Edition #86, Jan. - Mar. 2014 INSIDE: Change of Command in the Multinational Battalion in BiH Training Branch Visit to Combined Training EUFOR Chief of Staff Gender in the Defence Handover-Takeover Ceremony Sector of BiH Main Planning Conferences for Forthcoming Exercises Operation Commander Farewell Parade COM EUFOR Soldiers of EUFOR ALTHEA, and the double use of Comrades, armed forces for the As we all know, in early Feb- benefit of civil affairs, ruary legitimate demonstrations, as well as military af- that began peacefully, suddenly fairs, is the most eco- became, in some instances, vio- nomical way of doing lent. BiH took centre stage in the this. The double use of eyes of the world again as we saw forces includes the use pictures and video footage of large of armed forces and protests and burning buildings. their assets for other Nothing like this had been seen in crisis tasks, such as air this country for over 15 years. medical evacuation, emergency engineering capabili- ties, disaster relief efforts, etc. While these protests, based on social and econom- ic dissatisfaction, were not a substantial threat to the This period has also seen us reach the end of Gen- safe and secure environment (SASE) of BiH, they are eral Sir Richard Shirreff’s tenure as Operation AL- definitely a sign that security and stability does not THEA’s Operation Commander. During this tenure, simply occur naturally and without effort. As in any General Shirreff has pushed forward with the project other country and society in the world, this has to be to dispose of surplus arms, weapons and explosives created by the citizens, their elected representatives but his main effort was also in the development of our and their institutions. capacity building and training for the Armed Forces of BiH. I would like to take this opportunity to thank The European Union has undertaken big efforts to General Shirreff for his support and guidance to me support the development of BiH towards Euro-Atlan- personally and to Op ALTHEA and wish him all the tic integration through many initiatives and continues very best for his and his family’s future. to do so. EUFOR, as part of the European Union’s comprehensive approach to BiH, also supports these Soldiers! efforts. Our main work, the capacity building and Last, but by no means least, I want to gratefully training program, not only creates the chance for the thank all of you for your professional and engaged Armed Forces of BiH to contribute to international contribution to the successful steps that we have crisis management but also provides other benefits made. We have seen that the situation can change at for the people. One example of this is the de-mining any time, so let us be attentive and develop our capa- capability of the Armed Forces of BiH and with the bilities and competencies which will allow us to stay number of mines that are still present in this country, focused on our main effort to support the development this is obviously essential. Another area in which we of the Armed Forces of BiH. have seen progress is the Armed Forces dealing with Yours, the surplus of ammunition and weapons, which again, is obviously essential for the security of BiH. Smaller Major General Dieter Heidecker, COM EUFOR countries need to be economical in whatever they do 2 Dear Readers! CONTENTS Welcome to the first edition of EUFOR Chief of Staff the FORUM Magazine in 2014 - a new FORUM and some new Handover Takeover Ceremony 6-7 EDITORIAL faces. Therefore I want to take the Gender in the defence sector of opportunity to introduce the two latest BiH 11 members to our team! In Mission Every Day – The Invisi- I am the new Chief of the Public bles 13 Affairs Office, Lieutenant Colonel Who is Dobra? 17 Alexander Pehr, and we have also been joined by Captain Nicolai Tschol as the new Public Affairs Officer and Lieutenant Colonel Analyst and we are both from Austria. Alexander Pehr, Chief PAO Those of you that have already been in theatre for a few months might find this edition slightly different to previous ones. We tried to include stories and information that may be interesting for you. And we want to draw your attention to our new social media links as we had to make some changes, as some of our links were outdated. We hope you enjoy the magazine and we are happy with any comment on it. Captain Nicolai Tschol Operation Commander Farewell Parade EUFOR FORUM www.euforbih.org Commander EUFOR Submissions can be made via All copies must be submitted to: Major General Dieter Heidecker e-mail to [email protected] EUFOR Forum Press Office The EUFOR Forum is produced by Building 200, Butmir Camp EUFOR Public Affairs Chief Sarajevo Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Pehr HQ EUFOR. It is fully funded by EUFOR, and authorised and pub- Digitised photographs should be EUFOR Forum Staff: lished for the EUFOR forces in the submitted in JPG format with a Spokeperson: area of responsibility. minimum resolution of 200 dpi. Lieutenant Commander Jim Love The EUFOR Forum welcomes The EUFOR Forum does not Layout: submissions. For deadline normally return materials and will Mr. Jasmin Zeherovi information phone the editor on assume no liability for material Photographs contributed by: Warrant Officer 1st Class +387 (0)33 495148, submitted. Herbert Pendl Fax: 495221; The contents are not necessarily IPN 941-5148, Fax 941-5221 the official views of, or endorsed Printed in: Reprographics & Courier Service by, the coalition governments’ (HQ EUFOR) defence departments. 