The British Army's Airmobile Brigade deploys on its first operational outing, in Croatia.
Tim Ripley/PLOCE
A senior 24 Airmobile Brigade officer explains the rationale for dispatching the British Army brigade to reinforce the United Nat ions Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia, saying: "We give the United Nations the flexibility to react beyond either NATO bombing or just giving in. We add another level of reaction so that UN commanders can cope with difficulties."
PRESSING DIFFICULTIES
At its newly constructed base in the dust-coated Croatian port of Ploce, 80km (50 miles) north of Dubrovnik, it quickly becomes clear that the most pressing difficulties facing the 4,000-strong brigade are not practical military problems but the weak political foundations of the UN mission. Almost three months after being alerted to the brigade's mission, the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat authorities, have yet to agree terms for it, to operate inside the borders of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It took two months to get the Croatian Government to agree to allow the brigade to fly helicopter-training missions within its airspace. Hard bargaining to solve these potentially "show- stopping" problems is under way between senior UN leaders in Bosnia and local politicians. The latter believe that the brigade will be used to cover a withdrawal of UN troops. Large fees or "rents" are also being demanded for the use of bases inside Bosnia.
The 24 Airmobile Brigade was alerted for its UN duty after a UK Cabinet crisis meeting on 28 May, held in response to the seizure of more than 300 UN personnel. They were taken as, "human shields" by Bosnian Serbs, who wanted to deter further NATO air strikes. UN commanders in the former Yugoslavia saw the brigade, as an important component in their new rapid-reaction force, which they hoped would re-invigorate the UN mission. By adding airmobility to UNPROFOR capabilities, remote UN bases can be relieved or reinforced from the air, and roadblocks bypassed.
The brigade musters almost 40 helicopters under the command of Brig Robin Brims, with its combat power centred in two battle groups. They are based on 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (AAC), commanded by Lt. Col. John Greenhalgh, and the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, commanded by Lt. Col. Roger Brunt. Unlike the white-painted UN helicopters already in-theatre, the air assets of 24 Airmobile are painted in green camouflage to emphasise a military role, rather than a humanitarian one.
The 3 Regiment AAC fields nine Westland Lynx AH.9 light battlefield-helicopters, nine Lynx AH.7 helicopters armed with TOW wire-guided anti-tank missiles and nine Aerospatiale Gazelle observation and liaison helicopters. The brigade's mobility and logistic reach is provided by the Royal Air Force's Support Helicopter Force (SHF), consisting of six Aerospatiale Puma and six Boeing Chinook helicopters. Field refueling for all the brigade's helicopters is carried out by the RAF Tactical Support Wing, while 4 Regiment and another infantry battalion have been left in the UK on reduced notice to move, ready to reinforce the brigade.
Brims says that his mission is to train the brigade, so that it is ready for its operations, as directed by UN commanders in support of UNPROFOR. Initially, it is intended that it will carry out acclimatisation and local training in preparation for moving up-country into Bosnia.
The Brigadier is not able to say when the brigade will be declared fully operational. "It depends on the type of tasks we are given," he says, "and that is a matter for UN commanders to decide. We have been told to deploy here for six months. The situation is uncertain and constantly changing. We have to be flexible - we could stay for a longer or shorter time." If the brigade is still in-theatre at the end of the year it will find itself in the middle of the Bosnian winter, so Brims says that work has already begun to prepare for winter. The SHF has a cadre of arctic-warfare-trained personnel who have served in Norway with the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force, say RAF officers in Ploce.
'MIX-AND-MATCH' DOCTRINE
Lt. Col. Greenhalgh, of 3 Regiment AAC, says that it is the brigade's doctrine to mix and match the helicopters of 3 Regiment and the infantry of the Royal Anglian Soldiers into two all-arms battle groups, depending on the tactical situation. Lt. Col. Brunt, of the Royal Anglian Regiment, says that his battalion is grouped into two airmobile infantry companies: a screen company in air-portable, high-mobility vehicles; and a fire-support company and aviation infantry company which work with 3 Regiment's helicopters.
"Things we could do include flying over roads or securing aid routes," he says, stressing that the brigade is not about to go picking a fight with another warring faction. "We are not looking for a confrontation, but to ensure the implementation of the UN mandate."
The brigade has evolved considerably since the end of the Cold War, when it was almost exclusively a counter-penetration force designed to block Soviet tank advances. "We have been training to capture lines of departure or bridges as part of the conventional battle, and have been moving away from the one-shot weapon mentality of the Cold War," adds Brunt.
"We have the ability to sustain combat forces over long distances," says Maj. Mark Proffley, brigade deputy chief of staff for logistic support. "The optimum distance for us to operate is 100km from the front end to the back end, if we are dependent on air resupply. With ground resupply we can operate over a longer distance," he adds. This makes the establishment of a forward operating base inside Bosnia vital for the brigade's helicopters, if it is to operate effectively in the airmobile role near main Bosnian trouble spots such as Sarajevo, Gorazde and Tuzla.
Despite the loss of a Lynx AH7and four crewmen in a training accident on 20 August, 24 Airmobile Brigades continues to improve its spartan base and to prepare for the day when, the order comes to move into Bosnia. "It's now down to our political masters to decide how to use the rapid-reaction force" says a senior UN officer. "They asked for it. Now they've got it they've got to use it. They've painted themselves into a corner." With the war in the Balkans still spiralling out of control, that may come sooner rather than later for the UK's Airmobile Brigade.
Source: Flight International
