Task Force Eagle leaving Bosnia
By Jason Austin
November 23, 2004
TUZLA, Bosnia (Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2004) -- Just like the 14 rotations before them, the Cyclone Soldiers of the 38th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Indiana National Guard, are packing up and preparing to go home. However, this Stabilization Force rotation will end differently than previous rotations.
Task Force Eagle, the U.S.-led effort of the SFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina, will case its colors during a disestablishment ceremony Nov. 24.
"It's appropriate now for the Army," said Gen. B.B. Bell, commander, U.S. Army Europe. "That's why we're here today, as the last vestige of this great joint and combined force under NATO and under EUCOM, to finally disestablish the Army component of this joint, combined, magnificent team."
EUFOR to take over mission
The close of the nine-year mission of TF Eagle is part the completion of the SFOR mission and the inauguration of the European Union Force. The EUFOR is a coalition involving 33 countries, 11 of which are non-EU members.
The EUFOR will reinforce the EU's political engagement, its assistance programs and its ongoing police and monitoring missions, officials said, to help BiH continue to progress toward European integration.
"There are a lot of things that still need to be done which the follow-on EU forces will continue," said Brig. Gen. T.J. Wright, TF Eagle's final commander.
"Bosnia still has a way to go politically and economically to be a viable front-line country in the world today," said retired Maj. Gen. William Nash, the commander of 1st Armored Division at the onset of TF Eagle, and the Task Force's first commander. "But boy o' boy they are so much better today than they were nine years ago."
Dayton Accord launched IFOR
Almost nine years ago, on Dec. 16, 1995, NATO launched the largest military operation ever undertaken by the Alliance with the Implementation Force or IFOR, in an effort to enforce the General Framework Agreement for Peace, negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, and generally referred to as the Dayton Peace Accord.
The Dayton Peace Accord brought to an end a four-year civil war which is estimated to have left more than 200,000 people dead.
"It's important to understand that prior to the Dayton Peace Accord, the people of Bosnia -- the Serbs, the Croats and the Bosniacs -- were involved in a terribly tragic long-standing conflict; a war between three peoples that had gone on for nearly four years," Nash said. "There was a great deal of destruction."
"Bosnia looked like the end of a major war," said retired Lt. Gen. John Abrams, commander of USAREUR's V Corps during the onset of TF Eagle. "It had earmarks of territories where large armies had engaged in combat. Buildings were destroyed; every bridge in Bosnia . had been damaged or completely destroyed."
Civil War included 'ethnic cleansing'
The war began in 1992 when, following Slovenia and Croatia's lead, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from the six-republic nation of Yugoslavia. On April 5, 1992, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic sent the Yugoslav national army, along with Serb nationalist forces, into eastern Bosnia to quell the secession.
Serbian rebels (Orthodox Christians) were already conducting "ethnic cleansing" in Croatia and continued these practices in Bosnia. Croats (Roman Catholic) also began a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" killing Bosnian Muslims.
As a result, the United Nations sent a peacekeeping force, the U.N. Protection Force or UNPROFOR, to establish peace.
U.N. failed to keep peace
"My assessment at the time was that the U.N. was following a bankrupt strategy," said retired Gen. George Joulwan, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe during IFOR. "They were peacekeepers and there was no peace to keep. To me, it was only a matter of time until NATO would have to get involved.
"In Europe it brought back all kinds of concern and fear. So, it was an issue of credibility for the Alliance and since (the United States is a) lead member of that alliance, it was very important for the United States to lead, not just militarily but politically as well."
The efforts of then U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, as well as NATO air strikes against Serbian positions and a successful Muslim and Croat offensive against the Serbs in Western Bosnia, helped set the stage for the Dayton Peace Accord.
In addition to political involvement, the U.S. was destined to become involved militarily, and on Dec. 20, 1995, the UNPROFOR transferred authority in the northern sector to the 1st Armored Division.
IFOR brings peace
"The United States' long-term involvement with NATO came to fruition when 60,000 Soldiers, less than 20,000 of which were Americans, went to the Balkans in December of 1995," Nash said.
"The United States entered Bosnia from the North, complimenting forces it had already put in by air to Tuzla and the flood of the 1st Armored Division overcame the flood of the Sava River and peace was brought to that area of the world," Bell said.
With that long-standing peace comes an end to the primary mission of SFOR to provide security and stability for the region.
"We came here for one year, it's nine years later, it's time for us to go," Wright said. "We took a country that was devastated and helped them stand themselves back up and get back on their feet and I think they will be a contributing member of the European community in the future."
Small U.S. force to remain
The disestablishment of TF Eagle does not, however, mark the end of NATO or U.S. involvement in Bosnia, officials said. "NATO will maintain a small, but meaningful headquarters in Sarajevo. Also the United States will contribute small but important numbers of forces that will be stationed both in Sarajevo and at Eagle Base in Tuzla," Bell said.
Nash, TF Eagle's first commander, said he will "look back with pride and say that I'm glad we are disestablishing TF Eagle, because that means the work is done."
(Editor's note: Jason Austin writes for the U.S. Army Europe Public Affairs Office.)
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