Operation Provide Promise: The JFACC's Role in Humanitarian Assistance in a Non-Permissive Environment. A Case Study

摘要

Operation Provide Promise was a United States-led allied effort to providehumanitarian assistance to the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The airdrop portion was envisioned as a noncombat operation. While no casualties were incurred the airdrops were, in fact, combat operations. The potential risks to the aircraft and crews from the warring factions throughout Bosnia were too great to be ignored by the operational commanders. The joint force air component commander had to integrate allied airlift forces along with defensive, offensive and surveillance forces into a synergistic team to provide aid in a non-permissive environment. Additionally, targeting the aid uniquely tested the JFACC's ability to ensure his assigned forces were employed in a coherent manner. The JFACC conducted the airdrops with restraint, unity of effort, legitimacy and perseverance. However, the lack of a clear and defined political objective and end state hampered the JFACC's measurement of success and his ability to balance the political demands to provide more aid with his scarce resources against the risks of the non-permissive environment of Bosnia.