US officer of Croatian origin on Jackal Stone 12 exercise

I am glad to have the opportunity to work with Croatian soldiers. For me it is a great honour”, said Major Jesica Kovach, a member of the Armed Forces of the United States of Croatian origin.
In Croatia, her great-grandfather and great-grandmother were born, and the last three generations were born in America. She is a part of the logistics team for the Jackal Stone exercise.
She graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, she is thirty-three years old and has been in the U.S. Armed Forces more than 10 years.

As a member of the U.S. armed forces, she was in Iraq, and just before the exercise, she spent seven months in Djibuti in Africa.

That she chose the military profession is not surprising because as she explains, her father was a member of the U.S. Air Force where he worked as an engineer.

Major Kovach visited Croatia for the second time. She was here two years ago on private visit. “Here I feel myself truly excellent. Everybody is kind.” – she says, adding that she likes our music and food. Especially “sarma” that her grandmother used to prepare. She was quite surprised when, during her first visit to Croatia, when she visited Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik and Plitvice Lakes, she saw “sarma” on a restaurant menu. “I’d like to know to speak Croatian, but unfortunately I do not know. My grandmother does”, she says.

She knows that her great-grandfather and great-grandmother came somewhere from the north Croatia but she does not know the exact location. Her mother is from China where she has not yet been. Therefore, as she said, a lot of work was still ahead of her to research its origin and relatives.

She was convinced that she would return to Croatia, which she really liked and investigate her roots. She has been currently working in Kaiserslautern in Germany.