Nations seek to improve probes of wrongdoing

[unhappycamper]

Nations seek to improve probes of wrongdoing
By Charlie Coon, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, October 24, 2007


STUTTGART, Germany — The U.S. European Command is organizing meetings of military inspectors from the Balkan and Black Sea nations as part of an effort to help shore up their militaries.

A group from EUCOM and Bosnia will confer Oct. 30 through Nov. 1 with new inspectors general in Montenegro, which split with Serbia in 2006 to become southeastern Europe’s newest nation. Montenegro inherited the navy after the Serbia-Montenegro divorce. The coastal nation also has a brigade’s worth of troops.

“But they don’t have an IG system, never had one,” said Col. Michael P. Anderson, EUCOM’s inspector general. “They want to build one from the ground up.”

Inspectors general inspect the professionalism and effectiveness of military units and troops and investigate alleged wrongdoing. The European Command also has scheduled a February meeting in Albania for all Balkan nations. Another is being lined up for Black Sea nations, such as Romania and Bulgaria.

The various initiatives stem from a gathering in September in Garmisch, Germany, where officials from 18 nations talked about military corruption, enforcement of professional standards and other topics.

The effort is part of EUCOM’s prime mission to work with other nations’ militaries, Anderson said.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49740



uhc comment: EUCOM is responsible for the Incirlik air base in Turkey --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_European_Command .