Camp Monteith was a military base in

Gjilan Gjilan, or Gnjilane ( sr-cyr, Гњилане) is the eighth largest city in Kosovo and seat of Gjilan Municipality and Gjilan District. Name Ottoman chronicler Evliya Çelebi mentions ''Morava'' as a settlement of the Sanjak of Vučitrn. � ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

, about east of

Camp Bondsteel Camp Bondsteel is the operation headquarters of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) in Kosovo. It is located near Ferizaj in eastern Kosovo. It is the Regional Command-East headed by the United States Army (U.S. Army) and it is supported by troops from Gre ...

. A former

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

artillery outpost and 79 parcels of private land, the area was taken over by U.S. Marines and used as a base of operation during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

of 1999. The camp was named after Jimmie W. Monteith, who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

for heroism in France during World War II. At its peak, the camp housed 2000 soldiers and civilian contractors. Established in June 1999 to be used as a staging point for the bulk of US forces stationed in the Multi National Brigade-East. Initially occupied by U.S. Marines, over the past seven years successive rotations of U.S. Army forces have used the camp as part of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

’s

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defun ...

. The base camp originally consisted of one main building, used as a command post and makeshift interrogation center, as well as a few small outbuildings that had been stripped by retreating Serb forces. The other buildings were destroyed previously by bombing during

Operation Allied Force The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

. Initially the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

occupied the land during

Operation Joint Guardian Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Operation (game), ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * Operations (magazine ...

setting up camp around the main building in tents and in their vehicles, and patrolling

and the surrounding villages. In July 1999, U.S. Navy

Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...

s, along with

Kellogg Brown & Root KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering. KBR works in various markets including aerospace, defense, industrial and intelligence. After Halliburton acquired Dres ...

(KBR), began construction of more permanent structures, with plumbing and electricity including a vast number of semi-permanent

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

known as South East Asia huts (SEAhuts). The camp continued to be used by peacekeeping forces up until early 2006 when the remaining soldiers relocated to

. The camp was closed in March 2007 to U.S. personnel and as of July 2007 has been transferred to the Kosovo Security Force.

Notes

External links

Globalsecurity.org profileUNMIK press briefing noting plans for base closure
{{coord, 42.465, 21.480, type:landmark, display=title 1999 establishments in Kosovo 2007 disestablishments in Europe Military installations closed in 2007 Military installations established in 1999 Military installations of the United States in Kosovo Military installations of Kosovo United States Marine Corps in the 20th century