Joint Commission Observers (JCO) BH/RS

[Conrad Y]

IFOR fun.

[Stras]

Damn, I miss those days...

The Gniljane house in Kosovo 2001, where Fats and I built up the foreign weapons training implements. Never did get the MG-42 complete with eagles for the house defense plan. The house was also known as Castle Grayskull from all the force pro stuff done to it. Lots of good memories there. We used to go to a Serb Town nearby to our favorite restaurant. I still hold a special place in my stomach for chicken wrapped in bacon. It was to die for. We were there when 9-11 happened.

We recovered 8 Thompsons in 1999 on the first trip to Kosovo, back when Camp Bondsteel was 15 tents in a muddy field, right after the end of the air war. They came from a WWII era cache. Never been fired, still packed in cosmoline, stamped US Gov't Property, five of them had five number serial numbers, all 1942 vintage. took us a week to clean the cosmoline out of them, and then they ate through the 1943 stamped .45 Cal like you wouldn't believe.. as I recall, not one jam ever. Sadly, they all had to be demilled to be brought back for the Group. I think most of the companies who rotated through have one in their hallways. I can vouch for B 2/10, it's still proudly displayed in the company.

We ran the DZ when the 173rd jumped in for their show of force operation. Sadly I can't remember the name of the guy who burned in. I was video tapping the jump as the planes came in and passed over us. My remarks clearing heard on the tape afterwards, "Someone just lost a ruck", right before I panned to the next a/c inbound. His static line cut, he activated his reserve, which elongated but didn't have time to inflate. That was a bad day for all of us.

Homemade Slivovitz circa 1996 is here at the house if anyone wants some. We helped make the stuff. We would have a shot of Slivo in the morning before PT as part of our PMT for the next Bosnia/Kosovo rotation. You definitely had to build up a tolerance of the stuff.

Slivo is okay, far better than Rakija. But I prefer the Williams Schnapps (pear or mixed fruit) that I keep bringing back from the Fatherland at every oppurtunity. Though we did find that you can strip the wax off your skis with Slivo. Just make sure there's no hot flames anywhere in the immediate twenty foot area.

[Conrad Y]

The Sarajevo pix are from '96 and the Tuzla-Sarajevo road pic was late '95 I think.

[KW9598]

Conrad you have some good stuff brother...
I still have JCO stickers we used to use on the vehicles. Loved the shot of the JCO SUV, LOVED that car! Was like a Ford Escape, before its time.
Where are you now? email me: wchoopes66@comcast.net

[Conrad Y]

Here is the beloved, or hated, Nissan Patrols that we used around '98.
I happened to like them more than some of the rentals that we got in the years previously (especially the ones from Korea that were difficult to shift).
I agree that the best version was the Opel (rebadged Isuzu).

[Conrad Y]

NATO stayed away from this place for a long time except for us. We bothered them as frequently as we could. It is good to see that NATO finally stepped up to the plate, three years later...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...31100-idx.html

http://www.nato.int/sfor/indexinf/10.../t0103214a.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/specials/bosn...rcenaries.html

[RetiredSOCS]

Originally Posted by SF18C

One word for all you that got stuck in crappy team houses or imprisioned at Tuzla...

Bijeljina

Or as we referred to it Babe-a-lina! It was in the NE sector of the Republika Srpska! We never did find out what they put in the water but it we were positive it enhanced the female bust line! So many nights out looking for a good Sitrep!

Also got stuck in Gradiska for a tour! Not as nice but a few of us made the trip back to Babe-town a year later! We were greeted like returning rock starts!

Oh, I just have to add the story about my buddy Tony C, out Jr. Charlie! We are driving around in our beat up Pajero and looks at me and says, "How do you know where you are going? All these signs are in Acrylic!"

I was one of two SEALs in Babe-a-line from December 97 to early March 98. Were there during that time by any chance?

[Ret10Echo]

Originally Posted by Conrad Y

Here is the beloved, or hated, Nissan Patrols that we used around '98.
I happened to like them more than some of the rentals that we got in the years previously (especially the ones from Korea that were difficult to shift).
I agree that the best version was the Opel (rebadged Isuzu).

They could pull a house down, but the acceleration was horrible...

[RetiredSOCS]

Originally Posted by 2 Block Secured

Zenica (AKA: N60), 04-07/1997

A lot of good memories from that deployment like the SEAL that was stabbed by an unknown assailant at one of the other houses while he was doing a "security check". Never did get the whole story on that one.

Or was it the medic who shot a SEAL while inspecting the SEAL's SIG226, then worked his ass off to save him. The only guy to get an ARCOM and a ART15 in the same ceremony. (just kidding on the last line).

Had to check myself into the Betty Ford clinic to dry out after all the "slivo" that was put away.

I was at the same SEAL team as the guy who got shot. The story I heard was that the living conditions were miserable in the early JCO days. The guys in question were getting wasted and joking about how much their lives sucked in BH. So the SEAL takes out his Sig, hands it to the medic and says "Why dont you just shoot me now?" So the medic takes the pistol, and instead if dropping the mag and ejecting the round from the chamber, he "clears" the Sig in the reverse order. So with a fresh round securely in the chamber, he shoots the SEAL in the chest at point blank range. By the way, that SEAL was promoted to Chief Petty Officer only a few months after that incident. Go figure!

[Abu Jack]

RetiredSOCS wrote:

The story I heard was that the living conditions were miserable in the early JCO days.

Was this disinformation in order to protect a good deal? I heard some people have used the same strategy in the past.

[csquare]

And "that" medic is still active, I saw him last summer.
The SEAL was either lucky that a medic shot him and save him; or he was lucky "that" particular medic was a poor shot? Either way, "that" medic is a MSG.
Go figure......

[RetiredSOCS]

Originally Posted by Abu Jack

RetiredSOCS wrote:



Was this disinformation in order to protect a good deal? I heard some people have used the same strategy in the past.

You're right about that. It was pretty cushy when I got there about a year later.

[alfromcolorado]

Originally Posted by csquare

And "that" medic is still active, I saw him last summer.
The SEAL was either lucky that a medic shot him and save him; or he was lucky "that" particular medic was a poor shot? Either way, "that" medic is a MSG.
Go figure......

I was on a team with that guy when I first got to Carson... Interesting guy. His middle initial and last name went together quite appropriately after that incident (which happened while the team was still at Devens).

[RichL025]

Originally Posted by alfromcolorado

I was on a team with that guy when I first got to Carson... Interesting guy. His middle initial and last name went together quite appropriately after that incident (which happened while the team was still at Devens).

What was his middle initial?..... "B" maybe <g>??

And Al, that happened long after group left Devens. 1995, IIRC.

[Conrad Y]

He joined my team in '99 when I was still in Germany (this was long after the incident). Nice guy and good medic. The 'shooter' incident was a touchy subject obviously. I remenber that it was definately a flagging issue for his part and why he didn't get in too much trouble was partly due to the trigger job on the victim's Sig that was in some violation of Navy policy.

Middle initial B.