By Sarah Light, staff writer

U.S. Rep. Tim Walz questioned the Department of Defense&8217;s proposal to reclassify the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo &8212; that the more than 400 Minnesota National Guard soldiers were recently scheduled to be a part of &8212; as a &8220;non-combat&8221; mission.

By classifying the mission in Kosovo as a nonhazardous duty zone, Minnesota National Guard soldiers &8212; in addition to more than 1,500 U.S. soldiers currently serving in Kosovo &8212; would face loss of combat benefits including $225 in monthly combat pay, exemption from federal payroll taxes, free flights home during official leave periods and a possible loss of hazardous duty location pay.

&8220;Kosovo is still a very dangerous place.&8221; Walz said in a statement released Wednesday. &8220;In addition to the terrible ethnic unrest there, the country is rife with landmines and other unexploded munitions.&8221;

He said the State Department pays its employees who go into the country a 20 percent pay increase, and the least this nation can do for its soldiers who are asked to serve is to do the same thing. Otherwise, it could cost the soldiers thousands of dollars and undue financial hardships for them and their families, he said.

News surfaced earlier this week that more than 400 Minnesota National Guard soldiers would be deployed to the country to help with a NATO peacekeeping mission.

These 400 soldiers from the Mankato-based 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry include companies from Rochester, Winona, Owatonna, Albert Lea and Austin.

The soldiers are to leave for training in Camp Atterbury, Ind., in June and then for Kosovo in the fall. They will return one year later.

About 800 soldiers from the same battalion previously served in Kosovo in 2004.

Walz pledged to organize his colleagues in the U.S. House to oppose the efforts to change the combat status. He said he hopes that with strong opposition from members of Congress, the Pentagon will drop the idea.

The Washington Post recently reported that there are rising tensions in the area as the country is striving for independence and that U.S. military are completing missions that involve preventing smuggling rings, raids on armed extremist groups and improvised bombs.