Swisscoy
The Swisscoy is the association of Swiss Army in Kosovo . It is provided and financed by Switzerland as part of the peacebuilding military mission KFOR of NATO in Kosovo with a contingent of a maximum of 165 people .
Political foundations
International peacebuilding is one of the three tasks of the Swiss Armed Forces. This mandate is enshrined in the Swiss federal constitution and the Swiss military law. In addition to peacebuilding, defense and subsidiary support for the civil authorities are among the three tasks of the Swiss Armed Forces. Although Switzerland is not a member of the NATO alliance, the Swiss Army involved with the Swisscoy ( acronym for Swiss Company ) within the framework of military cooperation PfP (Partnership for Peace), between NATO and various non-NATO member states, at the international peacebuilding mission Kosovo Force (KFOR) in Kosovo.
The use of Swisscoy goes back to a Federal Council decision of June 23, 1999 to participate militarily - based on UN Resolution 1244 - in KFOR. The SWISSCOY mandate lasts three years. In the summer of 2017, the parliament approved another extension of the mandate until the end of 2020. The decision-making authority to decide on the next three years or a continuation of the Swiss mission rests with Parliament.
The use of Swisscoy is compatible with neutrality: First, based the KFOR mission on the consent of both parties, secondly, Switzerland is exclusively for peace promotion , that is, to take part in hostilities peace enforcement remain excluded.
Detachment
The Swiss contingent will be replaced every six months.
Structure and area of responsibility
Changed requirements
The positive development of the security situation in Kosovo led to changes in the structures of KFOR and to a gradual reduction in the number of security elements. At the beginning of the mission, the focus was on emergency aid and post-war reconstruction. Today the focus is on monitoring the country's development. In order to meet the changed requirements, Swisscoy takes on different tasks today than at the beginning of the assignment. At the beginning of the KFOR mission, Swisscoy was among other things with infantry units in Kosovo. This is no longer the case today. Today, the strengths of Swisscoy lie primarily in the areas of transport services, pioneering craft, EOD (ordnance disposal) , air transport and the LMT (Liaison and Monitoring Teams).
JRD-N and LMT
On January 1, 2012, a Swiss colonel took over command of the Joint Regional Detachement North (JRD-N) and reports directly to the KFOR commander. The LMT (Liaison and Monitoring Teams) have been part of SWISSCOY since April 2010. The LMT are the eyes and ears of KFOR. In the daily exchange with the local population, the soldiers find out what concerns the local people. The task of the LMT is to collect information through discussions with the population and key persons (e.g. political contacts) and to forward it via JRD to the KFOR commander, who uses these reports, among other things, to assess the situation and as a basis for operational decisions . A local translator always accompanies LMT. Switzerland provides KFOR with a total of four LMTs in different regions.
Overview
According to its mandate, Swisscoy fulfills multinational and national tasks. The greater part of Swisscoy provides services with the elements listed below in a multinational framework and is assigned to other KFOR organizational units for operational cooperation:
- Transport train with special vehicles,
- Pioneer or genius train , responsible for general KFOR construction projects,
- Liaison and Monitoring Teams (LMT) at four locations,
- Staff and Liaison Officers at HQ (Headquarters) KFOR and Joint Regional Detachement (JRD),
- International Military Police (IMP),
- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team (EOD) ,
- Medical team,
- Air transport detachment that has Cougar helicopters .
Together with an Austrian transport train, the transport train forms a joint transport company, the so-called Transportcoy. The Transportcoy and the pioneer train are subordinate to the Joint Logistic Support Group (JLSG) of KFOR.
The other part of Swisscoy fulfills both purely national and binational orders in cooperation with partner nations. This includes the NCC staff (Pristina site) and the National Support Element (NSE) at the Prizren site . A functioning NSE is required to enable the services of the operational Swisscoy elements. This includes maintenance, which ensures that Swisscoy always remains mobile. The warehouse, which is responsible for the various logistical issues, is also part of the operation of Swisscoy. Ultimately, two catering facilities (the so-called Swiss Chalet in the Prizren field camp and the Swiss House in the Swiss Compound of Camp Film City in Pristina ) are part of the Swisscoy, which are open to members of all KFOR nations.
Stationing and locations
Since the closure of the Casablanca camp in Suva Reka , which was run and run jointly with the Austrians , SWISSCOY has been distributed decentrally in Kosovo. The SWISSCOY members are stationed at five locations, depending on their function. The NCC (National Contingent Commander) staff, the military police, the EOD team, the SWIC (Swiss Intelligence Cell) as well as parts of the transmission and parts of the medical team are at home at the KFOR headquarters in Pristina (Camp Film City). In cooperation with Austrian KFOR members, the Swiss Medics, composed of several nurses and a doctor, are responsible for the operation of the joint Medical Center (first medical contact point, comparable to a well-equipped Swiss family doctor's practice) in the Swiss Compound of the headquarters. The National Support Element (NSE), the transport train, the Genie-Zug as well as parts of the transmission and parts of the medical team, which work for the benefit of the hospital (ELAZ), are stationed in the Prizren field camp. The JRD-N fulfills its orders from Camp Novo Selo south of Mitrovica. The Swiss air transport detachment is stationed at Camp Bondsteel in the southeast of Kosovo. Two Swiss LMT are located in the south and are housed in private houses in Malishevo and Prizren. Two other LMT are stationed in the north of Kosovo in Camp Novo Selo, south of Mitrovica, and operate in different assigned areas of responsibility. The fieldhouse in Mitrovica was opened in summer 2014. Since then, LMT Mitrovica has lived and worked in the midst of the local population.
Training and deployment preparation
The Swiss Armed Forces' SWISSINT competence center, based in Stans-Oberdorf, ensures the recruitment of personnel as well as the deployment- related training and equipment of the Swiss foreign troops . The training center (AZ) is subordinate to the competence center in Stans. The AZ, which is also located on the Wil near Stans weapon station, is responsible for mission-related training (EBA). All courses are set up according to the requirements and lessons learned from the assignments and continuously adapted. The range of courses is broad and is aimed at national and international as well as civil and military interested parties. NATO has certified AZ Swissint as a Partnership for Peace Training and Education Center. It offers various national and international courses for civil and military participants. The military observer course (SUNMOC) is also certified by the UNOI. The infrastructure is provided by the weapons yard in Stans-Oberdorf and the Swissint camp, which offers space for 180 people in around 200 containers.
Armament
The members of SWISSCOY are armed with pistols and assault rifles and an irritant sprayer (RSG) in the Kosovo operational area.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Swisscoy assignment is extended for a further three years. Aargauer Zeitung, accessed on September 18, 2017 .
- ↑ SWISSCOY: Camp Casablanca is history Press release by the Federal Council of August 30, 2012, accessed on January 29, 2017