January - ACO - NATO

Story and photos by Captain Primož Hodak, SlovenianArmySince I have arrived as a member of the 22ndSlovenian KFOR contingent in the military baseVillaggio Italia at Peć/Peje, I have been intrigued bythe Liaison Monitoring Team (LMT) and how theyoperate. I decided to join the LMT, operating in thearea of the municipality Istok / Istog because I wantedto see in reality what they do, where they go and learnabout their experiences. So I interviewed the groupleader, Major Lojze Pavič, to satisfy my curiosity.Can you initially explain your basic task?We are the monitor of the Multinational Battle GroupWest (MNBG W) Commander. We transmit an imageto him so that he can visualize the terrain, with anemphasis on the demographic and social aspect. Forhim it is not enough just to see a three-dimensionalpicture but he needs to obtain the dimension in whichhe can see how the people live in this area. So heshould feel the pulse of the population. At the sametime, we are the link which connectspeople at all levels, regardless of gender, colour, creedor nationality, with Multinational KFOR troops. Infact, we are the eyes, ears and voice of KFOR and weprovide feedback from the field, not only of thebehaviour, but also the mutual understanding of all theactors in this area.10 KFOR Chronicle, January 2011