3 Operation Commander Farewell Parade EVENTS EUFOR General Sir Richard Shirreff, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw and Major General Dieter Heidecker. On the 18 February 2014, at from all sides in the country. arms, weapons and explosives, EUFOR Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, Major General Heidecker said but his main effort was in the de- a Farewell Parade was held for the thankfully: “During his time as velopment of capacity building ‘4 star’ EUFOR Althea Operation Operation Commander, General and training for the Armed Forces Commander, General Sir Richard Shirreff has pushed forward with of BiH.” Shirreff. Attendees included the the project to dispose of surplus Progress is needed incoming Operation Commander, General Sir Adrian Bradshaw On BiH, General and the Commander of EUFOR, Shirreff said: “I remain Major General Dieter Heidecker. deeply disappointed that we are not seeing po- Major General Heidecker litical progress in BiH thanked General Shirreff – Croatia is a full EU General Shirreff has held the member and, despite role of NATO Deputy Supreme their differences, even Allied Commander Europe since Serbia and Kosovo are March 2011 and is therefore determined to join the the EUFOR Althea Operation EU. In many ways, BiH Commander. He has regularly Major General Heidecker presents General is going backwards as Shirreff with a leaving gift. visited BiH to meet politicians the recent demonstra- Photos by OR-9 Herbert Pendl 4 tions have shown. These riots should be a ‘wake-up call’ for BiH politicians and foreign missions in BiH will only EVENTS end when a political solution is reached which is acceptable to all parties and EUFOR does not threaten the stability of the country and the region. EUFOR, the EUSR, NATO and others in the Interna- tional Community will continue to as- sist towards Euro-Atlantic integration.” Some Positives He added: “We are however beginning to see some progress with the disposal of General Sir Adrian Bradshaw joined the 14th/20th King’s surplus ammunition, weapons and ex- Hussars in 1980 after gaining a BSc in Agriculture at Reading plosives under the energetic leadership University. He has since gained Master’s degrees in Defence of Defence Minister Osmić and Major Studies and International Relations from King’s College Lon- don. He served as a tank troop leader, Intelligence Officer and General Jelić and it has been positive later, helicopter pilot, in Germany, as well as conducting flying to see Bosnian and Herzegovinian tours in Northern Ireland and the Falklands. He then carried ‘Brothers and Sisters in Arms’, putting out further tours at troop and squadron command level serving aside their ethnic differences and oper- in Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, the Americas and ating in that most difficult and danger- the Balkans. From 1994-1996, he commanded the King’s Royal ous of theatres, Afghanistan. Hussars (KRH), first providing the enemy force at the UK Ar- On EUFOR and Major General moured Training Area in Alberta, Canada, and then on opera- Heidecker, General Shirreff stated: tions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Major General Heidecker is a sol- After command, he went on to the UK Higher Command and diers’ soldier and under his leadership, Staff Course, and served in Military Operations in the MOD. EUFOR has consistently demonstrated On promotion to Brigadier, he served with the 3rd (US) Army in professional excellence, such as with Kuwait, planning for Land operations in Iraq. He then became the LOT Houses, which recently pro- Deputy Commander of US Task Force West before Command- vided much needed situational aware- ing 7th Armoured Brigade in Iraq. After attending the Royal College of Defence Studies in London, he became a Component ness, and with the Capacity Building Director in the MoD and was promoted in post to Major General and Training for the Armed Forces of in Nov 07. In Mar 09, he took command of 1st (UK) Armoured BiH.” Division based in Germany, training brigades for operations in New Operation Commander Afghanistan. Since relinquishing command, he has attended the US Army Strategic Leadership Programme (Advanced), the US General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, who Joint Pinnacle Course and has been a Visiting Defence Fellow at has previously served in BiH, will take Balliol College, Oxford.