Embry-Riddle Serving Bosnia Peacekeepers
Daytona Beach, Fla., Dec. 12, 1996 -- At the invitation
of the U.S. Army in Europe, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
is offering a college education to soldiers deployed about
35 miles north of Croatia in support of Operation Joint
Endeavor.
 Six courses are being taught near Kaposvar, Hungary, where a cluster of four Army and Air Force camps with a population of 5,200 serves as the rear U.S. staging area.
A heavily augmented U.S. 1st Armored Division shares peacekeeping duties in Croatia and Bosnia/Herzegovina with combat units from Great Britain, France, Norway, Turkey, and Russia.
The site near Kaposvar is the newest addition in the University's extensive network of more than 100 education centers in the United States and Europe. Approximately 80 students there are taking undergraduate courses in aeronautical science, management, and aviation maintenance technology, and graduate courses in aeronautical science. In the forward U.S. staging area in Tuzla, Bosnia/Herzegovina, two dozen students are taking independent study courses offered by Embry-Riddle.
"The typical students are young aviators with little or no college education, who volunteered for the Bosnia mission," says Ratko Karleusa, who directs the center. "They're enthusiastic about aviation, and happy to learn that Embry-Riddle is here."
Seven-day work weeks, 12-hour shifts, rotating shifts, gunnery absences, and a rushed military start-up have made it difficult for most military personnel to take advantage of the educational opportunity, according to Karleusa, who earned a master's degree in aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle's center in Vicenza, Italy. Classes are held between 5 p.m. and midnight, when they have free time from their duties.
Before beginning their assignment in Hungary, Karleusa and the center's two instructors were required to undergo a week of pre-deployment field training at Hohenfels, Germany. During that week they were issued uniforms, cold weather equipment, combat web gear, gas masks, and vaccinations. They also were trained in safety practices in a combat environment, including the avoidance of land mines and the use of a gas mask.
Although they still sleep in a barracks tent and eat in an Army mess hall, living conditions for the three civilians have improved since their arrival. They no longer are restricted to base and may now visit Kaposvar.
The world's largest university specializing in aviation and aerospace, Embry-Riddle has campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and over 100 education centers in the U.S. and Europe. Its curriculum covers engineering, research, manufacturing, management, and marketing of modern aircraft and the systems that support them.
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