ACCESSION NUMBER:00000

FILE ID:95082208.WWE

DATE:08/22/95

TITLE:22-08-95  KYRGYZ OFFICER AT CN95 VALUES U.S. TRAINING FOR HIS TROOPS



TEXT:

(Text: Press release 8/21) (440)



(The following press release was issued by the Press Information

Center of the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana,

August 21.)



Fort Polk, Louisiana -- Just a few years ago they were training to

fight American troops. Today, in historic training operations here,

the Kyrgyz soldiers are working side-by-side with the U.S. Army.



The irony is not lost on Capt. Stanislav Kholodkor, a l2-year veteran

of the Kyrgyzstan Army.



"I grew up during the Cold War when America was the enemy; now, we are

doing things as brothers," he said during a break in training.



Kholodkor commands a special forces unit that was selected by his

government to attend training at Fort Polk. Some of the soldiers in

his unit are conscripts who must serve for one and one-half years.



They are a disciplined and tight-knit unit," said Sgt. Rachel

Kavarsky, 338th, Military Intelligence Company, Waterbury, Conn.

Kavarsky acts as an interpreter with the Kyrgyzstan Army unit while it

is at Fort Polk. "Their captain (Kholodkor) is with them constantly.

They won't do a thing unless he tells them to," she said.



Kholodkor said he does not let politics interfere with being a

soldier. "If I was a good soldier during communism, I can be a good

soldier now." He felt that excercises like CN95 helped to improve

relations between the participating countries and hoped it would have

a positive effect on world affairs.



"The best thing is not that we are running and shooting and fighting,

it's the warmth, the happiness and brotherhood," he said. "As an

officer, I would like these relations to continue into the future. I

have heard a lot about American Special Forces, and I would like my

platoon to take part in more American training," Kholodkor said.



The aim of CN95 is to foster the ability of participating forces to

work together in combined peacekeeping and humanitarian relief

operations. Tactics, techniques and communications procedures are

practiced at platoon and company level. The excercise underscores the

U.S. commitment to the North Atlantic Alliance.



"This will make things better and better," he said, adding that he

hoped soldiers will only have one mission, to prevent wars.



In addition to Kyrgyzstan, other PFP nations include Albania,

Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lativia, Lithuania,

Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

and the NATO countries of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United

States.



Cooperative Nugget 95 continues through August 26,1995.

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