My overall wish is to leave a positive impact without anyone getting hurt. Taylor and the other 1st Armored Division soldiers will soon have the chance to put their training to the test. They left to join the 42,000-strong NATO led force in June. Jefferson Taylor, an assistant Abrams tank commander and gunner, checks his M-16 rifle before a training exercise. Taylor and 6,000 other soldiers are getting ready to join Task Force Falcon, the U.S. contingent responsible for enforcing peace in the southeast sector of Kosovo.
Soldiers repair tank tracks as they ready vehicles for departure to Kosovo.
The troops shipped out to Kosovo in June. Soldiers hone their riot control skills during a training exercise at Ray Barracks in Germany. Once in Kosovo, troops are responsible for enforcing law and order between the ethnic Albanians and the Serbs. Instructors set up a variety of mock scenarios based on actual events to test the soldiers' response skills.