Order of Battle
As of 2005 the major elements of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina included three active duty maneuver brigades, air force and air defence commands and units, associated administrative, training and logistical support commands and units, and six reserve divisions. The Army of Republika Srpska had one mechanised brigade and two reserve divisions. The Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had one mechanised brigade, one armored brigade, and four reserve divisions.
In accordance with the Decision on Extending the Mandate of the Defence Reform Commission by the High Representative on 31st December 2004 there were changes to the command and control arrangements of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the course of 2005, the Defence Reform Commission was tasked to examine and propose legal and institutional measures necessary to enhance State level command and control, achieve fiscal sustainability, strengthen parliamentary oversight, and promote development of a single military force by transferring the competencies of the Entity Ministries of Defence to the level of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina and implement further the Commission's recommendations.
The strike force of the VRS was reduced to one, the 15th mounted brigade, and the 1st regiment of air force and air defense, put together following the abolishment of the Command for Air Forces and Air Defense. VRS was still led by the VRS General Staff. VF was integrated earlier, led by the VF Joint Staff. Each component had one brigade, although their names contain no ethnic denominations. The Croat one was the 1st Armored Brigade, and the Bosniak was the 2nd Mounted Brigade. Air Forces were of joint composition, and so is the training and doctrine command, as well as the logistics command. The Bosniak and the Croat component in the VF, and the VRS were, to a large extent, monoethnic. This is probably why there had been no publicly recorded cases of ethnically based discrimination or discrimination of any minority or social groups.
Most changes were brought about especially by the second part of the reform adopted in November 2005. The Law on Defence and the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of BiH were adopted early October 2005. The former provides for the transfer of the authority over defence from the entity to the state level, introduces a single defence budget, regulates a common defence system throughout the country and establishes and defines the chain of command. In accordance with provisions of the Law on Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, single Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were established on 1 January 2006 as a single professional military force organized and controlled by the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In particular, the reform provided for the closing down of entities armies.
The Law on Service in the Armed Forces of BiH sets the basis for the creation of a professional single military organised on the UK model of "regional" regiments and controlled by BiH. Moreover, the law established three multi-ethnic brigades and three regiments. This reform did not fully create a unique structure of the army, the system of brigades-regiments being a crucial dual element that persisted in the BiH Defence system. It is important to underline that although the dual structure is common to other European defence systems, the described system presents some peculiar characteristics, notably the cultural and ethnic role assigned to regiments. The regiments continue the military traditions of the three constituent peoples and wartime formations of RBiH Army (ARBiH), Croatian Defense Council (HVO) and Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).
| MOBiH | Ministarstvo obrane BiH | Ministry of Defense of BiH |
| OS BiH | Oruzane snage BiH | Armed Forces of BiH |
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| FMO | Federalno ministarstvo obrane | Federation of BiH Ministry of Defense |
| VF | Vojska Federacije BiH | Army of the Federation of BiH |
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| MORS | Ministarstvo odbrane Republike Srpske | RS Ministry of Defense |
| VRS | Vojska Republike Srpske | Army of Republika Srpska |
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