PG 5
Wow , I turned around a few days ago and realized that we , Multinational Battle Group-East , had already been here for 30 days . Where has the time gone ? It seems like just a couple of days ago we were making that midnight flight into Kosovo . It makes me wonder how much we can affect the mission here with time moving so quickly .
Mnbg-e CSM
The Soldiers of MNBG-E are working hard after finally settling in . The progress we ’ ve made since we departed Fort Bragg is phenomenal . Soldiers successfully completed the mission readiness exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center , certifying their preparedness to assume the mission here in Kosovo . With the execution of the Transfer of Authority ceremony , the next phase of this deployment began . We bid farewell to the Soldiers of the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and welcomed in the responsibility of KFOR 17 . As always , the Soldiers of the 525th and those Soldiers and multinational partners that have become a part of the 525 family have risen to the challenge of KFOR 17 and are prepared to execute for success .
Since being here I ’ ve been fortunate in that I have had the ability to travel a little bit . I attended the Kosovo Security Forces Warrior Leadership Course graduation June 22 . The pride on their faces was precious . The Liaison Monitoring Teams of Joint Readiness Detachment-East have invited me on a couple of occasions to visit with them at local schools . It is always humbling to be treated so graciously and always as an honored guest by the local population . Their continued support of NATO forces is espoused every day . As I travel from one place to another , I ’ m struck by the same thoughts that I have had on numerous occasions in the past , in other places around the world . People are people wherever you may be . They want basically the same things . They want to live their lives and to be happy and to enjoy life . They don ’ t even have to be rich , they just want to be able to have pride in themselves and what they do and who they are . I can only hope that by the time we leave , someone ’ s life here can be as greatly enriched as mine already has been .
So thank you MNBG-E for making the first 30 days such a huge success and for making the time pass by so fast . Enjoy this deployment and embrace our mission here as the next 8 months will go by quickly .
Lightning ! On the move ! -Lightning 7
PG 5