Visiting Kosovo Soldiers

Governor John Hoeven and Major General David Sprynczynatyk fly across the globe to visit North Dakota men and women serving in Kosovo.

The 620 soldiers are about half done with their yearlong peacekeeping mission...

Through a video conference Hoeven and Sprynczynatyk give an update on how the troops are doing... Donnell Preskey was there...

"Good Evening from Kosovo" Governor John Hoeven and Major General David Sprynczynatyk are spending a few days visiting the hundreds of North Dakota Guardsmen and women serving in Kosovo..

(Spry) "Every soldier I've talked to is very cheerful, very proud of the fact they're here." As a country, Kosovo is getting stronger... So soldiers are able to slowly pull back..

(Dohrmann) We are doing less route patrols doing that because of increase capacity of Kosovo police." So their mission has transformed... Soldiers used to be the first to respond now Kosovo police are handling more security operations on a daily basis

However military leaders believe our presence in Kosovo is still necessary..

(Spry) "The people of Kosovo, you can only imagine how much they appreciate and respect the American soldier and our North Dakota National Guard members. They know that with our presence their lives will be safe, their communities will thrive and they know they have a future. So our people are making a difference." A calmer Kosovo is reflected in the number of soldiers who have been serving in the country..

In 1999 fifty thousand KFOR soldiers were in Kosovo... 11 years later there are ten thousand

Governor Hoeven says soldiers are developing critical skills in Kosovo that someday they may use in other parts of the world... (Hoeven) "Things doing here, what may do in not to distant future in Iraq and Afganistan so our forces can leave and come back home. " While the North Dakota soldiers' mission in Kosovo may be less intense than prior deployments Hoeven and Sprynczynatyk say soldiers are proud of the job their doing helping a war torn country get back on it's feet...

The 620 North Dakota soldiers are part of a multinational force of about 2,200 troops.

The force includes soldiers from across the U.S. and five other countries.