Liberia is a small and long-suffering country in West Africa. Its thee-million-strong population went through a lot of things at the turn of the millenniums: the 1980 coup d’etat, a 10-year-long dictatorship of Sergeant Samuel Doe, and two civil wars that claimed 200,000 human lives. A generation of Liberians had grown up in the conditions of war and economic disaster. The country’s self-ruination was stopped by UN peacekeepers who forced about 120,000 militia fighters to lay down their arms. Among those who joined this noble mission were also a lot of Ukrainian military and law-enforcing servicemen. The hard everyday life of the Ukrainian peacekeeping helicopter pilots in Liberia is the subject of an interview with Colonel Petro PLIS, commander of the current 16th rotation of the 56th Separate Helicopter Squadron of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Colonel, what is current situation in the country where you are performing a peacekeeping mission?
“Over the past eight years, UN troops, together with Liberia’s unformed services, have made quite an effort to change the life of the Liberian grassroots. The peacekeeping contingents made it possible to hold a peaceful presidential election and achieve considerable progress in establishing the rule of law and ensuring the development of governmental institutions, stabilization of the situation in the country, and border security. People are longing for peace and prosperity. Political tension and disputes are gradually abating and are expected to vanish altogether. The main issue that determines the security situation in the country now is the refugee problem and the presence of some isolated armed groups on the borders. Liberia is also among the countries that have left their borders open, in spite of their own problems, and shared their scanty water, land and other resources with those who suffered from the consequences of armed violence. There is a refugee camp, Solo, in eastern Liberia near the town of Zwedru, which hosts the Ivoirians who fled Cote d’Ivoire following a conflict in that country and have been living here in exile for more than one year. Although the number of the officially registered Cote d’Ivoire refugees in Liberia’s eastern counties has been reduced from 135,000 to 68,000, the uniformed services of both countries are unable to fully control the cross-border situation. These figures are not a mere statistics: they are about concrete people and families whose life has radically changed, whose communities were wiped out, and the future remains uncertain.”
WE, THE MILITARY, ARE A STRONG STABILIZING FACTOR
What does it actually mean to maintain peace in Liberia?
“As for the peacekeeping role of the Ukrainian helicopter unit in Liberia, I am convinced it is one of the most effective instruments available at the Mission headquarters to render assistance to a country that is still in the difficult period of going out of a conflict-ridden situation. Undoubtedly, all the peacekeepers in Liberia are enduring peace, security and political support in a country that is gradually riding out a crisis. In maintaining peace, we are guided by the three basis principles: consent of the sides, impartiality, and non-use of force except in self-defense and defense of the mandate. Clearly, multifunctional peacekeeping operations, now underway in Africa, aim not only to ensure peace and security but also to promote the political process, protection of civilians, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, and render assistance in organizing elections, protecting and encouraging human rights, and restoring law and order. All this is of top priority for Liberia, too. Of course, nobody can guarantee success because peacekeeping is being carried out today, by definition, in difficult physical and political conditions. Yet, thanks to the eight-year-long deployment of the Ukrainian helicopter unit, the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has made considerable progress, which the Mission commanders have noted more than once.”
The 16th rotation of Ukraine’s 56th Separate Helicopter Squadron has seen service for more than six months as part of the UN Mission in Liberia. What has been done for this period of time?
“The Ukrainian contingent has already undergone 16 rotations in Africa. For me, it is the sixth one. The sultry and humid African area continues to test the Ukrainian servicemen for being able to find a common language with a nation of a different religious culture and adhere to UN standards in the multinational Mission. Today, our unit is performing the assigned tasks very well. Well before arriving in Liberia, the airmen had successfully finished a peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and came back to their permanent base safe and sound. Then, in January, nine helicopters successfully provided aerial cover and protection for the inauguration ceremony of Liberia’s president. On that day, the Ukrainian pilots covered the distance of up to 800 km, while the average length of a flight was about four hours. It is an onerous load. A total of 170 servicemen and over 20 units of equipment were involved in the fulfillment of these tasks. That event gathered a lot of UN top executives, official representatives of the neighboring African countries, as well as the United States secretary of state. In general, the situation in Liberia still cannot be called stable. As the country’s president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been reelected for a second term, very many Liberians are dissatisfied with a slow pace of economic revival. So it is easy to agree with local residents who, although being not so much educated, consider that the UNMIL troops is a guarantee of their peaceful existence.
