Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Latinic: Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine, OSBIH; Serbian Cyrillic: Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине, ОСБИХ) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian Armed forces were unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: the Bosniak-Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska.

The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 2004, is in charge of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Chain of command

In accoradnce with BiH Law of defense and BiH Law of service the supreme civilian commander of the Armed Forces Bosnia and Herzegovina is the collective Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.The collective Presidency directs Ministry of defense BiH and the Armed Forces Bosnia and Herzegovina Former ministers of defense include H.E. Nikola Radovanović, H.E. Selmo Cikotić, H.E. Muhamed Ibrahimović. The current Minister of defense BiH is H.E. Zekerijah Osmić. Former Chiefs of Joint Staff AF BiH include LGEN Sifet Podžić and Lieutenant General Miladin Milojčić. The current BiH Chief of Joint Staff is Lieutenant General Anto Jeleč. Conscription was completely abolished in Bosnia and Herzegovina effective on and from 1 January 2006.^[4]

Defence law

The Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence Law addresses the following areas: the Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Government Institutions, Entity Jurisdictions and Structure, Budget and Financing, Composition of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Declaration, natural disasters, conflict of interests and professionalism, Oath to Bosnia-Herzegovina, flags, anthem and military insignia, and transitional and end orders.

History

The AFBiH was formed from three armies of the Bosnian War period: the Bosnian (dominantly Bosniak with numbers of Serbs and Croats) Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska, and the Croat Defence Council.

The Army of the Republic of Bosnia And Herzegovina was created on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War. Before the ARBiH was formally created, there existed Territorial Defence, an official military force of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a number of paramilitary groups such as the Green Berets, Patriotic League, and civil defense groups, as well as many criminal gangs and collections of police and military professionals. The army was formed under poor circumstances, with a very low number of tanks, APCs and no military aviation assets. The army was divided into Corps, each Corp was stationed in a territory. The first commander was Sefer Halilović.

The Army of Republika Srpska was created on 12 May 1992. Before the VRS was formally created, there were a number of paramilitary groups such as the Srpska Dobrovoljačka Garda, Beli Orlovi, as well as some Russian, Greek and other volunteers. The army was equipped with ex-JNA inventory. It had about 200 tanks, mostly T-55s and 85 M-84s, and 150 APCs with several heavy artillery pieces. The Air Defense of VRS has shot down several aircraft, like F-16, Mirage 2000, F-18 and one Croatian Air Force MiG-21. The VRS received support from the Yugoslav Army and FRY.

The Croatian Defence Council was the main military formation of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War. It was first organized military force to with the aim to control the Croat populated areas, created on 8 April 1992. They ranged from men armed with shotguns assigned to village defense tasks to organized, uniformed, and well-equipped brigade-sized formations that nevertheless employed part-time soldiers. As time went on, the HVO forces became increasingly better organized and more "professional", but it was not until early 1994, that the HVO began to form the so-called guards brigades, mobile units manned by full-time professional soldiers.

In 1995–96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, beginning on December 21, 1995 to implement and monitor the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force or SFOR. The number of SFOR troops was reduced first to 12,000 and then to 7,000. SFOR was in turn succeeded by an even smaller, European Union-led European Union Force, EUFOR Althea. As of 2004, EUFOR Althea numbered around 7,000 troops.

As the joint AFBiH began to develop, troops began to be sent abroad. Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed a unit of 37 men to destroy munitions and clear mines, in addition to 6 command personnel as part of the Multinational force in Iraq. The unit was first deployed to Fallujah, then Talil Air Base, and is now located at Camp Echo. In December 2006, the Bosnian government formerly extended its mandate through June 2007. Bosnia and Herzegovina is planning to send another 49 soldiers from the 6th Infantry Division to Iraq in August 2008, their mission will be to protect/guard Camp Victory in Baghdad.

Structure

The Military units are commanded by the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Joint Staff in Sarajevo. There are two major commands under the Joint Staff: Operational Command and Support Command.

There are three regiments that are each formed by soldiers from the three ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs and trace their roots to the armies that were created during the war in BiH. These regiments have their distinct ethnic insignias and consist of three active battalions each. Headquarters of Regiments have no operational authority. On the basis of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the regimental headquarters have the following tasks: to manage the regimental museum, monitor financial fund Regiment, prepare, investigate and cherish the history of the regiment, the regiment publish newsletters, maintain cultural and historical heritage, give guidance on holding special ceremonies, give guidance on customs, dress and deportment Regiment, conduct officer, NCO and military clubs. Each regiments three battalions divided evenly between the three active brigades of the Army.

