SFOR

The Stabilisation Force (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina which was tasked with upholding the Dayton Agreement. It replaced the previous force IFOR. SFOR was established in Security Council Resolution 1088 on December 12, 1996.

Member forces

The SFOR operated under the code names Operation Joint Guard (December 21, 1996 - June 19, 1998) and Operation Joint Forge (June 20, 1998 - December 2, 2004). NATO nations providing troops included: {| | valign=top | | valign=top | | valign=top | | valign=top | |} Non-NATO nations providing troops included: {| | valign=top | | valign=top | | valign=top | |}

Structure and mission

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. , 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 was replaced by the European Union's EUFOR Althea, on 2 December 2004 at NATO HQ, Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, B-H. 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. The British code name for their activities in both IFOR and SFOR was Operation Resolute.

Tuzla MND(N)- American, Turkish, Polish, Russian, Norwegian, 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.

US service people serving in SFOR were awarded the NATO Medal.

References

Further reading

External links

SFOR Official Page

US Air Force News article on Operation Joint Forge

Category:History of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:History of Republika Srpska Category:NATO-led peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia Category:Law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Military acronyms Category:Acronyms Category:Military history of Bosnia and Herzegovina