Three Ball State students will spend next semester in a foreign country, but instead of studying, they'll be part of an international peace process.
Junior Matt Herrmann, sophomore Greg Bailey and freshman Nate Handlang will leave their family, jobs and education for about a year to serve in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country in Southeast Europe that ended a three-year civil war in 1995.
Four companies from the Indiana National Guard will be activated Jan. 2 and will be sent to Bosnia in April, Herrmann said. They are charged with upholding the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the fightings on Nov. 21, 1995.
The deployment, Herrmann said, has nothing to do with Sept. 11. They've known since April they were leaving.
The civil war commenced as Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia. However, after Bosnia left Yugoslavia, the Serbian population within in Bosnia sought to declare their independence and join Yugoslavia, which was pro-Serbian.
"We're basically there to provide a safe environment for the people of Bosnia," Herrmann said. "We're like the final line."
"We're the army of today. The army can only be so many places so many times."
The students will be members of the Stabilization Force, commonly known as SFOR, which was implemented after the accords were signed. According to Sgt. 1st Class Michael Heister, the troops' primary duty is to watch out for each other. While they do this, though, they'll be monitoring the police, inspecting the army's weapons sites and ensuring the safety of the citizens.
"I'm not nervous," Handlang said. "We've done our training. We know what to do."
However, the troops should already be entering a safe environment, according to Francine Friedman, an assistant professor of political science who has written a book about Bosnian muslims.
She also spent the summer there, and she said she saw no hostility towards troops.
"(The Bosnians) love the United States," she said.
Concerns other than safety are on the minds of Herrmann and Bailey. Bailey will have to leave his girlfriend and his construction job in Berne, and the trip overseas will be a first for him, whose travels have only taken him as far as Texas and Florida.
"I didn't want to go at first, but I've got to deal with it," he said. "I'm just a little nervous because I've never been overseas, but I'm looking forward to going."
"I'm not crazy about going," Herrmann said. "But better me than somebody who has family or who has kids," Herrmann said. "It makes me feel good to know that I can sit back years from now and know I made a difference."
The students will not be able to attend Ball State again until the spring 2003, but they will be able to complete this semester.
Also, according to Heister, college instructors are available at some of the larger bases.
Currently, the students are stationed at the smallest base in the northeast Bosnia, but Heister said that could change.
During their tour of duty, Heister said they hope to have Internet access, Web cameras and a weight room available for the troops, but "it's not the Holiday Inn."
"We will be out in the middle of nowhere," he said.
This is not the first time the National Guard has been sent overseas, though Heister said he didn't know of any Indiana unit deployed overseas since the Vietnam War.
However, their presence is needed, Friedman said.
"It is vital for American troops to be in Bosnia," she said. "I believe the minute we leave, there will be war. Our presence, not European presences, will be vital there."
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