Photo By Staff Sgt. Brian Schroeder | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Randon Sander, an explosive ordnance disposal observer...... read more read more
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HOHENFELS, Germany (May 2, 2018) – Unexploded ordnance (UXO) is familiar territory for Kosovo Army soldiers from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, Kosovo Civil Protection Regiment. Since 2001, the unit has covered more than 5 million sq. kilometers (1.95 million sq. miles) and destroyed more than 19,000 landmines, hand grenades and artillery rounds in their own country, which were left behind following the Kosovo War in the late 1990’s.
As part of the U.S. Army Europe-directed multinational exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Combined Resolve X, which runs April 9 to May 12, the Kosovo EOD unit will be taking on an unfamiliar munition, the improvised explosive device (IED).
IED tactics used by enemy combatants is a new concept to the Kosovo EOD Co. However, Capt. Gèzim Sada, deputy commander of the unit, said his soldiers are ready for a new challenge.
“Our goal is to get more training and learn more than we did not know before; to be prepared for everything that can happen, not just in Kosovo,” Sada said. “We want to participate in each country that would have a need for us. We have to be prepared for everything.”
The IED training here at JMRC begins with the EOD Co. learning how to identify potential IED placements, and how to approach UXOs for demolition in a mock village.
“We have worked closely with EOD teams from the U.S. since 2010 in clearing UXOs, but we need more training on IEDs,” Sada added. “Since 2001 there has not been an incident involving a casualty from the unit when disposing of a UXO. This is a good thing for us. Maybe the IED will be more challenging for us. We need to be very prepared.”
Sgt. 1st Class Randon Sander, EOD observer coach/trainer with the Raptor Team, here at JMRC, said the main task of Kosovan soldiers will be to develop operational standards for identifying and disposing of IEDs using equipment that is slightly different to what U.S. EOD teams use.
“The procedures and techniques we use in the U.S. do not exactly align with theirs, based on their force structure and equipment, which is often different, and their techniques, which are often developed from their equipment,” Sander said. “Currently, we are able to help coach them in the right direction when there is no set doctrine for them to follow.”
Sander was hand-selected as the only EOD trainer for JMRC based on his operational experience working with EOD units in Eastern Afghanistan and providing EOD training for the Columbian Army. He said whether he is the trainer or trainee, he always learns something from the rotational units, regardless of how much or how little somebody knows.
“Anytime I train with somebody I learn, regardless,” Sander said. “Especially in our career field when there is no single way to do things, you can observe five or six people do the same thing and everybody will do it different. No way is the wrong way, unless it is a major safety violation.”
Cpl. Donjeta Krasniqi, an EOD technician with EOD Co., Kosovo Civil Protection Regiment, is one of four EOD females in the Kosovan army. She said her unit receives calls almost every day to deal with UXOs left from the Kosovo War, in both rural and urban areas. In 2017, the Kosovan EOD Co. found and disposed of approximately 1,200 UXOs.
“Dealing with IEDs is new to us, so this training is challenging,” Krasniqi said. “I would like to learn something from the U.S. Soldiers’ experiences dealing with UXOs in Afghanistan that we do not work with. From their experiences, I will have something to share in my country.”
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2018 06:20 |
| Story ID: | 275235 |
| Location: | HOHENFELS, BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 1,660 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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