The U.S. Army in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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AE Pamphlet 525-100 Military Operations The U.S. Army in Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 October 2003 FOREWORD Through the final decade of the 20th century and into the first years of the 21st, the U.S. Government has been the leader in ensuring peace and stability throughout the world. This leadership can be seen in our Government’s skill in negotiating settlements among nations with differences before those differences escalate to become armed conflicts. It can be seen in our commitment to insert peacekeepers between warring factions, and it can be seen in our willingness to back diplomacy with force when necessary. When our Government needs to project power to prevent or end regional conflicts, it turns to the most powerful force in the world—the United States Army. A prime example of our global leadership and military strength can be seen in the history of the U.S. Army in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As ethnic cleansing in the Balkans began to take on a dimension that Europe had not seen since World War II, the world watched and the governments of Western Europe began debating how best to respond. While talks continued, USAREUR began preparing to deploy, in case it was called on to intervene on behalf of NATO. When the call came, USAREUR was ready. It would take a bombing campaign and boots on the ground to ensure implemen- tation of resolutions. Those boots were worn primarily by USAREUR soldiers. Their first mission as the Implementation Force was to maintain a ceasefire, oversee the withdrawal of hostile forces, and guarantee safe passage for refugees. The success with which our troops accomplished that mission was the result of their skill and determination to get the job done, no matter how difficult. The story of crossing the Sava River stands out as a shining example of that determination. That story in itself proves that USAREUR soldiers allow nothing to stand in the way of their objectives. The story of the U.S. Army in Bosnia-Herzegovina is one that will live in the annals of U.S. military history. It also provides a lasting chapter of USAREUR history. Even today USAREUR soldiers are in Bosnia-Herzegovina serving as an Army Forward, preserving peace and stability as proud members of Freedom’s Expeditionary Force. The following pages are a tribute to them and to you—the USAREUR soldier—in recognition of your peerless ability to execute with excellence, Any Mission, Anywhere. B. B. BELL General, USA Commanding PREFACE This pamphlet is based on a wide range of both primary and secondary sources. Much of the introductory and political background information was derived from a study prepared by the Plans and Training Analysis Branch, Plans Division, Office of the G3, HQ USAREUR/7A, entitled “A Condensed History of the Balkans.” Other secondary sources included— y Annual histories of Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, and Seventh Army. y Annual histories of the 1st Armored and 1st Infantry Divisions. y The draft study called “USAREUR in Operation Joint Endeavor.” Original source documents in the research and reference files of the Military History Office, HQ USAREUR/7A, included electronic messages, correspon- dence, situation reports, after-action reviews, recurring periodic reports, and briefing slides. At the time this pamphlet was published, the United States Army was still heavily involved in the Balkans. Because of that, this pamphlet should not be considered complete or definitive. It merely provides a snapshot of one part of the United States Army’s contributions to peace and stability in a troubled world and of the selfless service and dedication of the soldiers who participated and continue to participate in those endeavors. Headquarters Army in Europe United States Army, Europe, and Seventh Army United States Army Installation Management Pamphlet 525-100 Agency, Europe Region Office Heidelberg, Germany 7 October 2003 Military Operations The U.S. Army in Bosnia and Herzegovina For the CG, USAREUR/7A: MICHAEL L. DODSON Lieutenant General, USA Deputy Commanding General/ Chief of Staff Official: GARY C. MILLER Regional Chief Information Officer - Europe Summary. This pamphlet provides a history of U.S. Army involvement in Bos- nia and Herzegovina from March 1998 through January 2003. It was written by the Military History Office, HQ USAREUR/7A. Applicability. This pamphlet applies to personnel interested in the history of U.S. Army operations in the Balkans. Suggested Improvements. The proponent of this pamphlet is the USAREUR SGS (AEAGS-MH, DSN 370-7367). Users may suggest improvements to this pamphlet by sending DA Form 2028 to the USAREUR SGS (AEAGS-MH), Unit 29351, APO AE 09014-9351. Distribution. A (AEPUBS). 