EOD works alongside KSF: builds relationships, safety procedures

Photo By Sgt. Jarel Chugg | A Soldier from the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) dons an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) suit Mar 26. Soldiers from the KSF worked with EOD from the 702nd Ordnance Company, 16th Special Troops Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade to improve safety and build a better trained force in Kosovo. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jarel Chugg, 19th Public Affairs Detachment)  

PRIZREN, KOSOVO

03.26.2018

Story by Spc. Jarel Chugg 

KFOR Regional Command East

PRIZREN, Kosovo – Staff Sgt. Jacob Gaskill, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team leader, and Cpl. Beau Steinle, a team sergeant with the 702nd Ordnance Company, 16th Special Troops Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, spent Mar. 26, the first of three days, training with and supporting the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF).

Training with their counterparts from the KSF-EOD Company helps prepare the unit for an upcoming exercise, ‘Combined Resolve,’ to be held in Slovenia this April, which allows the 702nd EOD to build a foundation for future training opportunities.

“We do a lot of training with the U.S. Soldiers,” said Cpl. Roland Reshitaj, EOD Instructor, KSF EOD Company. “Every time we do training we learn a lot of new things because they have a lot of experience and we hope to use their experience on our missions.”

During the training, the Kosovo soldiers were able to work with a bomb disposal robot and bomb suit in an ordinance disposal scenario.

Roland said the most important thing about the training is that the KSF gets to use and learn about new equipment, which helps them become more productive and efficient at their jobs.

It’s important to build relationships with the Kosovo soldiers, Gaskill explained.

“Being able to foster a healthy relationship with them makes the entirety of Europe stronger,” Gaskill said. “It helps us to get ourselves out there, improve the safety of this region and ensures that they have a better trained force.”

In an effort to build relationships, joint training is incorporated into the mission.

“Our secondary mission is to advise and assist the KSF in that same mission, so us augmenting them helps them out,” said Steinle, of Jacksonville, Florida. “Giving them advice and training will make them safer in their procedures here in Kosovo.”

The primary mission for EOD is to mitigate the hazard of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and threats within 500 meters of bases and within 5 kilometers of the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL), said Steinle.

Cooperation between the two EOD units and other demining organizations is already in the works, such as a joint observance of International Mine Awareness Day to be held in Peja, Kosovo, in April.

• Date Taken: 03.26.2018
• Date Posted: 04.03.2018 04:33
• Story ID: 271229
• Location: PRIZREN, ZZ