“You will agree that we, the military, are a strong stabilizing factor in that country, which the UNMIL Force Commander Major-General Muhammad Khalid confirmed recently. Visiting the base camp some time ago, he pointed out that the Ukrainian aircraft, especially military helicopters, is a very essential military component of the UNMIL. ‘In your hands is aerial mobility of all the UNMIL military contingents. Whenever I come on board of your helicopters during my inspections of the military units stationed in the remotest nooks of Liberia, I can feel the confidence, professionalism, and high skills of every crew,’ he said.
BEING ABLE TO REAP A DOUBLE OR TRIPLE BENEFIT FROM THE SITUATION IS REALLY TOP CLASS
Could you give some concrete examples of what this professionalism is and how it can be measured?
“The average flying time of every pilot at the end of a rotation will be 140-150 hours. The backbone of our squadron is 1st- and 2nd-class military pilots who gained combat experience in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. This category of helicopter pilots is handing over their experience and practical skills of flying to the young cohort of pilots. The helicopter squadron has 35 pilots who fly sorties.
“A record of sorts was set recently: they showed a daily flight time of 42 hours 51 minutes. Ten rotary-wing machines have been flying in the sky of Liberia. In particular, the Mi-8MT and Mi-24P helicopters flew for 36 and more than 6 hours, respectively. Over this period of time, the squadron’s crews transported 206 passengers and 14 tons of cargo.
“There also are some very young pilots whom we train in the squadron. So it is quite a success to find oneself on a next mission, even though it is in the incredibly hard conditions of a whimsical equatorial climate of Liberia, where it is not so easy for Europeans to live.
“As of today, we have trained seven pilots who have passed theoretical and flying tests to acquire the qualification of Military Pilot 3rd Class. We should take advantage of opportunities like this. But, ideally, we should strive to gain something more than just additional revenues for the Defense Ministry’s budget in the shape of UN compensations. The public is now well aware of how much we earn here for the state – it is in the spotlight of many newspaper and television reports. [Under the two memorandums on mutual assistance and the provision of long-term aviation and aviation transportation services, the UN remits Ukraine ,415 and ,600 for an hour of flight on a Mi-8MT and a Mi-24P helicopter, respectively. The squadron can earn an annual -20 million. – Ed.] This applies to flights only, without taking into account compensatory payments.
“But being able to reap a double or triple benefit from the situation is really to class. Which we are doing by training the younger generation of pilots.”
What are the living conditions of the current rotation of peacekeepers?
“The helicopter squadron in Liberia is a full-fledged military facility that numbers 275 full-time servicemen. In addition to the onboard personnel, it comprises all the necessary subunits and services that provide for the squadron’s viability. The base is located near the runway of Robertson International Airport.
“The peacekeeper’s living conditions are quite satisfactory today. They include one-storey residential quarters for the squadron’s personnel and property, a dining room, as well as several rows of residential and operational UN-standard metal and plastic prefabricated structures known as ‘corimechs.’ They are all equipped with conditioners: local specialists recently replaced the old units with the new ones. A ‘cond’ is the best ‘friend’ of a peacekeeper in Africa – it would be difficult to serve here without one.
“The Ukrainian peacekeepers’ camp is fully self-contained – from electricity and water supply to food-cooking. There are a well-equipped dining room, auxiliary premises, and shower cubicles. Generators work day and night to furnish the squadron with power in the camp and at the airport. They are switched off just three times a day for maintenance. The squadron’s work sometimes slows down due to problems in the Mission-supplied generators which have been in operation for more than five years. But the main thing is that our electricians can meet any emergency. They see to it that the Mission’s people fill generators with a high-quality diesel fuel and change filters in good time. The food is good there. We take adequate UN-standard meals worth 3.428 euros (4,500 kilocalories) per peacekeeper per day. We successfully address the problem of the peacekeepers’ active recreation. For example, we are gradually fitting out sport rooms with up-to-date equipment and devices. We used our own means to build a mini-soccer pitch and fit out a billiard room. I am convinced that adequate recreation guarantees a proper level of discipline – a thing we should not ignore. I must note that we have access to the Internet and a continuous telephone link with Ukraine. So we do not feel torn away from the motherland.”
Serving in Africa is associated with certain risks. Which of them do you think represent the gravest danger to the personnel?
