Soldiers begin returning from SFOR-11 in Bosnia
by Sgt. Bradley Rhen
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii (Army News Service, Aug. 21, 2002) -- The first wave of soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and U.S. Army, Hawaii returned home Aug. 16 from their peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
Other soldiers from the 25th ID will be redeploying next month as National Guard troops from Pennsylvania's 28th Infantry Division prepare to take over the Bosnia mission, officials said.
More than 1,000 25th ID soldiers have participated in the 11th rotation of the Stabilization Force in Bosnia. They were part of a multinational team consisting of more than 4,500 soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and civilians from 14 different countries conducting peacekeeping operations in support of Operation Joint Forge.
The SFOR-11 mission was the first-ever deployment to Europe for the 25th ID soldiers, leaders said, although the division has deployed to different parts of the world over the past 60 years, to include World War II, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam and Haiti.
The 25th ID soldiers began their peacekeeping operation in April. During the deployment, they executed the first "Active Harvest" door-to-door weapons collection program. The program resulted in the collection of thousands of weapons, landmines and pieces of ordnance from citizens throughout the U.S. area of responsibility.
Thousands of square meters of land are now cleared of land mines, officials said, and nearly a dozen weapons storage sites where various armed Bosnian factions maintained their arsenals have been closed since the soldiers deployed to Bosnia in April.
The first 63 soldiers to return spent 24 hours flying before touching down at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, at about 6:45 a.m. on Aug. 16. As they deplaned, the soldiers were greeted by 25th ID and USARHAW commanding general, Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson, who took over while the soldiers were deployed.
Olsen congratulated the soldiers on their mission and said before SFOR-11, many villagers in Bosnia were unwilling to give up their weapons.
"By the time you got ready to close down that mission, they were turning weapons over to you," Olson said. "You all did something right to make that happen."
Olson said the soldiers helped do three things. First, he said, they brought comfort to a people who were in distress. Secondly, they brought peace to a part of the world that has rarely if ever known peace.
"There's peace there now because you served over there," he said.
Thirdly, and what he thought was the most important, Olson said the soldiers defended America. He noted how people that mean to do harm to the United States had their eye on Bosnia because of its disorder and turbulence, and they were moving in that direction.
"They were flowing in the direction of Bosnia to set up an operational base there, and because you were over there and you brought stability and you brought peace, they're not looking at Bosnia anymore," he said. "You defended America by denying those terrorists another safe have. And you can be proud of that for the rest of your lives."
The returning soldiers agreed that the mission was successful, but nonetheless, they're glad to be back in Hawaii.
"It feels great to be home," said Sgt. Paul Kafka of A Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment. "I'm looking forward to spending some time with my kids and wife."
Kafka also said that the snow in Bosnia when the 25th arrived was a novelty for the troops from Hawaii.
Spc. Jennifer Bunce, C Company, 225th Forward Support Battalion, also said it feels great to be back home. She said the deployment, which was her first, was a good experience.
As a medic, Bunce helped provide medical assistance to Bosnians.
"We did EKGs for them and provided complete medical evaluations for them," Bunce said. "I think it was worthwhile and we helped a lot of people out."
Additional soldiers will return home to Hawaii in mid September, officials said, and the final group of soldiers will return in October.
(Editor's note: Sgt. Bradley Rhem is serving as editor of the Hawaii Army Weekly.)
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