Three guard members offer up their takes on their mission in Croatia.
Tech Sgt Scott Leffler:
“Kids aren’t ready to learn unless they are fed. It is a neat way to contribute. A coat of paint, anyone could do that,” said Tech. Sgt. Scott Leffler. “Every kid in the building will be able to benefit from what we are doing.”
Leffler and other members of the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 133rd and 148th Civil Engineer Squadrons and members of the Minnesota Army National Guard 851st Vertical Engineer Company are working tirelessly to complete the month-long project on time.
“I wish I could have been here when the kids were in school,” said Leffler. “It’s great to get that connection and it is great to feel like we were able to serve the kids here.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The town was severely impacted by conflicts in the early nineties. Passersby can still see bullet holes in the buildings and how portions of the area still remain unrepaired 30 years later.
“It added a level of realism to the situation here, what these people have gone through,” said Leffler. “You can easily see damage in some parts of town, the things that haven’t been touched and 30 years later we are still a part of the process.”
The members of the group are encouraged to eat and adventure in the town of Karlovac. Leffler and some other Airmen from the 133rd Airlift Wing were recently drinking coffee at a local café and came across a member of the community who was forever positively affected by his experience with U.S. military members.
“This guy didn’t speak a lot of English, but he was telling us during the war he stepped on a mine and it blew threw his arm,” said Leffler. “He said that it was the American doctors who saved his life and he thanked us for that – that meant a lot.”
Military members from around Minnesota and a few parts of Wisconsin are joined with about a dozen engineers of the Croatian Army to complete the tasking job in just a handful of weeks.
“The Croatian army here is a riot and it has been great getting know them,” said Leffler, the year veteran of the Air National Guard “I think they are enjoying being with us just as much as we are enjoying being here with them.”
---
SPC Jesse Mendiola:
ADVERTISEMENT
“I always wanted to serve and I wanted to go to college,” said Spc. Jesse Mendiola, a masonry/carpenter specialist.
The father of two young children, both under the age of one, is currently serving in Karlovac, Croatia, with nearly 30 other members of the Minnesota Air and Army National Guard.
“I love it. I love the weather, people and food,” said Mendiola, who works at US Distilled Products out of Princeton, Minn.
The project is a Humanitarian Civic Assistance project made possible by the US European Command in partnership with the US Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia. The project is expected to be complete by July 1.
“I don’t get to this everyday; you get to learn and experience new things,” said Mendiola. “For example, the metricvs. American measurement system is something we are required to work with during our time here.”
Family is a huge driving factor for his desire to serve. His wife and mother to his two children is supportive of his desire to serve in the military.
“She likes that I am serving and it means a lot to have her support,” said Mendiola. “I get up every day to support her and my family and her willingness to support me through times away from home makes missions like this a little easier to do.”
---
ADVERTISEMENT
MSgt Kevin Schieber:
This year Schieber and other Airmen from the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th and 133rd Civil Support Squadrons traveled overseas to participate in a Humanitarian Civic Assistance project. They are joined by the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 851st Vertical Engineer Company, along with crews from the Croatian Army Engineering Horizontal Construction Company, to repair and rebuild parts of a primary school in Karlovac, Croatia.
“Deployments for Training are good for brushing up on communication skills and how the units work together and work differently,” said Schieber. “Sometimes I think one unit might be stronger in a different skillset, but bringing units together you might be able to work together from that.”
This year is the 20th Anniversary of the Minnesota National Guard’s- State Partnership with Croatia. The Airmen and Soldiers have been working long hours to remodel and upgrade the kitchen, bathroom and office of an elementary school that services nearly 800 kids in the city. This isn’t the first time Schieber has been exposed to a project in the National Guard with such a high demand.
“I was in Ogulin, Croatia, in 2014 and it was strictly Airmen from the Minnesota Air Guard - we were remodeling a schoolhouse – we got extended a week,” said Schieber, “We did a two-month project in one month. We worked long and late hours. We pulled people from different trades and did a lot of cross training - we got the job done!”
Getting the job done quickly and correctly is a priority with all engineers on the jobsite, regardless of whether they are American or Croatian.
“Language barriers is an obvious one. Learning to become flexible and adaptable to techniques that you may have never seen before,” said Schieber. “You might not know it or even like it, but you have to respect that country’s way of doing things.”
By Tech. Sgt. Lynette Olivares, 133rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
ADVERTISEMENT
