SFOR

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(Redirected from NATO stabilization force)

Image:SFOR506.jpg Image:SFOR-badge.jpg The Stabilisation Force (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational force in Bosnia and Herzegovina which was tasked with upholding the Dayton Agreement.

The SFOR operated under the code name Operation Joint Guard (December 21, 1996 - June 19, 1998) and Operation Joint Forge (June 20, 1998 - December 2, 2004). Troops were provided by NATO countries Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, UK and USA; Non-NATO coutries Albania, Austria, Argentina, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden; and also by Australia and New Zealand.

The commanders of the SFOR, who each served one year terms were General William Crouch, General Eric Shineski, 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. [1]

Troop levels were reduced to approximately 12,000 by the close of 2002, and to approximately 7,000 by the close of 2004.

It took over from IFOR and was replaced by the European Union's EUFOR, on the 2nd of December 2004. Small numbers of US troops continue involvement (about 250 total) in a limited capacity to hunt down Bosnian Serb war criminals Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić.[2]

SFOR was divided into threes zones of operation:

Mostar MNB(S)-Italian, French, Spanish
Banja Luka MND(W)- British, Canadian, Dutch
Tuzla MND(N)- American, Polish, Russian.

The three AOs were know collectively as the Multi National Division until the end of 2002 where they were reduced in scope to the Multi National Brigade.

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