December 21, 1995
Web posted at: 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT)
From Correspondent Jackie Shymanski
TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- Another load of U.S. troops was flown into Tuzla Thursday; only 19,000 to go.
The military has had to battle bad weather as they try to move in, but IFOR (NATO factsheet) planners are not ruffled.
"If the weather clears we'll be up to speed in a day or two," said U.S. Sector Commander Maj. Gen. William Nash. "If the weather doesn't clear, it will take us a week to get caught up."
Though U.S. troop deployment is behind schedule, Nash kept an appointment behind Bosnian Serb lines Wednesday. He said his hook-up with fellow NATO brass was supported by Bosnia's warring sides.
"They're the ones that signed the peace agreement. The burden of peace is on their shoulders and they're bearing that responsibility quite well," Nash said.
Nash told reporters he will put some forward bases in Serb-held territory, areas where foreign troops were not permitted during the three and a half years of war. Patrols will operate out of those bases to police the dividing line separating Bosnian factions.
U.S. Army engineers are expected to complete a temporary bridge next week across the Sava River, which marks the border between Croatia and Bosnia north of Tuzla, the northeast Bosnia city that will serve as the U.S. base. The bridge will allow the First Armored Division now massing in Hungary to roll south into Bosnia. All 20,000 U.S. troops in the 60,000-member NATO peacekeeping force are to be deployed in Bosnia by the end of January.
Meanwhile, NATO reported the first casualties of its peacekeeping mission Thursday. A German soldier was killed during an exercise and a Croat civilian died in a collision with a NATO vehicle.
Otherwise, the first official day was hailed as a success, as NATO troops fanned out to positions across the war-torn countryside.
"This is a good-news story," said U.S. Navy Adm. Leighton Smith, commander of the NATO-led force that took over the task of policing peace from the United Nations mission Wednesday.
"I've been here 24 hours and I'm just tickled pink" Smith said. He expressed pleasure that soldiers have already moved into Serb-held areas and taken down some of the most infamous checkpoints of the three-and-a-half year war.
Meanwhile, the few hundred U.S. troops that have arrived in Tuzla are taking on new responsibilities. Land mines and potential intruders offer a degree of threat to their Tuzla base.
Nothing is left unchallenged. For instance, a soldier on patrol was called upon to case out a man walking with a horse cart. As it turned out, the cart contained only compost. Though the situation was not uncommon and it makes the soldiers nervous, Army Spec. Dan Parker said it's part of their job.
Settling in is another task for U.S. troops. Home for some in Tuzla is what used to be a bunker for MiG fighter jets. It's cold, but better than the big chill outdoors.
Immune to the weather, but not their country's war, a group of Bosnian refugees said they are grateful for the U.S. troops' presence. For them, it means security and jobs. The Bosnians even welcome the Russians, who will take part in this NATO deployment.
A Russian survey team in Tuzla isn't saying much. "We have a certain task to fulfill here," said Maj. Gen. Viktor Denison of the Russian Air Force. "So far, everything is going according to schedule."
About 2,000 Russians will join their former Cold War enemies in Bosnia in January.
The U.S. troops need to get in now. Weather and logistical problems only complicate what was already a tough deployment. The U.S. contingent will be the biggest on the ground. And unlike the British or the French, some of whom were serving in the U.N. forces in Bosnia, all are new arrivals.
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