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<TITLE>General William W. Crouch</TITLE>
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<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+3">Partnership
for Peace, SFOR,</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+3">and
the Bosnian Situation</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT SIZE="+2">Commander-in-Chief United States Army Europe
General William W. Crouch</FONT></CENTER>
<P><BR>
<FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">I would like to offer just a
few comments about Partnership for Peace, which I believe has benefited
both NATO and non-NATO nations alike. The exchange of professional ideas
within PFP, the establishment of personal contacts, and the relationships
that have developed, from sergeant to general, have deepened our
cooperation, developed our capability to conduct peace-support operations,
and truly promoted stability.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Largely because of
Partnership for Peace experience and the great operational foundation the
program has given us, SFOR Command and Control, Rules of Engagement, and
cooperation on civil-military support all work. The SFOR Headquarters
serves as an example of the interdependency that has developed among
nations. Each day, soldiers of the 24 nations that comprise my
headquarters are able to overcome tremendous challenges, largely through
the relationships and the interpersonal understandings that have been
established during many PFP exercises. These understandings in turn have
led to the proficiency in checkpoint operations, convoy operations, and
mine awareness that is necessary for successful Partnership for Peace
exercises.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Let me share with you the
result of one PFP relationship. Two years ago, while I was visiting an
exercise in Poland, I ran into a very sharp Polish lieutenant-colonel who
had just returned from a peace-support operation and was willing to spend
three hours with me detailing techniques for training troopers to be
effective on checkpoints--techniques that I had not thought about. Because
of this I changed my training guidance just before we started to train for
deployment of troops to Bosnia.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Personal contacts that are
forged during a two-week exercise or in the build-up to that exercise are
absolutely critical to success. For example, we have a Russian brigade
operating with SFOR. About 10 months ago, the entire command structure of
both the U.S. division and the brigade changed, although the two
commanders knew each other. Eighteen hours after the division change of
command, and just as the new brigade commander stepped off the airplane, a
firefight erupted in the Russian brigade sector. Rapid assessment of the
situation, dispatch of reinforcements, clear communications, and the
ability to overcome--all enabled through the interpersonal contacts that
had been established previously between the two commanders and between the
two units--allowed successful resolution and no friendly loss of life. I
cannot give you a more graphic or direct example of success. These two
people quickly worked it out on the ground, and underscored what our
investment in these kinds of operations truly means.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">THE SITUATION IN
BOSNIA</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Let me turn for just a
moment to a brief status report. The military situation in Bosnia now is
stable. We have accountability of weapons, containment sites, and troops.
When there is a violation by the military, and this occasionally
happens--a tank moves out of a containment site, a weapon system is turned
on, a training activity is conducted without adequate preparation or
authority--then whatever is appropriate is done to ensure that discipline
and control are maintained and that the situation remains under control.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">More importantly, however,
we are able now to continue to engage with other agencies--the
international community--to help with the development of common
institutions, such as the public telephone and telegraph backbone system
that was engineered by an SFOR brigadier, the towers that are being lifted
by SFOR Chinooks, the rail system that my very capable Italian railroad
regiment is now building, and the OSCE planning cell whose 25 soldiers are
working on election activities. And though there has been no publicity
about them because they have been non-violent, I would also like to draw
your attention to the 15,000 boundary-line crossings by people from both
sides, Serpska and Bosnia, for such things as religious holiday visits,
cemetery visits, and various commemorations. Six months ago there were
almost no crossings, but there was sporadic violence.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">At the local level, much
of the progress is due to SFOR troopers and their leaders, the captains,
the majors, the lieutenant-colonels who are willing every day to step into
uncertain situations and try to help. For example, there is the Czech
battalion, a mechanized battalion, a very capable unit. The leaders of
these units have repeatedly faced potentially tough circumstances and with
their troopers resolved the confrontation without resort to violence.
There is the Franco-German brigade, which, along with the Italian brigade,
provided security for Pope John Paul's incident-free visits a couple of
months ago. You have given me great troops. I am very proud of them. I
want you to be also.</FONT></FONT> </P>
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