind the crowd, Bry-ant and his team stood by, mon-itoring what was going on.

Along the streets, curiousand anxious bystanders contin-ued to gather, adding to thecongestion at the small inter-section. Over a dozen purple-uniformed Republic of Serbiapolice were spread out, keep-ing the crowds away and di-recting traffic. Behind themwere International Police TaskForce policemen and several U.S. soldiers from Task Force 1-77out of McGovern Base.

The soldiers were part of the protective services detail taskedwith protecting the task force commander, Lt. Col. James Greer,who had just arrived at the scene. Silently they watched as thecrowd in front of them grew louder. From somewhere a rock was

thrown, cracking the front windshield of the lead bus.�I got a little nervous,� said Spc. Jeffery Butticci, 25, 1st Mil-

itary Police Company. �There could have been some damage toboth sides. It was tense, but we were just making sure the colo-nel was OK.�

Butticci said prior to their convoy leaving McGovern, the com-mander had briefed them on what might happen that day.

�He said there�s going to be some tense situations down there,and that made us open up oureyes a little bit more to what wasgoing on,� he said.

The tension grew as the pas-sengers left the OHR Buildingand filed back onto the two bus-es. Bryant signaled to his team.It was time to go. Near him somewomen started picking up rocksand pieces of concrete and bran-dishing them in the air.

�These were displaced womenfrom probably the area of Saraje-

vo who had lost family members, and they were upset,� saidBryant. �They didn�t want Bosniacs to live in the same area.They didn�t want to see them there, in Brcko.�

Through an interpreter, Bryant tried unsuccessfully to per-suade the women to drop the rocks. There was nothing more he

By Spc. David Boe364th MPAD

Brcko rocking thebuses

�We were constantly on our toesmaking sure we were doing our jobcorrectly and acting professional at alltimes. We did what we needed to do.�---- Spc. Jeffery Butticci

See BUSES page 12

A Serb woman threatens to throw a rock at buses carrying Muslimsthrough Brcko as Maj. John Bryant, civil affairs, tries to disuade her.

Photo by Spc. David Boe

The TalonFriday, May 9, 1997 Page 11

TurkishBrigade winsAtaturkInternationalPeace prize

The Turkish Brigade was awarded theAtaturk International Peace prize for theirefforts to establish and maintain a perma-nent peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Theaward is the most prestigious peace awardof the Turkish Republic. Pictured are two ofthe many events and services the TurkishBrigade performed in winning the award.

Top, a Turkish soldier and two childrenexamine the three top entries in thepainting portion of a series of conteststhe Turkish Brigade organized as a partof Childrens Day. Above, Turkish UnitedNations Protection Force soldiers workto establish a campsite for Muslimrefugees.

As of May 2, 1997 the U.S.military has7,334 maleand 766femalesoldiersdeployedin theaterfor OperationJoint Guard.

By theBy theNumbers

InfoGraph by Staff Sgt. Mark GeigerSource: 1st Infantry Div. G-1

The Talon Friday, May 9, 1997Page 12

The team distributes 9,000 magazinesevery month to all towns in theTuzla and Zivinice areas. Theyuse two types of magazines, theHerald of Progress and MIRKO.

Both magazines are printedin the Bosnian language, usingboth the Latin and Cyrillic al-phabets.

The Herald of Progress is anews magazine geared towardadults and produced by theProduct Development Center inSarajevo. MIRKO is a magazine targetedto young adults between the ages of 10 and18.

�The magazines provide a variety of

messages that persuade individuals tocomply with elements of the Dayton PeaceAccord,� said Gonzales.

�Many people have stated that they like

the SFOR (Stabilization Force) news mag-azine because they feel it is objective, andthey use it to compare what their ownnews media is saying,� said Gonzales.

PSYOP recently started radio programsin the Zivinice and Tuzla areas. The pro-grams in Zivinice features Lt. Col. Jim Ma-son, Task Force 2-2 commander.

�We use the radio to get themessage out to more people in ashorter amount of time,� saidGonzales.

�Lieutenant Colonel Masonanswers questions from the ra-dio station journalists in a talkshow format,� said Gonzales.�We also allow call-in questionsfrom the listening audience.�

So far the radio programshave been well received by the

citizens, said Gonzales. �They enjoy hear-ing SFOR�s answers to important issuesbecause they trust SFOR.�

could do. His missionwas to follow the bus-es. As the buses drovedown the street, Bry-ant�s two HMMWVsturned around to fol-low. The major and histeam didn�t see thefirst few rocks thatstruck the buses asthey left the area. Lessthan a mile away,Hendricks and his pa-trol had stopped at apoint just south of theBrcko Bridge.

�As I arrived there- just minutes beforethe buses - I saw menwith rocks in theirhands gathering,� saidHendricks. Gettingout of his HMMWV,the commander start-ed walking towardthem, hoping he couldeither distract or stopthem.

�There were sever-al groups,� he said.�The group I was head-ing to was the largest,and that was about 20young males. A littlebit further down theroad was anothergroup of about 10, anda little bit further past us was yet another group of about 10 to20, all with rocks, and all planning on hitting the buses.�

As he neared the group of men, the buses appeared aroundthe corner.

�As the buses came by they threw the rocks and then startedchasing the buses, throwing rocks as they ran along beside them,�said Hendricks. �After I realized I couldn�t stop them from throw-ing the rocks, and they were not going to listen to me, the onlyactions I could really do was get my soldiers out of the way, ob-serve what happened, and follow the buses through the rest of

the town to ensurenothing more seri-ous happened on theway.�

Nothing did. Af-ter leaving the citylimits, the two bus-es stopped alongroute Arizona toasses the damage.Except for a fewbumps and scrapes,no one was serious-ly injured. One busmade it through thegauntlet with onlytwo windows bro-ken, while the oth-er had nearly all ofits windows shat-tered.

Frustrated as hewas with the inci-dent, Hendrickssaid it could havebeen a lot worse hadit not been for theprofessionalism ofhis men. �My sol-diers reacted verywell,� said Hen-dricks. �They con-trolled themselvesvery well, consider-ing that rocks werethrown all aroundthem. They poten-tially could have feltthreatened, butthey controlled

themselves. There was no need for our soldiers to react any morethan they did. It wasn�t an SFOR role; it was a police role.�

�I don�t think there was anything more SFOR could have done,�said Bryant. �The security of the citizens rests with the localpolice and IPTF (International Police Task Force). We did ourjobs as far as the GFAP (General Framework Agreement forPeace).�

�We were constantly on our toes making sure we were doingour job correctly and acting professional at all times,� said Butt-icci. �We did what we needed to do.�

BUSESfrom page 10

�Many people have stated that theylike the SFOR news magazinebecause they feel it is objective, andthey use it to compare what their ownnews media is saying,�---- Sgt. 1st Class Mark Gonzales

PSYOPfrom page 1

A bus passenger holds out his handto be bandaged by a U.S. soldier. Photo by Spc. David Boe