1 AE Pam 525-100 ● 7 Oct 03 CONTENTS Historical Background 3 NATO Reinvents Itself 6 UNPROFOR 7 Early USAREUR Aid to the Area 10 Humanitarian Aid - Airdrop Support 1993-1994 11 Preliminary USAREUR Planning for Possible Intervention 12 Predeployment Activities & Actions 12 The Intermediate Staging Base and Transit Agreements 13 The Road to Dayton 13 The Military Task of the Dayton Accords 16 U.S. Command and Control 16 The Line of Communications 17 The Deployment of Task Force Eagle 17 The Role of Reserve Components 18 Bridging the Sava 18 The Force Buildup 20 Political-Diplomatic Perspectives 21 The Second Year 21 The Mission Continues 23 Annexes A. TF Eagle Force Structure 25 B. Evolution of MND(N) and US Component 27 C. Chronology 28 Illustrations 1980s: Nationalism Rises in Yugoslavia 4 1991-92 War in Croatia 5 UNPROFOR 8 1994-95: War in Bosnia & Croatia 9 Political Divisions 15 SFOR 23 Evolution of MND(N) and US Component 27 Glossary 76 2 AE Pam 525-100 ● 7 Oct 03 Historical Background The Balkan region that was known as Yugoslavia after World War II has been an area of almost continuous political and military strife for centuries. At different times it has been controlled by the Romans, by the Byzantine Empire, by the Ottoman Turks, and by the Austrian Hapsburgs. Throughout its history, the ethnic minorities that live in the region have struggled for independence and territories of their own. The German World War II invasion of the Balkans and the appearance of both Royalist and Communist guerilla organizations have complicated the political and economic history of the region even further. After World War II, a communist guerilla leader, Marshall Josep Broz Tito, came to power. Under his rule, Yugoslavia was aligned with the Soviet-domi- nated Communist bloc in Eastern Europe as a member of the military alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. With economic and military support from Moscow and from other members of the Warsaw Pact, Yugoslavia remained under Tito’s very tight control. Any idea of independence on the part of the various ethnic minorities was successfully blunted and submerged. When Tito died in 1980 without selecting a successor, the nation began to crumble as the ethnic minorities─Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks─started to demand independence and the right to sovereignty in specific regions. By the mid-1980s deteriorating economic conditions and demands for political reform had increased tensions among the ethnic groups that comprised the population of Yugoslavia. In 1986 Slobodan Milosevic began to centralize power among the Serb portion of the population. This move caused ethnic rival- ries to intensify. When the period of “revolution” in the Soviet satellite states came in 1989, Milosevic took advantage of it to rename the Serbian Communist Party the League of Communists and to convert it to a nationalist organization. At the same time, Milosevic’s use of state power prevented alternative forces from becoming viable in Serbia. His centralist and pro-Serbian agenda per- suaded reformers in Slovenia and Croatia that it would be dangerous to remain part of a Yugoslav state that might be dominated by Milosevic and a Serb majority. 3 AE Pam 525-100 ● 7 Oct 03 In January 1990 the League of Communists split along ethnic lines and ceased to be a unifying national force. That same month, riots in Kosovo reached new levels with several dozen people killed. When the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), which had a Serb officer corps, intervened to restore order, there was widespread concern that the JNA was a tool of Serbian interests. In the spring of 1990 Slovenes and Croats took steps toward setting up new forms of political power. In April there were free elections in these two northern republics. In Slovenia, a center-right coalition won and began work on a new constitution, which claimed the right to secede from the federal state. In Croatia, Franjo Tudjman’s Croatian Democratic Union─a conservative nationalist party─took the largest share of seats. In Serbia, on the other hand, the results of a June 1990 referendum favored keeping a single-party state and curbing ethnic autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina. These are the very policies that were fueling Slovene and Croat efforts to distance themselves from Serbia. In August 1990 Serbs in the Serb-majority Krajina region of Croatia (a “frontier” area on the border with Bosnia) began to agitate for autonomy. They argued that if Croatia could leave Yugoslavia, they could leave Croatia. To pre- vent Croatian interference in a planned referendum, local Serb militias made up of trained army reservists set up roadblocks to isolate the Krajina region. In Serbia, Milosevic announced that if Yugoslavia broke apart, there would have to be border changes that would unite all ethnic Serbs in a single political entity. At this time Serbia also cracked down on Albanian agitation. 4 AE Pam 525-100 ● 7 Oct 03 These steps alarmed Slovenes and Croats and propelled them toward indepen- dence.