CAMP NOTHING HILL, Kosovo — Multinational Battle Group East chaplains traveled to the remote NATO Kosovo Force outpost, Camp Nothing Hill May 17, to provide religious support to soldiers.
Army Chaplain (Maj.) Maury D. Millican, of Bismarck, N.D., and Army Chaplain (Capt.) Timothy J. Meier, Los Altos, Calif., provided Protestant and Catholic services for the MNBG E soldiers at Camp Nothing Hill. The chaplains also took the time to meet and reach out to soldiers as they carried out their daily missions.
KFOR units rotate through Camp Nothing Hill on regular intervals to support security in northern Kosovo. Currently, MNBG E’s Bravo Company, a unit comprised of primarily North Dakota Army National Guard soldiers, is posted there.
“Our main reason for going there was to let them know we have not forgotten about themt, hey’re not abandoned or alone and to encourage them and lift morale and provide religious support,” Millican said.
Rotations last about four weeks, and when U.S. KFOR units are stationed there the MNBG E chaplains travel weekly to Camp Nothing Hill from their headquarters at Camp Bondsteel.
To begin their day, Millican, a Protestant minister, and Meier, a Catholic priest, headed for the boundary between Kosovo and Serbia to meet and talk with a platoon-size element of U.S. soldiers from Camp Nothing Hill, who were posted at the Administrative Boundary Line to assist the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX).
At the main camp, the chaplains took the time to seek out and converse with soldiers as they went about their morning duties, offering any support the soldiers might need. In the afternoon, the chaplains held religious services.
“I usually spend time walking around the perimeter, visiting soldiers in the guard towers, or in the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation area,” said Meier, who completed his ninth visit to soldiers at Camp Nothing Hill.
Meier was the battalion chaplain for 1-144th Maneuver Task Force, which has redeployed to the United States. The 1-144th was tasked with the Camp Nothing Hill mission twice, first in January and again in March 2010.
Millican only had one regret about the visit saying, “I wish I had an opportunity to visit with all the soldiers, but with work schedules and those on the night shift sleeping that was not possible, but the visit went well today.”
Multinational Battle Group East is a U.S- led task force commanded by Army Brig. Gen. Al Dohrmann. This battle group is comprised of nearly 1,200 soldiers, including Greece, Poland, Ukraine, and Turkey. The charter mission of MNBG E is maintaining a safe and secure environment and providing freedom of movement for the people in Kosovo.
