Editing Kosovo War (section)

==Yugoslav army withdrawal and the entry of KFOR==
On 3 June 1999, Milošević accepted the terms of an international peace plan to end the fighting, with the national parliament adopting the proposal amid contentious debate with delegates coming close to fistfights at some points.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9906/03/kosovo.peace.04/|publisher=CNN|title=Milosevic accepts peace plan, Finnish envoy says|date=3 June 1999|access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://nytimes.com/1999/06/04/opinion/the-kosovo-peace-plan.html |work=The New York Times |title=The Kosovo Peace Plan |date=4 June 1999 |access-date=7 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605034712/http://nytimes.com/1999/06/04/opinion/the-kosovo-peace-plan.html |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> On 10 June, the [[North Atlantic Council]] ratified the agreement and suspended air operations.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Press statement by NATO Secretary General|publisher=NATO|date=10 June 1999|url=http://www.nato.int/kosovo/press/p990610a.htm}}</ref>

[[File:990628-M-5696S-025 - U.S. Marines march with local children down street of Zegra, Kosovo.jpg|thumb|US Marines walk with local Albanian children down the main street of Zegra on 28 June 1999]]

On 12 June, after Milošević accepted the conditions, the NATO-led [[NATO peacekeeping|peacekeeping]] [[Kosovo Force]] (KFOR) of 30,000 soldiers began entering Kosovo.<ref name="knoll05">{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/ejil/chi140|title=From Benchmarking to Final Status? Kosovo and the Problem of an International Administration's Open-Ended Mandate |year=2005 |last1=Knoll |first1=Bernhard |journal=European Journal of International Law |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=637–660 |doi-access=free }}</ref> KFOR had been preparing to conduct combat operations, but in the end, its mission was only peacekeeping. The force was based upon the [[Allied Rapid Reaction Corps]] headquarters commanded by then Lieutenant General [[Mike Jackson (British Army officer)|Mike Jackson]] of the [[British Army]]. It consisted of British forces (a brigade built from 4th Armored and 5th Airborne Brigades), a [[French Army]] Brigade, a [[German Army]] brigade, which entered from the west, while other forces advanced from the south, and [[Italian Army]] and [[United States Army]] brigades.

The first NATO troops to enter Pristina on the 12th of June 1999 were [[Norway|Norwegian]] special forces from [[Forsvarets Spesialkommando]] (FSK) and soldiers from the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Special Air Service]] 22 Regiment, although to NATO's diplomatic embarrassment Russian troops arrived at the airport first. Norwegian soldiers were the first to come into contact with Russian troops at the airport. FSK's mission was to level the negotiating field between the belligerent parties, and to fine-tune the detailed, local deals needed to implement the peace deal between the Serbians and the Kosovo Albanians.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.norli.no/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&catalogId=10051&categoryId=&productId=1085065&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&urlLangId=-101&langId=-101&top_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10651 |title=Krigere og diplomater {{!}} Norli |access-date=2018-12-05 |website= Norli.no |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307042943/http://www.norli.no/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplay?catalogid=10051&categoryid=&errorviewname=productdisplayerrorview&langid=-101&parent_category_rn=&productid=1085065&storeid=10651&top_category=&urllangid=-101&urlrequesttype=base |archive-date=2016-03-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url= http://www.norli.no/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&catalogId=10051&categoryId=&productId=286391&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&urlLangId=-101&langId=-101&top_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10651 |title= Norges hemmelige krigere |type=book product |access-date=2018-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421051414/http://www.norli.no/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&catalogId=10051&categoryId=&productId=286391&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&urlLangId=-101&langId=-101&top_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10651 |archive-date=2014-04-21 |url-status=dead |isbn= 978-82-489-0839-5 |last1= Bakkeli |first1= Tom |year= 2008 |publisher= Kagge }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vg.no/i/bKnG05|title=Britisk og norske soldater i Pristina|website=www.vg.no|date=12 June 1999 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vg.no/i/L0AmRJ|title=Norske elitesoldater skamroses|website=www.vg.no|date=3 March 2000 }}</ref>

The US contribution, known as the Initial Entry Force, was led by the [[1st Armored Division (United States)|1st Armored Division]], commanded by Brigadier General Peterson, and was spearheaded by a platoon from the 2nd Battalion, [[505th Infantry Regiment (United States)|505th Parachute Infantry Regiment]] attached to the British Forces. Other units included 1st and 2nd Battalions of the [[10th Special Forces Group (United States)|10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)]] from [[Stuttgart]], [[Germany]] and [[Fort Carson]], [[Colorado]], TF 1–6 Infantry (1-6 infantry with C Co 1-35AR) from [[Baumholder|Baumholder, Germany]], the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment from [[Fort Bragg]], [[North Carolina]], the [[26th Marine Expeditionary Unit]] from [[Camp Lejeune]], [[North Carolina]], the [[1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment]] from Schweinfurt, Germany, and [[Echo Troop 238th Cavalry|Echo Troop]], [[4th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|4th Cavalry Regiment]], also from Schweinfurt, Germany. Also attached to the US force was the [[Greek Army]]'s 501st Mechanised Infantry Battalion. The initial US forces established their area of operation around the towns of [[Uroševac]], the future [[Camp Bondsteel]], and [[Gjilan|Gnjilane]], at [[Camp Monteith]], and spent four months{{snd}}the start of a stay which continues to date{{snd}}establishing order in the southeast sector of Kosovo.

