Palin Kosovo visit 'a huge morale boost'

Sgt. 1st Class Paul Wade reports on Governor Sarah Palin's time with the troops in Kosovo:

Soldiers from the 'Land of the Midnight Sun' got a huge morale boost when Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin, and the state's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, trekked the approximately 5,000 miles to see their National Guard troops from the 49th state and to show their support for the service members of the Multi-National Task Force-East KFOR 11 mission.

Gov. Palin seemed to enjoy her time with the troops also:

"Guard promotion ceremony capped great day; far away overseas it's our Bethel/Fbnks/Valley/Anch/Kodiak/Kotz + more troops represnting us well"

Details and photos of the visit by the governor and Alaska's Army National Guard adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell here.

- JP

Palin to Kerry: "Why The Long Face?"

In Kosovo just hours ago, Gov. Sarah Palin spoke to a group of servicemen and
answered Sen. John Kerry's joke that he wished Palin had been the governor who went missing:

"He looked quite frustrated and he looked so sad. I just wanted to reach out to the TV and say 'John Kerry, why the long face?'"

One of the Camp Bondsteel soldiers captured a good part of the governor's address here.

- JP

Gov. Palin Visits the 1/207th Arctic Eagles in Kosovo

The full press release from the governor's office:

June 25, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin is in Kosovo visiting approximately 140 Alaska Army National Guard aviators who are deployed for 12 months on a peacekeeping mission.

The 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment is providing aviation support with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to U.S. forces and coalition forces. This is an air assault mission in which the unit will be tasked with various duties including passenger and cargo airlift, external sling load deliveries, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. “I am happy to pass on the message of sincere thanks from all Alaskans,” Governor Palin said. “We are so proud of their service.”

A part of Governor Palin’s duties while she is in country is to inspect the troops and ascertain how the experience in Kosovo will better prepare these service members for missions within Alaska and future deployments overseas.

“As commander-in-chief, Governor Palin is the one we look to for leadership and inspiration while serving and defending the sovereign boundaries of Alaska,” said Lt. Gen. (AK) Craig E. Campbell, Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard. “We thank the commanding general of the Multi-National Task Force East for the invitation to visit and for his hospitality while in country.”

The 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation is the most deployed unit in the Alaska National Guard, having previously deployed elements to Kosovo in 2004, as well as fulfilling missions in Iraq, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras.

- JP

Gov.Palin's first tweet from overseas with the troops

Here's Gov. Sarah Palin's first message via Twitter from overseas with the troops:

"So humbling to see our troops over here making great sacrifices (their family sacrifices, too) for the cause for freedom. Please honor them"

- JP

Gov. Palin is on her way to Europe to visit troops

From the governor via Twitter:

"Travel now to bring appreciation from their Alaska family & Natl Guard leadership to heroes in US European Command's area of responsibility"

We had wondered whether Gov. Palin was going to return to the Middle East to visit her state's Guard troops deployed there after she tweeted:

"Got Fed ok for Adjutant Gen Campbell, Command Sgt Major Choate and me to travel to our Ak Army Natl Guard troops on Wed. Glad to go to them"

But now it seems that she's headed for Europe. The U.S. European Command -- USEUCOM -- has a wide area of responsibility:

Prior to the formation of Africa Command in October 2008 the area of responsibility (AOR) of the United States European Command covered more than 13 million square miles and included 91 countries and territories. This territory extends from the North Cape of Norway, through the waters of the Baltic and Mediterranean seas, most of Europe, parts of the Middle East, to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Several other countries and territories were considered to be part of the USEUCOM area of interest (AOI).

Effective 01 October 1998, the AOR of USEUCOM expanded to include six Western Slavic and Caucasus states of the former Soviet Union; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Another six European countries and territories are considered to be within EUCOM’s Area of Interest [AOI]. This is an area of concern to the Commander because of the possibility of current or planned operations. This could also include areas occupied by forces that could jeopardize the accomplishment of the mission. These were Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

On 17 April 2002, Defense officials announced changes in the Unified Command Plan. US European Command (EUCOM) will increase its area of responsibility. EUCOM will include the remainder of the Atlantic area off the East Coast to the shores of the Europe, he said, and it will pick up primary responsibility for Russia. Previously, Russian relations were handled in the Pentagon. U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) will help European Command with the far eastern part of Russia and will add Antarctica to its area of responsibility.

An interactive map of the USEUCOM AOR is here.

One of the countries where Alaska Army National guard troops are deployed is Kosovo, where 140 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment began a year long deployment in December of 2008 with its eight Blackhawk helicopters.

No reason she can't go on to the M.E. from Kosovo, however, and we think it's likely she will stop in Germany to visit the wounded at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center again, as she did in 2007.

Update: ADN finally reports on the trip, hours after TX4P broke the story. Meanwhile, the governor's office published this news release on its website.

- JP

Is Gov. Palin going back to the Middle East?

Governor Sarah Palin recently tweeted:

"Got Fed ok for Adjutant Gen Campbell, Command Sgt Major Choate and me to travel to our Ak Army Natl Guard troops on Wed. Glad to go to them"

The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate's tweet didn't say exactly where she would travel to visit the toops. But one has to wonder why she would need permission from the Feds to visit her own state's Guard troops unless she's talking... er, tweeting about going overseas to do it. The only other place we can think of that she might need federal permission to visit Alaska Army Guard troops is Fort Greely.  The missile base, however, is a hundred miles from Fairbanks, so a visit to the facility would not involve much in the way of travelling. Also, Gen. Cambell should not need federal permission to visit Greely.

The governor is about due for a return trip to visit Alaska's troops in the M.E.:

In July 2007, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) traveled to a U.S. military base in Kuwait to visit Alaska National Guard soldiers who provide logistical support for our operations in Iraq. On her return trip, she stopped to visit wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

Detachments of the Alaska Guard have been sent to both Iraq and Afghanistan since 2005. An infantry battalion was deployed to the middle east in 2006, and another infantry company deployed to Iraq in 2007. The governor's son Track deployed with his regular Army unit in 2008. The Alaska Army National Guard's aviation units have also seen a series of company sized rotations to Iraq.

If Gov. Palin does go back to the M.E., it would be a major story. It would also be nice if she could visit Track. Intrigued, we're awaiting something more specific details regarding her travel plans.

- JP