Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

about the increased security risk we were assuming by
decreasing security elements at Tuzla Airbase. He directed
that we continue our mission in the Russian Brigade Sector.
He also directed the G-3 to task a tank platoon to serve as a
mobile QRF for Tuzla in the interim.
The mission in the Russian Brigade Sector was
challenging and extremely interesting. It provided an
insight to the former warring factions, the people, and the
war’s impact that was not as clear at Tuzla Airbase. The
destruction in the towns near the ZOS was sobering. Entire
villages were destroyed, standing as ghost towns. We
learned to identify the signs of ethnic cleansing. We watched
Serb families leave their homes on New Year’s Eve because
the Dayton Accords turned their land over to the control of
Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation forces.
Also, we watched the Serb families celebrate their first
peaceful Christmas with their families in 4 years. Many
pigs were slaughtered in the few days prior to the holiday, as
each family gathered in their yard to roast a pig and
celebrate.
Another memorable event happened during one
operation in the Russian Brigade Sector. While clearing the
road to Celic, one of the Bosnia-Herzegovina soldiers
recognized that the Serb company commander had been his
professor in high school. He shouted “Professore!” and asked
to go meet him. Despite having been enemies, they were
soon exchanging information about the students they both
knew. They wanted to know who had been killed or
wounded in the war. The soldier went back to his lines and
returned with several other soldiers who had also been this
commander’s students. They shared a cigarette and talked
for quite some time.
On January 15, I visited the Russian Airborne Brigade
Commander at his headquarters in Ugljevik to provide a
relief-in-place briefing. This was an event that I would not
have believed possible 10 years ago. A U.S. airborne
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