[[File:Defense.gov News Photo 990726-A-9985E-012.jpg|thumb|left|US soldiers escort a Serbian civilian from his home in Zitinje after finding an automatic weapon, 26 July 1999]]

During the initial incursion, the US soldiers were greeted by Albanians cheering and throwing flowers as US soldiers and KFOR rolled through their villages. Although no resistance was met, three US soldiers from the Initial Entry Force were killed in accidents.<ref>Sergeant William Wright&nbsp;– B Company 9th Engineers (17 July 1999); Specialist Sherwood Brim&nbsp;– B Company 9th Engineers (17 July 1999); Private First Class Benjamin McGill&nbsp;– C Company 1st Battalion 26th Infantry (5 August 1995).</ref>

On 1 October 1999, approximately 150 paratroopers from Alpha Company, 1/508th Airborne Battalion Combat Team from [[Vicenza]], [[Italy]] parachuted into [[Ferizaj|Uroševac]] as part of Operation Rapid Guardian. The purpose of the mission was primarily to warn Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević of NATO resolve and of its rapid military capability. One US soldier, [[United States Army Rangers|Army Ranger]] Sgt. Jason Neil Pringle, was killed during operations after his parachute failed to deploy. The paratroopers of the 1/508th then joined paratroopers of the [[82nd Airborne Division|82nd Airborne]] and KFOR in patrolling various areas of Kosovo, without incident, through 3 October 1999.

On 15 December 1999, Staff Sergeant Joseph Suponcic of 3rd Battalion/10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was killed, when the [[Humvee|HMMWV]] in which he was a passenger struck an [[anti-tank mine]] planted by Albanians and meant for the Russian contingent with which SSG Suponcic's team was patrolling in [[Kamenica, Kosovo|Kosovska Kamenica]].

[[File:Defense.gov News Photo 000109-A-4385T-009.jpg|thumb|US soldiers maintain crowd control as Albanian residents of [[Vitina]] protest in the streets on 9 January 2000]]

Following the military campaign, the involvement of Russian peacekeepers proved to be tense and challenging to the NATO Kosovo force. The Russians expected to have an independent sector of Kosovo, only to be unhappily surprised with the prospect of operating under NATO command. Without prior communication or coordination with NATO, Russian peacekeeping forces entered Kosovo from [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and occupied [[Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari|Pristina International Airport]] ahead of the arrival of NATO forces. This resulted in [[Incident at Pristina airport|an incident]] during which NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark's wish to forcibly block the runways with NATO vehicles, to prevent any Russian reinforcement, was refused by KFOR commander [[General Sir Mike Jackson|General Mike Jackson]].<ref name=jackson>{{cite book |title=Soldier |first=Jackson |last=Mike |publisher=Transworld Publishers |year=2007 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/soldierautobiogr00jack/page/255 255–275] |isbn=978-0-593-05907-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/soldierautobiogr00jack/page/255 }}</ref>

In 2010, [[James Blunt]] described in an interview how his unit was given the assignment of securing Pristina during the advance of the 30,000-strong peacekeeping force and how the [[Russian Ground Forces|Russian Army]]  had moved in and taken control of the city's airport before his unit's arrival. Blunt shared a part in the difficult task of addressing the potentially violent international incident. According to Blunt's account there was a stand-off with the Russians, and NATO Supreme Commander Clark gave provisional orders to over-power them. Whilst these were questioned by Blunt, they were rejected by General Jackson, with the now famous line, "I'm not having my soldiers responsible for starting [[World War III]]."<ref>{{cite news |title= Singer James Blunt 'prevented World War III'|publisher=BBC|date=14 November 2010}}</ref>

In June 2000, arms trading relations between Russia and Yugoslavia were exposed, which led to retaliation and bombings of Russian checkpoints and area police stations. [[Outpost Gunner]] was established on a high point in the Preševo Valley by Echo Battery 1/161 Field Artillery in an attempt to monitor and assist with peacekeeping efforts in the Russian Sector. Operating under the support of {{frac|2|3}} Field Artillery, 1st Armored Division, the Battery was able to successfully deploy and continuously operate a Firefinder Radar system, which allowed the NATO forces to keep a closer watch on activities in the Sector and the Preševo Valley. Eventually a deal was struck whereby Russian forces operated as a unit of KFOR but not under the NATO command structure.<ref name="bbc-airport">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/671495.stm|title=Confrontation over Pristina airport|access-date=2008-02-08|date=2000-03-09|publisher=BBC}}</ref>