“I think the unfavorable climatic conditions are one of the main dangers. There is 30oC heat and 90-percent humidity for six months on end. Protracted tropical rainfalls create backwaters full of viruses and malarial mosquitoes. But, thanks to our medical staff and compliance with all the preventive measures, recommendations and instructions given before the departure, we managed to avoid any serious incidences. Another thing that we must always keep an eye on is the local fauna, such as common and malarial mosquitoes and especially snakes. To be protected from these, the personnel were issued with repellents and improved anti-mosquito nets as well as properly instructed. Besides, the base camp’s territory is treated every Sunday with a special disinfecting solution from a manual thermal sprayer, a ‘killer gun,’ as the peacekeepers call it. It really kills these insects and scares snakes away.
“Believe me, caring for the life and health of our servicemen is a top-priority task for me and commanders of all the subunits. In our conditions, not only the personal life, but also the destiny of a subordinate depends on the high exactness and responsibility of officers and sergeants.”
Is it difficult to be a squadron commander?
“Very difficult. We represent, firstly, our state, Ukraine, and, secondly, the Armed Forces’ peacekeeping unit here in Liberia. I have to get thoroughly prepared for every meeting with representatives of the UNMIL headquarters in Monrovia. During these meetings, we discuss problems and analyze the situation. This level of mutual trust and respect for local traditions and customs essentially helps one to serve. The UN contingent in Liberia, including military observers, is almost 8,000-strong today and is going to diminish in size in the near future. The military personnel in that country represent 30 countries. The Europeans are usually observers. This number [of the peacekeepers] is rather large for a country populated by about three million people. For this reason, the UN is going to reduce the number of both the military and the civilian personnel of the Mission – it studies the possibility of gradually reducing in size and withdrawing the military contingents by 2015. But, until then, the Mission will be responding to all challenges and threats to peace and stability as well as promoting new joint achievements.”
PEACEKEEPERS HAVE ALWAYS WORKED FOR THE IMAGE OF UKRAINE
To what extent is it important and is it necessary for military servicemen to take part in peacekeeping missions?
“Experience, experience, and experience – this is how I assess the benefits that servicemen derive here in Africa. As for the helicopter pilots, one can even envy them as far as professional upgrading is concerned. Can you name an air force unit in Ukraine, where one can fly a total of almost 3,000 hours from early January until the mid-summer? Besides, in Liberia they have to carry out very concrete tasks, such as aerial patrolling, delivery of cargoes, evacuation, search-and-rescue operations, etc. What is most suitable for this very function are the reliable and time-tested Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters. And, undoubtedly, joint UN missions are useful, firstly, from the viewpoint of higher operational capability of our units, secondly, in achieving compatibility of actions with the units of the partner countries, and, thirdly, from the angle of a country’s international image. But the main result is that our military have seen practical action in a situation typical of any peacekeeping operation in compliance with the UN Forces Statute and international law. It takes a country a hard and long time to build its international image. And there are people who are advancing the ‘Ukraine brand’ not without a risk to their own lives because they sometimes have to display their professionalism in quite extreme conditions. Unfortunately, this category of servicemen is the least known in Ukraine. But in Liberia the Ukrainians are known as reliable partners who are ready to help at any time. You see. Ukrainian helicopters in the Liberian sky are of benefit for everybody, and let this sky always remain peaceful! In a word, peacekeepers have always worked for the image of Ukraine.
“We are gaining experience in, above all, training the units to perform peacekeeping operations, master various ways to carry the personnel and equipment to the conflict area, and be rapidly deployed in the zones of responsibility. Among the good examples are Cote d’Ivoire and, now, Congo.”
Is six months of Africa much or little for you? And what is your family’s attitude to your service in Liberia?
“I think this period is sufficient for me to view it as quite a long separation from my motherland, relatives, and friends. At the same time, after a 12-hour flight and landing in Liberia, I recall today my first impressions of the abrupt shock of sultry and humid air, an inexpressible characteristic local smell that pervades almost the entire country, and I begin to understand how long ago it was. Only here, 7,000 kilometers away, in the never-ending summer, because the equator is near, you begin to understand that this totally different, exotic, quickly-tiring and rather monotonous nature of Africa with its rich flora and fauna and the surrounding local population cannot be compared to the beautiful Ukraine with its springtime riot of colors in gardens. And my family is taking a good and comprehensible attitude to my service in Africa.”
The six-month-long current rotation of the Ukrainian peacekeepers is coming to an end, and they will hand over the honorary peacekeeping baton to their successors. What would you wish the Ukrainian peacekeepers of the 16th rotation?
“I wish us, the ‘blue berets,’ to always recognize each other, meet each other more often, recall the time when we served together, and, unfortunately, commemorate those who have given their lives for the life of others.”
