New Jersey: Guard helps Kosovo refugees at Fort Dix

National Guard, Jun 1999

Some New Jersey Guardsmen are supporting Operation Allied Force without leaving their state.

About 25 Garden State soldiers and airmen worked around the clock part of last month to manage tons of private and corporate contributions arriving at Fort Dix, NJ., for the Kosovar refugees. The first of up to 20,000 refugees fleeing from the fighting in Yugoslavia began arriving at the post May 4.

The refugees' arrival received nationwide media coverage, triggering an outpouring of donated toys and clothes from across the country.

New Jersey Guard officials were expecting more than 200 tons of donated clothes and toys by the end of last month.

"At one point we were processing more than a ton of donated toys and clothing an hour," said Col. John Dwyer, New Jersey Guard public affairs officer "We had to ask people to stop sending us stuff for awhile."

In all, nearly 100 New Jersey citizen soldiers and airmen are involved in the effort. In addition to loading and unloading trucks full of donations, Guardsmen staffed an around-the-clock emergency operations center, assisted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with initial processing and helped respond to media inquiries.

The Kosovars arrival affects more Guardsmen than just those assisting refugee operations. The post is a major training area for Guard units all over the northeastern United States.

With refugees occupying most of the barracks, some units with scheduled training at Fort Dix this summer may live in tents or find alternative training sites. t