Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Stabilisation Force
Command
RolePeacekeeping
Part of NATO
Nickname(s)"SFOR"

The Stabilisation Force (SFOR) was a

EUFOR Althea
in December 2004.

Mission

The stated mission of SFOR was to "deter hostilities and stabilise the peace, contribute to a secure environment by providing a continued military presence in the Area Of Responsibility (AOR), target and co-ordinate SFOR support to key areas including primary civil implementation organisations, and progress towards a lasting consolidation of peace, without further need for NATO-led forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina".[1]

Structure and history

SFOR was established in

IFOR which was deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 20 December 1995 with a one-year mandate. The commanders of the SFOR, who each served one-year terms, were General William W. Crouch, General Eric Shinseki, General Montgomery Meigs, Lt. General Ronald Adams, Lt. General Michael Dodson, Lt. General John B. Sylvester, Lt. General William E. Ward, Major General Virgil Packett and Brigadier General Steven P. Schook
.

SFOR operated in support of NATO

Operation Joint Forge
.

Troop levels were reduced to approximately 12,000 by the close of 2002, and to approximately 7,000 by the close of 2004. During NATO's

2004 Istanbul Summit
the end of the SFOR mission was announced.

It was replaced by the European Union's EUFOR Althea, on 2 December 2004 at NATO HQ, Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, B-H. Operation Joint Forge was succeeded by the EU's Operation Althea.

SFOR was divided into three zones of operation:

  • Mostar MND(S) – Italian, French, German, Spanish
  • Banja Luka MND(W) – American, British, Canadian, Czech, Dutch. The British code name for their activities in IFOR was Operation Resolute and SFOR was Operation Lodestar (to June 1998) and Operation Palatine (from June 1998). The Canadian mission was named Operation Palladium (1996 to 2004).
  • Tuzla MND(N) – American, Turkish, Polish, Russian, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish.

(Some units had troops stationed outside the assigned zone)

The three AOs were known collectively as Multi-National Divisions until the end of 2002 where they were reduced in scope to Multi-National Brigades.

SFOR operated under

war crimes. Those arrested were transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands
.

U.S. service members serving in SFOR were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the NATO Medal.

SFOR operated as part of Operation Joint Guard and Operation Joint Forge. As time progressed, the numbers of troops allotted to SFOR declined. On 2 December 2004, SFOR disbanded and its functions were assumed by military units from the

EUFOR
).

Air operations

Several sequential air operations supported the stabilization efforts.[3]

  • Operation Deny Flight (April 1993 – December 1996)
  • Operation Decisive Edge
    (December 1995 – December 1996)
  • Operation Decisive Guard (December 1996 – June 1998)
  • Operation Deliberate Forge (June 1998 – September 2004)

Member forces

SFOR participated in Operation Joint Guard (21 December 1996 – 19 June 1998) and Operation Joint Forge (20 June 1998 – 2 December 2004).

Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina SFOR Map

NATO nations providing troops included:

Non-NATO nations providing troops included:

See also

References

  1. ^ "SFOR MISSION". SFOR HQ Sarajevo: NATO. 14 January 2003. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  2. ^ "Physical Attack Information Operations in Bosnia". Airpower.maxwell.af.mil. 2014-02-20. Archived from the original on 2006-04-22. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  3. ISBN 9781317087182
    . Retrieved 2020-04-22.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SFOR.
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