A-10s over Kosovo

30 January NATO’s primacy focus remains on the peace
negotiations in Rambouillet, France; all the
while, intelligence reports clearly show a significant
buildup of FRY forces in Kosovo. The
North Atlantic Council (NAC) gives Secretary
General Solana the authority to authorize air
strikes against targets on FRY territory.
7 February The 81st FS is extended for 30 days and directed
to stand up combat search and rescue
(CSAR).*
1 March The 81st FS is extended indefinitely and is
authorized 15 A-10s.*
19 March After the Kosovar Albanians sign the proposed
agreement, negotiations are suspended, and the
Serb delegates leave Paris without signing it.
They denounce the Western ultimatum as a violation
of international law and the UN charter.
The KVM withdraws from Kosovo. Almost onethird
of the FRY’s total armed forces, massed in
and around Kosovo, commences the systematic
expulsion of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians, codenamed
Operation Horseshoe. Many were driven
out of their homes and villages. Some victims
are summarily executed, hundreds of thousands
are displaced, and many lose their homes
when Serbs set fire to them.
21 March US Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke is dispatched
to Belgrade to deliver a “final warning”
to Slobodan Milosevic.
23 March Ambassador Holbrooke departs Belgrade,
having received no concessions of any kind
from Milosevic. Subsequently, Secretary General
Solana directs Gen Wesley K. Clark,
supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR)
to initiate air operations in the FRY.
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