Operation “Deliberate Force”
30 AUGUST-20 SEPTEMBER 1995
OPERATION “DELIBERATE FORCE”
The Balkan cease fire brokered by former President Jimmy Carter in 1994 had failed. United Nations’ efforts at peacekeeping in the war-torn former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina had given way to NATO and its guiding body, the North Atlantic Council. But the Bosnian Serbs proved relentless in their aggressive territorialism and ethnic cleansing atrocities against their hereditary rivals the Bosnian Muslims and Croats. By mid-1995, the Serb Army had taken UN peacekeeper hostages, shot down NATO aircraft, and in July 1995, overran the NATO-declared “safe areas” in Srebrenica and Zepa. NATO officials warned the Bosnian Serbs in August to respect the remaining “safe zones” of Sarajevo, Bihac, Tuzla and Gorazde and observe the posted “EZs” (heavy weapons exclusion zones). The Serbs tested NATO resolve almost immediately, launching a mortar attack on 28 August against a Sarajevo marketplace, killing 38 civilians.
Thus, Operation “Deliberate Force” launched two days later as an air power offensive against Serbian command and control, lines of communication, air defense capabilities, known SAM sites, fielded troops, and essential military infrastructure. American, British, Dutch, French, Turkish, German, Italian, and Spanish air forces applied their combined power in 3515 combat sorties against 48 designated Serbian targets. Navy F-14s and FA-18s from USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71) and AMERICA (CV-66) joined Marine Corps AV-8Bs from KEARSARGE (LHD-3) and WASP (LHD-1) in strikes against heavy weapons caches, command posts, and missile and radar sites. Orion P3Cs from NAS Sigonella joined Navy E-2s and S-3s in providing reconnaissance and bomb damage assessment. On September 10th, the Aegis cruiser NORMANDY (CG-60) launched 13 Tomahawk cruise missiles, eleven of which struck within ten feet of their aim points at the Banja Luka air defense complex. Coupled with a simultaneous offensive by the Bosnian Muslims and Croats in western Bosnia, the air onslaught proved effective. By 20 September, Serbian attacks had ceased, and CINC Allied Forces Southern Europe, ADM Leighton W. Smith, USN, declared the “safe areas” no longer under threat.
Historians agree that “Deliberate Force” illustrates the effective use of combat air power in accomplishing political ends. At a cost of only a French Mirage 2000 lost on the first day, the Serbian Army’s ability to wage their campaign of aggression was effectively negated. The Serbs and their former Yugoslavian backers were brought to the negotiating table in Dayton, Ohio, and a permanent peace was established with the signing of the Dayton Accords on 14 December.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 4 SEP 22
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Goodspeed, M. Hill. U.S. Navy: A Complete History. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Foundation, 2003, pp. 689-92.
“Operation Deliberate Force.” Global Security website, AT: www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/deliberate_force.htm, 26 December 2005.
“Operation Deliberate Force.” NATO factsheet website, AT: www.afsouth.nato.int/factsheet/deliberateforcefactsheet.htm, 26 December 2005.
Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3rd ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, p. 296.