• Operational Command (Sarajevo)^[5]
  • 5th Infantry Brigade (Tuzla)
    • (Bosniak) Infantry Battalion (Tuzla)
    • (Serbian) Infantry Battalion (Bijeljina)
    • (Croatian) Infantry Battalion (Kiseljak)
    • Reconnaissance Company
    • Signals Platoon
  • 6th Infantry Brigade (Banja Luka)
    • (Serbian) Infantry Battalion (Banja Luka)
    • (Croatian) Infantry Battalion (Orašje)
    • (Bosniak) Infantry Battalion (Bihać)
    • Reconnaissance Company
    • Signals Platoon

• • 4th Infantry Brigade (Čapljina)
    • (Croatian) Infantry Battalion (Livno)
    • (Bosniak) Infantry Battalion (Goražde)
    • (Serbian) Infantry Battalion (Bileća)
    • Reconnaissance Company
    • Signals Platoon

• • Tactical Support Brigade (Sarajevo)
    • Armored Battalion (Tuzla)
    • Artillery Battalion (Žepče) (one battery detached to each brigade)
    • Engineer Battalion (Derventa) (one company detached to each brigade)
    • Military Intelligence Battalion (Rajlovac)
    • Military Police Battalion (Butilama) (one platoon detached to each brigade)
    • De-mining Battalion (Rajlovac)
    • Signals Company (Pale)
    • NBC Defense Company (Tuzla
  • Air Force & Anti-Air Defense Brigade (Rajlovac, Banja Luka)
    • Helicopter Battalion (Rajlovac) (one squadron detached to each brigade HQ)
    • Air Defense Battalion (Rajlovac) (one company detached to each brigade)
    • Early Warning & Surveillance Battalion (Banja Luka)
    • Flight Support Battalion (Sarajevo, Banja Luka)

• Support Command (Banja Luka)
  • Personnel Command (Banja Luka)
  • Training and Doctrine Command (Travnik)
    • Combat Training Center (Manjača)
      • Armored Mechanized Battalion
    • Combat Simulation Center (Manjača)
    • Professional Development Center (Pazarić)
      • Officers School
      • NCO School
      • Military Police School
      • Foreign Language Center
  • Logistics Command
    • Center for Movement Control
    • Center for Material Management
    • Main Logistics Base (Doboj and Sarajevo)
    • 1st Logistics Support Battalion
    • 2nd Logistics Support Battalion
    • 3rd Logistics Support Battalion
    • 4th Logistics Support Battalion
    • 5th Logistics Support Battalion

Within the armed forces, there are a number of services. These include a Technical service, Air technology service, Military Police service, Communications service, Sanitary service, a Veterans service, Civilian service, Financial service, Information service, Legal service, Religious service, and a Musical service.

Uniform and Insignia

Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in 2005 and at that time they needed a uniform for the newly founded army. MARPAT was designated as the future uniform of AFBIH.

Insignia is found on military hats or berets, on the right and left shoulder on the uniform of all Soldiers of the Armed Forces. All, except for generals, wear badges on their hats or berets with either the land force badge or air force badge. Generals wear badges with the coat of arms of Bosnia surrounded with branches and two swords.All soldiers of the armed forces have on their right shoulder a flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All members of the 3 regiments wear their regiment insignia on the left shoulder. There are other insignias, brigades or other institution are worn under the regiment insignia. The name of the soldiers is worn on the left part of the chest while the name "Armed Forces of BiH" is worn on the right part of the chest.

Weapons

Machine guns

Armoured vehicles

Artillery

Air Force

The Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Brigade of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed when elements of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska Air Force were merged in 2006.^[10]

Squadrons

• 1st Helicopter Squadron - Sarajevo Airport
• 2nd Helicopter Squadron - Banja Luka Airport
• 3rd Helicopter Squadron - Tuzla Airport
• Air Defense Battalion
• 1st Air Defence Battalion - Sarajevo Airport
• 2nd Air Defence Battalion - Banja Luka Airport
• 3rd Air Defence Battalion - Tuzla Airport
• Early Warning and Surveillance Battalion
• Flight Support Battalion

References

• [1]

Further reading

• Jim Dorschner, 'Endgame in Bosnia,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 18 April 2007, p. 24–29

External links

• Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• MILITARY INDUSTRY – Bosnia and Herzegovina
• European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina – EUFOR (English)
• OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (English)
• NATO Headquarters Sarajevo Security Sector Reform information