Ukrainian-American Military Association meets at Soyuzivka (11/16/97)

Ukrainian-American Military Association meets at Soyuzivka

by Yaromyr Oryshkevych

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - The weekend of September 26-28 was a historic one at Soyuzivka: it was the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV), the first anniversary of the Ukrainian-American Military Association (UAMA) and the 50th anniversary of the Great Raid of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

The hall was full at the Saturday night banquet, which featured the installation of the new UAV officers and the official announcement of the UAMA's affiliation with the UAV. But the Saturday morning UAV/UAMA joint session was the main attraction of the weekend.

It was the culmination of a year during which UAMA members participated in many missions to and from Ukraine. Many of those who participated were present to give slide presentations, and reports on their activities and the significance of those missions.

The sole purpose of the existence of the UAMA is to provide Ukrainian military interpreters for missions between the United States and Ukraine. Lt. Col. Yaromyr Oryshkevych (DCANG), outgoing UAMA president, made opening remarks in which he presented three challenges to the UAMA/UAV membership: contacting senators and representatives to have them put pressure on the Defense Language Institute to reopen the recently closed Ukrainian section; 2) including the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches in the list of religions that can be printed on military identification (dog) tags; and 3) influencing the American Automobile Association and other similar organizations to change their perception of and terminology about Ukraine (and stop referring to it as a member of the Russian Federation, as is the case in the 1997 edition of AAA's Europe Travelbook).

Lt. Col. Walter Chyterbok (USAR) was program chairman and presented the remainder of the speakers.

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Pylypiak (USAR) accompanied a delegation of California National Guard members to Ukraine, where they had an opportunity to visit the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and see some of the consequences of the accident. His report stirred considerable emotion among the listeners.

Capt. Yuri Holowinsky (USAFR) talked about his participation in the Reserve Attaché Program, which accepts students from all services and various ranks. The unfortunate aspect of this program is that the desk officer under whom the Ukrainian reserve attaché works speaks no Ukrainian and has never been to Ukraine.

This notwithstanding, Capt. Holowinsky represented the defense attaché in Kyiv when he went to Yavoriw, Ukraine, to participate in Cooperative Neighbor '97 exercises in early July. The NATO-sanctioned military exercise had 1,000 participants from Ukraine, the U.S., Greece, Georgia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania. It was an exercise in which U.S. officers tried to bring Ukrainian officers up to U.S./NATO standards. They used Ukrainian equipment and were trained to use each others' weapons. Secretary of Defense William Cohen was present for the closing ceremonies.

Maj. Roman Golash (USAR), along with Lt. Col. Inia Yevich (USAR), went to Ukraine on a military medical mission to study infectious diseases. Maj. Golash reflected on his mission participation over the previous four to five years, and that it was in the national interests of the U.S. to maintain peace in Eastern Europe.

What was interesting is how the language situation has changed. Several years ago, their hosts in Ukraine made a sincere effort, with some apologies for Russian words, to speak Ukrainian. Maj. Golash even cited an instance during Peace Shield '95 when some Russian journalists questioned when and with whom the U.S. and Ukraine were preparing to fight. There was also the implication that U.S. arrangements for such missions should be done through Moscow and not through Kyiv. Most recently Maj. Golash and Lt. Col. Yevich experienced first hand the difficulty of communicating with individuals who insist on using Russian, when American interpreters were sent there to translate into Ukrainian; this is tantamount to a new brand of Russification, said Maj. Golash.

Col. Eugene Sydor (USAR) spoke of his involvement in the 1994 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the refueling base in Poltava, in which several other Ukrainian interpreters (Master Sgt. Bohdan Cholach [USAR], Maj. Taras Myhowych [USAR]) took part. Several crew members from 1944 missions participated. U.S. linguists interpreted many questions and answers about American B-52 and B-1 bombers, and answered many personal questions (about life in the United States) from local Ukrainians.

The Poltava base was short-lived, because once the Germans discovered where the American bombers were being refueled, the base was bombed, and then Stalin didn't want it re-opened because he desired no American presence in his "worker's paradise" after the front went further west.

Col. Sydor also noted that he possesses a computer program that simultaneously translates Ukrainian into English and vice versa. This can be of invaluable assistance to interpreters in the field who may be tasked to translate technical documents necessary for their missions.

