Operation BRONZE

Operation BRONZE saw the deployment of teams of Canadian Forces members serving in key positions at NATO Headquarters Sarajevo (NHQSa). The closure of Operation BRONZE on March 29, 2010, ended 19 years of Canadian Forces operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

NHQSa was established in December 2004 at the end of the successful NATO Stabilisation Force (SFOR) mission to continue NATO's commitment to Bosnia-Herzegovina and to facilitate its entry into the NATO Partnership for Peace program. Under Operation BRONZE, the Canadian Forces contributed to the transition of peace-support tasks to EUFOR-Althea, a European Union task force, and to the NHQSa activities in the field of defence reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and in support of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Canadian Forces military observers began deploying to the Balkans in September 1991 under Operation BOLSTER. Large troop commitments began in February 1992 with the deployment under Operation HARMONY of an infantry battalion group made up of troops from 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Germany (1st Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment, 4 Canadian Engineer Regiment from Lahr, and N Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment from Baden-Söllingen) to serve with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR).

NATO took over the peace-support task in 1995 with the one-year Implementation Force (IFOR), to which Canada contributed under Operation ALLIANCE. In 1996, the longer-term SFOR was established.

Canada's participation in SFOR, conducted under Operation PALLADIUM, began with more than 1,300 personnel: an infantry battalion group with tactical helicopter support; an armoured reconnaissance squadron; an engineer squadron; an administrative company; a National Support Element; and a National Command Element. Over the years, as the security situation improved and institutions of government took hold in Bosnia-Herzegovina, SFOR - including its Canadian contingent - gradually decreased in size while adjusting its capabilities to help the Bosnian people rebuild their society and its infrastructure.

For further information :

• Closing out and coming home
  The Maple Leaf - 21 April 2010
• One last visit to say goodbye
  The Maple Leaf - 21 April 2010
• Rebuilding Bosnia one brick at a time
• The Maple Leaf - 21 April 2010
• Leaving a legacy of smiles
  The Maple Leaf - 21 April 2010