NATO's U.S. forces in Kosovo may lose benefits of combat status

[Rose Siding]

Top Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to downgrade the combat status of U.S. forces participating in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, a decision that could cause the 1,500 U.S. soldiers currently deployed there to lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars each month in tax benefits and combat pay.

Such a decision, expected within the next month, would indicate that Pentagon officials do not believe Kosovo is still a combat zone, despite rising tensions in the Balkans over Kosovo's continuing bid for independence and frequent U.S. missions that involve dangerous interdictions of smuggling rings, raids on armed extremist groups, and encounters with improvised bombs.

It would also mean that hundreds of National Guardsmen and reservists would lose a coveted tax exclusion that allows them to earn their pay tax-free while tacking on hundreds more in combat pay. They would also lose government-funded flights to the United States when they take leave.

The U.S. mission that began in 1999 now receives little attention amid the worsening wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent interviews, soldiers and officers with the Virginia Army National Guard in Kosovo said they put their lives on the line every day as part of the Kosovo Force, or KFOR -- and believe they deserve the benefits of combat pay.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/04/MNG16OF7G81.DTL

[acmavm]

1. Hey, soon the bush** admin will be making an announcement that

duty in Iraq is just a peacekeeping mission and those troops don't deserve combat pay either.

I can see it coming.