Col. Askold Mosijczuk (USA) also spoke about a WRAMC medical mission to Ukraine, and the high-level delegation that he accompanied to the Kyiv military medical center. They found that very few vaccinations were available for children in the past, and that left the current military population very vulnerable to various infections.

Other topics included: disarmament of nuclear missiles and the ramifications of exposure to personnel (e.g. those who fought the fire, and performed the clean-up at Chornobyl). They discussed the possibility of setting up telemedicine conferencing between the U.S. and Ukraine. Another area of discussion was the purity of the blood supply to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus.

Sgt. Maj. Danylo Zahody (USA) described the several-month-long joint training his unit had in Washington state with the Russian spetsnaz (special forces), and the competition in which they engaged in Siberia (using only Russian equipment, weapons and techniques). He was able to quite confidently dispel the myth of the superiority of the Russian spetsnaz. Sgt. Maj. Zahody also encouraged young Ukrainian Americans to join the U.S. military and become future interpreters.

Lt. Ihor Kobryn talked of his involvement with Peace Shield '96 held in western Ukraine. The Ukrainian interpreters involved were able to create a glossary of military terms. The Ukrainian troops considered the U.S. troops in awe, and were impressed with the NCO corps.

At this point, Col. Vasyl Sydorenko (military attaché at the Ukrainian Mission to the United Nations) arrived, and had an opportunity to greet the assembled military and veterans.

Finally, Sgt. Mark Iwankiw described his role in Cooperative Nugget 97 (which included Master Sgt. Cholach), recently concluded at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Ft. Polk, La., which involved the U.S. and Ukrainian armies. Sgt. Iwankiw interpreted for dignitaries and for the commanders. During his presentation he provided everyone with colorful photos and a detailed description of the field of operation and the plan of the exercise (which included 15 nations), whose basic purpose was to enhance peacekeeping readiness training. Russian was still used in many Ukrainian units, but they were impressed with the Americans' Ukrainian interpreters when they expected Russian.

During pauses in the presentations, the audience had an opportunity to examine photo albums of Autumn Allies 95, in which Capt. Oleh Bula (USMC) and Master Sgt. Cholach were interpreters for 200 Ukrainian marines participating in joint maneuvers in Camp LeJeune, N.C.

Lt. Col. Oryshkevych concluded the activities with a mention of the work done by Col. Ihor Kotlarczuk (USAR) in helping the Ukrainian military begin to formulate its version of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Other UAMA members who were absent but participated in foreign missions were: Sgt. Andy Midzak (USAF), who flew with Maj. Orest Jowyk (USAF) and Lt. Mark Brykowytch (USAF) to Uzyn, Ukraine, to participate in an air show, which stimulated significant interest. Capt. Ihor Balaban (USAR) flew to Kazakstan to participate in a parachute-jumping exercise.

After lunch about 10 UAMA members (several with full rucksacks and canteens) participated in a 10-mile commemorative hike over a measured course, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Great Raid of the UPA. Afterwards, the UAV and UAMA had a joint ceremony at which Maj. Golash read an account of the Great Raid, and Sgt. Maj. Zahody presented commemorative medals to participants of the Great Raid. Thus, the new generation of U.S. military honored the previous generation for its efforts and sacrifices.

On Sunday the UAMA members gathered to elect their new officers. The office of vice-president became de-facto the office of president-elect, as Vice-President Maj. Golash was elected to the presidency. Capt. Holowinsky was elected vice-president, and immediate Past President Lt. Col. Oryshkevych was elected membership chairman. The positions of secretary (Lt. Col. Chyterbok), treasurer (Lt. Cmdr. Chuck Dobra), historian (Lt. Col. Leonid Kondratiuk), and senior enlisted advisor (Sgt. Maj. Zahody) remain unchanged. The next UAMA conference will take place either in Boston or Washington, with details of dates and location to be announced.

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Ukrainian-speaking U.S. military who are in the Guard, Reserve or active components may contact Lt. Col. Oryshkevych at [email protected] to get further details of membership in the UAMA or to submit information. Names of military members who have a qualifying Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) score in Ukrainian (and speak Ukrainian fluently) will be sent to Points of Contact (POCs) who organize missions to and from Ukraine, and may be given orders to participate in such missions.

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