About 1,500 1st Division soldiers supported the 1st Armored Division during the IFOR mission. Division leaders know the dangers and threats involved in the new operation. According to a division official, the area is still rife with ethnic tensions. Aggressive resettling has occurred in the past and continues. All factions in the region use resettlement and limiting freedom of movement as weapons.
Terrorism also remains a threat.
The covering force deployed in early October. Michael Damberger, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, is a signal support specialist with the covering force. He's been training for the Bosnia mission for about a year. I'm having a good time. Curtis Crum, also of the same unit, said the covering force troops are motivated and will do anything they're asked to do.