HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

tarian assistance, began immediately thereafter.
By June 15, SOF units had entered the
American sector in Kosovo to reconnoiter the
area and assess conditions for conventional
forces.
These SOF personnel encountered the
antipathy between Serb and Albanian Kosovars.
SOF applied techniques proven in Bosnia-
Herzegovina to Kosovo. SOF soon became
KFOR’s source for “ground truth” in Kosovo’s
volatile environment. Special Forces teams
patrolled the American sector independently
and also as the U.S. liaison element to Polish
and Russian units. For example, a SF ODA conducted
the first combined operations with the
Russians since World War II as they sought to
quash nightly attacks by militants. PSYOP personnel
worked to stabilize the situation by distributing
native-language leaflets that promoted
mine awareness and acceptance of the rule of
law. Special Forces soldiers also monitored the
Serb military’s withdrawal from the province
and assessed the flow of refugees returning to
their homeland.
Civil Affairs soldiers, previously engaged in
supporting Operation SHINING HOPE, moved
forward to assist in reconstituting Kosovo’s
infrastructure. One of their first actions was to
help establish a civil-military coordination committee,
a step toward returning Kosovo to civilian
control. CA soldiers soon improved conditions
throughout the province, as they helped
organize the importation of heating fuel, repairs
to electric grids and water systems, the activation
of a civilian-run radio station in the capital
city of Pristina, and the reopening of schools.
They also coordinated the activities of a number
of NGOs and helped a UN-sponsored
International Police Task Force begin work in
Kosovo.
Special Forces liaison teams, including those
attached to a Polish Battalion and a Russian
Brigade, initiated street patrols throughout
their areas of operations. To counter ethnic violence,
these patrols arranged meetings between
local Albanians and Serbs, sought out illegal
weapons caches, and assisted war crimes investigators
in locating massacre sites. The teams’
eyewitness reports gave the JOINT GUARDIAN
leadership a clear understanding of local conditions.
In another application of SOF’s unique
capabilities, a Special Forces detachment,
skilled in the Arabic culture and language,
deployed to Kosovo to serve as a LCE between
KFOR and units from the United Arab Emirates
and the Kingdom of Jordan. In September 1999,
SOF integrated these forces into the Kosovo AO,
further strengthening the KFOR coalition.
SOF provided the TF Falcon commanders
with unique capabilities—liaison, ground truth,
SR, DA, and peacekeeping. Headquarters
USSOCOM provided these SOF forces with the
oversight, resourcing, and equipment needed to
complete these highly complex and sensitive
missions.
During JOINT GUARDIAN, CPT Robert Schaefer and his ODA 056 served as the Liaison
Coordination Element (LCE) to the Russian 13th Tactical Group. This ODA supported the
Russian Brigade, provided situational awareness for TF Falcon, enhanced force protection,
and collected information on the locations and activities of both Serbian and Kosovo
Liberation Army (UCK) forces. For the first month and a half, ODA 056 had intense nightly
firefights with UCK soldiers and Kosovar Albanian militants. The team also conducted presence
patrols, distributed PSYOP materials, and conducted quick reaction force (QRF) and
MEDEVAC training with the Russians. In late July 1999, ODA 056 called in artillery fire in
support of the Russians—the first time that the United States has supported Russia with
artillery since WWII. CPT Schaefer, fluent in Russian, helped the Russian brigade plan and
execute two large search and raid operations that confiscated UCK weapons. These raids
were the largest combined U.S.-Russian operations since WWII. These successful operations
demonstrated how tactical success can influence the strategic environment by helping to build
better U.S.-Russian relations.
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