The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename Operation Joint Endeavour to implement the military Annexes of The General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, having taken over from UNPROFOR. The Dayton Agreement or GFAP, signed in Paris on 14 December 1995 resulted from a long series of events. Notably, the failures of EU led peace plans, the August 1995 Croat Operation Storm and its aftermath, the Bosnian Serb atrocities, in particular the Srebrenica massacre, and the seizure of UNPROFOR peacekeepers as human shields against NATO's Operation Deliberate Force. Admiral Leighton Smith (Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH)) acted as the Joint Force Commander for the operation (also known as Commander IFOR (COMIFOR)). He commanded the operation from HQs in Zagreb and later from March 1996 from the Residency in Sarajevo. Lt Gen Michael Walker, Commander ARRC (Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps) acted as the Land Component Commander for the Operation, commanding from HQ ARRC (Forward) based initially in Kiseljak and from late January 1996 from HQ ARRC (Main) Ilidza. This was NATO's first ever out-of-area land deployment. The Land Component's part of the operation was known as Operation Firm Endeavour. On 21 December 1996 the task of IFOR was taken over by SFOR. At its height, IFOR involved troops from 32 countries and numbered some 54,000 troops in-country (BiH) and around 80,000 involved troops in total (with support and reserve troops stationed in Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Italy and also on ships in the Adriatic). In the initial phases of the operation, much of the initial composition of the IFOR consisted of units re-flagged from the UNPROFOR operation. The tasks of the Land Component were carried out by three Multi National Divisions:
- Mostar MND(SE) - French led.
- Banja Luka MND(SW) - British led.
- Tuzla MND(N) - American led.
See also
- EUFOR
- Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps
- ISAF
- KFOR
- NATO
- NATO Medal
- SFOR
- UNPROFOR
- CCRP Bosnia Research and Publications
Further reading
- Lessons from Bosnia: The IFOR Experience by Larry Wentz (1998)
- Target Bosnia by Pascale Siegel (1998)
