With tensions heightening between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbians in Kosovo, the U.S. military is preparing to send additional personnel to the area.
Dr. Dean Sienko is prepared for the battle - medically.
Sienko, medical examiner of the Ingham County Health Department, will command the medical forces in the Serbian Providence beginning March 8, and oversee medical health and assistance to Allied and U.S. Forces as well as civilians traumatized by conflicts in the area.
“It’s still a very dangerous place,” Sienko said. “Hopefully, with time, leaders will emerge who are committed to people of different backgrounds living peacefully together. I’m looking forward to learning about that part of the world.”
The United States is part of a multination effort to stabilize conditions in the Balkans. The European Union warned the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo last week that it faced international isolation unless attacks on Serbs halt.
Sienko, who is married with three children, will reside at Camp Bondsteel, in the South-eastern portion of Kosovo with more than 3,000 other Americans.
He will lead primary care physicians, surgeons, a hospital unit from Massachusetts and a ground ambulance unit from Puerto Rico.
“We’re over there providing the medical piece of the overall U.S. presence,” said Sienko, who has been a U.S. military reserve for 19 years. “There are 39 other nations there as part of the overall mission. You see a lot of different soldiers, from many other nations.
“It’s a very multidirectional learning experience.”
That experience leads to other character traits, said Joel Johnson, a linguistics senior and Army ROTC class instructor.
“It definitely teaches leadership and you gain confidence,” he said. “It teaches skills that are useful in life.”
Dennis Jurczak, retired director of Olin Health Center, will fill in the position of chief medical examiner for about seven months during Sienko’s absence.
“I’m going to be the caretaker and just keep things going as Dean has set it up until he gets back,” Jurczak said. “He will be missed. We’re very proud of him.”
Jurczak, who has known Sienko for the last 20 years through the Michigan National Guard, said he’s intelligent, energetic and experienced.
“He’s got a tremendous amount of experience in administration and that’s basically what he’s going there to do,” Jurczak said. “He’s ideally suited for a job like that.”
