CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo -- Even before leaving their home state of North Dakota, the Liaison Monitoring Teams (LMT)of Kosovo Forces 12 already were honing their skills for an important mission here.
It was training that began nearly two years ago on American streets in an American city.
"We actually engaged people within our community," said Sgt. 1st Class Eric J. Vogel, who serves on LMT 6 in the Multi-National Task Force -East area of operation. "We drove around Bismarck (N.D.) and talked with people. We were assigned areas, like we have now in Kosovo."
Most KFOR 12 LMT Soldiers come from 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company, based in Bismarck. It is augmented with Soldiers from across the country. The unit was mobilized to be the face of MNTF-E on the streets for the people who live Kosovo.
LMTs conduct daily patrols to help MNTF-E understand issues and concerns faced by the people.
"We gather information and sense the pulse of the environment in certain municipalities that we're assigned," Vogel said.
LMT 6 operates primarily in the municipality of Kacanik. During the training process, however, Klokot/Kllokot was its area of responsibility.
LMT training, prior to arriving in Kosovo, was a three-part process starting with a predeployment phase in North Dakota, followed by mobilization phases at Camp Atterbury, Ind., and Hohenfels, Germany.
The teams' focus during training was on communication and understanding because of the critical public-interaction role of their mission.
They started working closely with interpreters at Camp Atterbury and continued that training in Germany.
"It has gotten progressively better and has become almost second nature when talking to people," Vogel said.
All of the teams have special cards with phrases in Serbian and Albanian to help them interact. The teams also studied the culture and history to understand the people in Kosovo, he said.
The teams spent 30 days in Germany immersed in scenarios designed to stress and test their abilities as a way to build on lessons already learned.
Teams alternated between on post and visits to simulated versions of municipalities in Kosovo, such as Klokot/Kllokot , said Staff Sgt. Andrew Gilbertson, a member of LMT 6.
As LMT 6 began to settle into its new surroundings in Kosovo, it gained a new experienced member on the team. 1st Lt. Edward I. Simangan, Long Beach, Calif., had been the office in charge of LMT 8 in Hani l Elezit/Djeneral Jankovic, during KFOR 11's rotation.
Simangan volunteered to stay with KFOR 12 and will assume the officer-in-charge position for LMT 6. He said he hopes to continue growing a better relationship with those has met during his first rotation.
LMT 6 had a seamless transition with its KFOR 11 counterparts, who had been in Kosovo since February 2009. Now, it's time for the new Soldiers in town to shine.
"We are ready to get out there and start getting into a routine," Gilbertson said.
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