Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Oriana White | Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) Sgt. Maj. Demë Hoxha, Chief of the Gjakova Air Base,...... read more read more
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GJAKOVA, KOSOVO — Tucked into the foothills of the Albanian Alps in western Kosovo lies a former wartime outpost now pulsing with renewed life and purpose: Gjakova Air Base. Its tarmac, once a strategic platform for NATO’s post-war presence, now echoes with the bootsteps of a new generation of soldiers and peacekeepers.
First emerging during the smoke and rubble of the 1998-1999 Kosovo War, Gjakova was part of the broader NATO footprint in the young republic. While American forces were stationed in Pristina and Gjilan, the Germans in Prizren, and the French in Mitrovica, it was the Italians who left their mark here. In the war's aftermath, Italian members of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) constructed the base’s modest 1800-meter airstrip — a vital artery in the lifeblood of Kosovo’s recovery after the war.
Between 2000 and 2013, Gjakova Air Base underwent a significant transformation. Renovated and modernized, the facility became a versatile hub for military drills and emergency relief operations alike. Since then, over 27,000 aircraft have passed through its gates, ferrying more than 220,000 passengers and hauling in excess of 40,000 tons of cargo.
For over a decade, KFOR operated the facility, its hangars and helipads humming with military and humanitarian missions. But in 2013, the base transitioned hands — from international command to Kosovo’s own stewardship. Today, it is proudly operated by the Kosovo Security Force (KSF), standing as both a symbol of national resilience and a bridge to international collaboration.
The base’s strategic value surged again in 2022 when American, British, Turkish, and German troops began using it as a launchpad for training operations in the nearby Babaj Bokës Training Area. The rattle of .50 caliber machine guns, the thunder of 120mm mortars, and the rumble of armored vehicles now resonate regularly through the surrounding hills.
At the heart of this evolution is Sergeant Major Demë Hoxha, the stoic yet kind chief of the base. His story mirrors the nation’s own — forged in war, defined by service. Hoxha took up arms in 1998 as a young recruit with the Kosovo Liberation Army. Over the decades, he rose through the ranks, honing his skills across the rugged terrain of Istog and Prizren with the 2nd Regiment’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, specializing in IT systems.
In 2019, the call came to lead Gjakova Air Base — a call delivered by a former commander who had watched Hoxha’s journey from determined fighter to seasoned leader. Now an OR- 7, Sgt. Maj. Hoxha is preparing for a well-earned retirement in July 2025, closing out a remarkable 27-year military career.
His next mission will be quieter but no less purposeful. Just a few kilometers from where he was born in Gjakova, Hoxha will return to his family and his land in Cermian. There, on a sprawling 10-hectare farm, he will tend to his melons, vegetables, and fruit trees — cultivating the soil with the same care and discipline he once gave to the military.
He speaks fondly of his wife and three children, and occasionally of an uncle in New York who has kept a distant but supportive eye on his journey. But here, in the fertile earth of western Kosovo, Sgt. Maj. Hoxha will finally find what he spent decades helping to build: peace.
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2025 06:31 |
| Story ID: | 499970 |
| Location: | ZZ |
| Web Views: | 625 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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