Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Stabilisation Force (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational force in Bosnia and Herzegovina which was tasked with upholding the Dayton Agreement.
The SFOR operated under the code name Operation Joint Guard (December 21, 1996 - June 19, 1998) and Operation Joint Forge (June 20, 1998 - December 2, 2004). NATO nations providing troops included:
Non-NATO nations providing troops included:
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 Sylvester, Lt. General William E. Ward, and Major General Virgil Packett. [1],Brigadier General Steven P. Schook
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 took over from IFOR and was replaced by the European Union's EUFOR Althea, on 2 December 2004. Small numbers of US troops continue involvement (about 250 total) in a limited capacity to hunt down alleged Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić.
SFOR was divided into three zones of operation:
- Mostar MNB(S)-Italian, French, Spanish
- Banja Luka MND(W)- British, Canadian, Czech, Dutch
- Tuzla MND(N)- American, Polish, Russian, Swedish.
The three AOs were known collectively as the Multi National Division until the end of 2002 where they were reduced in scope to the Multi National Brigade.
SFOR was operating under peace enforcement, not peacekeeping rules of engagement. For example, it was cleared, in 1997, to neutralize Serb radio-television facilities. [2]
See also
