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| ANSWERING THE CALL | |
 April 20, 1999 
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Apache attack helicopter crews and troops from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division are being deployed in Albania to participate in NATO's strikes against Yugoslavia. Betty Ann Bowser talks to soliders preparing for this overseas deployment.
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SPECIALIST OMAR TEJEDA, U.S. Army: It's my first deployment. I'm a little bit excited. Whatever is laid in front of me will be a challenge. That's why I joined the Army. It's a challenge.
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BETTY ANN BOWSER: First Lieutenant Shane Tarrant commands a rifle platoon. Two days ago his father back in Greeley, Colorado, suffered a mild stroke. His mother isn't well either, and his young wife is worried he won't come back. But Tarrant says the mission is important.
BETTY ANN BOWSER: Is it his something that you'd be willing to die for? 1ST LT. SHANE TARRANT: Yes, ma'am. BETTY ANN BOWSER: This cause? 1ST LT. SHANE TARRANT: Yes, ma'am. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Why? 1ST LT. SHANE TARRANT: First because of my unit, I will die -- I would die for my unit. I don't want to die for my unit of course, but I will -- the guys and me have been through a lot, and I will make sure that I do my best to protect them, and they'll do their best to protect me. Secondly, if somebody else, an innocent person that can't defend themselves is going to die and it has to be my life, then that's the way it goes, man.
This time the stated mission is to use Apache helicopters like these to destroy Yugoslavian tanks in Kosovo. The Apache is equipped with hellfire missiles capable of hitting enemy tanks from five miles away, and according to Lieutenant Colonel Vance Sales, commander of the First Battalion of the 229th, the Apache can work closer to the ground than fixed-wing aircraft.
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BETTY ANN BOWSER: Major Jimmy Arp is an Apache helicopter pilot who expects to be deployed if the air war continues to widen. Over the weekend, he and his young family attended services at Northwood Temple in Fayetteville, a church that attracts a large number of military families from Ft. Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, including the top brass.
BETTY ANN BOWSER: Arp is an experienced Apache pilot who saw action in Desert Storm. Tami, his wife of 12 years, knows what long deployments mean, and she knows the dangers involved in flying an Apache helicopter. But she is moved by the stories of the refugees. TAMI ARP: What really grabs my attention when I see the refugees coming across, are the mothers that are giving birth and, you know, those kinds of conditions and the infants, because I have a six-month-old, and, you know, that really grabs my heart. And to see the children over there, and you just want to go help them. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Nine years ago when Arp deployed for the Persian Gulf the couple had no children. Now their lives are filled up with four-year-old Nathan and six-month-old Jarred, and the possibility of deployment poses different challenges.
MAJOR JIMMY ARP: We've been very fortunate, in that I haven't deployed very much in the last eight years by virtue of the positions that I've been in. But I'm in a unit now where the young people in my unit in the last 18 months had to -- one battalion has deployed to Bosnia and returned, the other battalion deployed to Bosnia and returned. And so you're seeing a lot more operational deployments, and we all volunteer for this, and we all want to support and defend the Constitution, and there's that sense of pride, but it's tough on the families.
BETTY ANN BOWSER: Both Arp and his wife think the crisis in Kosovo will drag on for months, and both think it won't be resolved without the introduction of ground troops, but whatever difficult times lie ahead, they say they're prepared. |
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BETTY
ANN BOWSER: About 700 soldiers from the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division
began deploying last night for Albania from Pope Air Force Base in North
Carolina. They will provide security for 24 Apache helicopters being
sent to the region as part of the NATO air campaign. They are among
the first ground troops to be sent to Albania. The mood of these soldiers
was relaxed, but they know they are heading for a war zone. 
SPECIALIST
JAI KIM, U.S. Army: I'm nervous about what's going to happen, what to
expect, because we don't really know what to expect over there, so we're
just getting prepared for our duties as soldiers. 
1ST
LT. SHANE TARRANT, U.S. Army: This one matters to me because it's our
job as soldiers to protect the people that protect themselves.
BETTY
ANN BOWSER: Over the weekend, another contingent of soldiers, including
Apache pilots and support personnel from the 229th Aviation Regiment,
were also deployed to Albania, bringing the number of American servicemen
sent from Ft. Bragg and nearby bases to about 1,100. The 82nd Airborne
is famous for its ability to deploy anywhere in the world in 18 hours.
Its soldiers were among the first called up during the Persian Gulf
War. They most recently provided humanitarian aid to victims of Hurricane
Mitch in Honduras. 
LT.
COLONEL VANCE SALES, U.S. Army: I can loiter in a manner in which is
very methodical and maneuver through the terrain en masse behind the
terrain. I can blend into the terrain a little bit better and stay a
little bit longer. 
PEOPLE
SINGING: Great is thy faithfulness oh, God, my Father. 
SPOKESMAN:
This is General Borkan, right here, head of Special Forces. This is
Colonel Aker, he's the Wing II commander at Pope Air Base. They're in
our church right now. We're going to pray, and I'll never get over that
prayer you prayed last week. I wish the whole world could hear it. We're
going to pray and we're going to be God that God's going to bring an
end to this war. We're going to pray for our men, the three soldiers,
we're going to pray for today - we're going to pray for them that are
behind captivity and we're going to pray for those in Macedonia and
Albania. 
TAMI
ARP: Emotionally-wise, with having children, you think, "Well,
if my husband goes, how long is he going for? When's he coming home?
Is he coming home? Will he miss Christmas?" You know, you think
-- I hate to say this but -- he was taking a nap with my six-month-old
the other day and I thought, "Should I take a picture of this?"
You know, because you wonder if that six-month-old is going to grow
up to know his dad. 
TAMI
ARP: Well, this morning it's in the newspaper on the front page that
Apache's from Fort Bragg have left to go over to Kosovo, and those are
guys that my husband works with.