Marines Saluted for Kosovo Work Full Coverage
Kosovo Peacekeeping
By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer
ABOARD THE USS KEARSARGE (AP) - The new commandant of the Marine Corps gave his troops aboard this amphibious assault ship a pat on the back today for spearheading NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, even as they loaded up to sail out again.
``I'm here to say congratulations and to introduce myself as the new guy,'' Gen. James Jones, who took over as the top Marine on July 1, told members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit assembled on the flight deck. The unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was loading up at Thessaloniki, Greece, to leave in the next few days.
``You should feel good inside about what you have done and what you've been a part of,'' Jones said.
Jones flew here on the fifth leg of a weeklong European tour of Marine outposts in which he has promised a renewed emphasis on ensuring that all Marine forces are ready for combat - or for other operations like peacekeeping. Aboard the Kearsarge, he applauded the Marines for carrying out ``an inspirational job for the nation.''
His message struck a chord with Cpl. Todd Willis of Dallas, a radio operator who said he felt a special satisfaction in having put his training to use in an operation that brought new hope for peace in the Serb province.
``There's no substitute for a real-world mission,'' Willis said as he watched Jones mingle and pose for pictures with smiling Marines. ``When you're out there, you enter a new mind-set - you know the bullets are real.''
The Marines took no casualties in their four weeks in Kosovo. They landed at Thessaloniki on June 10 and drove overland into the Serb province through Macedonia to help lay the groundwork for a permanent 7,000-member U.S. Army peacekeeping force. By foot and aboard helicopters and light armored vehicles, the Marines established a peace by collecting Serb and Kosovo Liberation Army weapons and setting the stage for the re-establishment of a civilian government that had been dominated by minority Serbs before NATO's 78-day air war.
Scores of Marines in full battle dress were reboarding the Kearsarge as Jones arrived pierside. They expect to set sail early next week for Rota, Spain, for repairs and resupply, then enjoy some liberty before finishing up the final three months of their six-month tour in the Mediterranean Sea. They had been helping provide humanitarian relief for Kosovo refugees in Albania when they got the call for peacekeeping duty the first week of June.
Col. Kenneth Glueck, commander of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, told Jones in a detailed briefing on the Kosovo operation that it unfolded almost exactly as he had planned. An important turning point, he said, came on June 16 when the Marines began asserting their authority by disarming members of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
``From that, the word got out - 'Don't mess with the Marines, they'll get in your face,''' Glueck said.
In all, the Marines confiscated 491 rifles, 87 pistols and 807 other unspecified weapons, the colonel said. They also detained 84 Kosovar Albanians, 15 Serbs and one Gypsy woman who was caught stealing clothes, he said.
Glueck said he believed both the Serbs and Albanians were still hiding many weapons. He estimated that the rebel KLA has turned over only one-third of its weapons. In a brief interview after his meeting with Jones, Glueck expressed doubt about the evenhandedness of Russian troops who will be patrolling a northern portion of the U.S. sector in Kosovo.
When a small number of Russian soldiers scouted the area recently, they flashed the three-fingered Serb nationalist sign, Glueck said. Russia, which strongly opposed the NATO bombing, has historic cultural and political ties to Serbia. Asked how be thought coordination with the Russian forces would work, he replied, ``Not very well.''
Earlier Thursday, Jones visited the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, Macedonia,
where a platoon of Marines training in anti-terrorism have provided armed
security since an anti-American riot broke out there March 24, the day
NATO's bombing campaign began. The Marines are scheduled to leave Skopje
on Saturday.
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