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    Oregon Citizen Soldier dedicates 2 years to Kosovo peacekeeping mission

    Oregon Citizen Soldier dedicates 2 years to Kosovo peacekeeping mission

    Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Tawny Kruse | 1st Lt. Parker Mooney, Liaison Monitoring Team Chief (Area of Responsibility-Central),...... read more read more

    PRISTINA, KOSOVO

    06.07.2021

    Story by Staff Sgt. Tawny Kruse 

    KFOR Regional Command East

    When 1st Lt. Parker Mooney first arrived in Kosovo in March 2020 for his first deployment with the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oregon Army National Guard, he was anxious about the job he would be doing for the next nine months. As officer in charge of the Kilo 18 Liaison Monitoring Team assigned to Regional Command-East, Kosovo Force, it would be his responsibility to lead the LMT in building relationships with the people and institutions of three different municipalities.

    Mooney and his interpreter, Arben Kuqi, sat at a small table in the Pajaziti Walking Square in Pristina/Prishtinë, and ordered macchiatos – a Kosovo staple for meetings and leisure alike - as he recalled one of his first meetings.

    “My first meeting here, I was super nervous,” Mooney said. “I did so much prep work for it. It was funny because the other guy, it was also his first meeting with KFOR. So, we were both just kind of like, what do we do at one of these?”

    Now, nearly two years later, he feels completely comfortable with the daily interactions that come with LMT work. As Mooney sipped on his macchiato in the square, a civilian greeted him in passing. Without hesitation, he waved and returned a greeting in Albanian.

    After his first KFOR rotation, Mooney decided to stay in Kosovo another year and took on the role of LMT chief at Camp Film City, where he oversees five international teams comprised of Italian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Swiss and Turkish troops, each assigned to patrol specific communities in Kosovo.

    The NATO-led KFOR operation is dedicated to maintaining peace and stability in the region, and LMTs are a relatively new concept stood up to assist in that mission.

    “After about six to seven months, I was like, ‘Okay, now I feel I really understand the history and culture here,’” Mooney said, “and I wanted to continue to do the job. I thought being an LMT before was like a once in a lifetime opportunity, and now having this new role is truly unique.”

    Mooney said he has always been interested in international diplomacy and the inner workings of developing countries. While earning his degree in international relations at Ohio State University, he studied abroad in Kazakhstan. His degree and experience make him uniquely qualified for his role in Kosovo.

    “It’s interesting because I definitely saw a lot of similarities that you see in a rapidly developing country,” Mooney said, “you know, you have the tractors rolling through the middle of very urban cities and quirks like that.”

    While his educational qualifications have helped him navigate the often-political nature of LMT work in an area with a long history of interethnic tensions, Mooney pointed out that the U.S. Army is younger than most foreign militaries. Officers in charge of the kilos, like Mooney himself, are often lieutenants in their mid to late twenties, and yet they meet with heads of religious councils or other similarly high-ranking people on a regular basis.

    Despite this, Mooney believes he and his fellow LMTs make up for the lack of life experience by understanding how the information they gather impacts the daily life of people in Kosovo.

    “Being on the bleeding edge of enacting policy is extremely rewarding, especially for someone at my age and rank,” Mooney said. “We can be genuinely curious about things and develop relationships on a personal level as well. People love to talk about themselves and what they do.”

    That simple human connection is what helps Mooney and his teams build trust with people, even when they’re not subject matter experts on certain topics.

    In May, Mooney met with Col. Fahredin Verboci, the Kosovo Police Regional Director, to discuss recent events and the KP’s initiative to participate in more proactive community policing. As Mooney approached Verboci’s office in the headquarters building in Pristina/Prishtinë, Verboci greeted him with a warm smile and a fist bump before offering him refreshments.

    “I’m not a cop,” Mooney explained, “I don’t have policing experience, but we’re able to have productive meetings, and I can understand the issues going on here.”

    However, managing five teams that come from a diverse set of cultures and speak different languages doesn’t come without its challenges.

    Mooney compared their working relationship to a “cloud computing machine”, with all the computers linked together to share the brain power. He continually works to share the constant flow of information with his team commanders and encourages cross-communication. In turn, he leans on them to help him manage his busy schedule.

    Interpreters like Kuqi, of course, are extremely valuable players in the LMT mission who ensure intents are communicated and understood.

    “The language is the most significant barrier,” Mooney admitted. “People always joke, ‘Oh, my English isn’t very good,’ but their English is a lot better than my Hungarian or Turkish. We just have to make sure we’re on the same page in this very dynamic domain.”

    As Mooney is preparing to finish his second KFOR rotation and return home for the first time in nearly two years, he said he’d love to come back to visit without his uniform on someday.

    Even in the relatively short period of time he spent in Kosovo, he has had the opportunity to see his teams’ efforts make an impact and feels proud to have contributed.

    “It can be tough sometimes for the people here because they are under a microscope from a lot of different organizations,” Mooney said. “It’s important to remember that at the end of the day, they’re still people who live here who want security for their families, want good jobs. We can’t lose sight of that during strategic and policy-level planning. Everything we do is going to affect the people here.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 06.07.2021
    Date Posted: 06.07.2021 08:48
    Story ID: 398265
    Location: PRISTINA, ZZ
    Hometown: PORTLAND, OR, US

    Web Views: 829
    Downloads: 0

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