Отдельно о австрийской части контингента.
http://www.bundesheer.at/english/td_international/artikel.php?id=31Austria joined IFOR as early as January 1996 by contributing a transport element of approximately 300 men (AUSLOG/IFOR). This contingent was based in Camp Beluga at Visoko. According to the decreasing demand of transport elements the contingent was reduced, and in February 2000, 54 Austrian soldiers were integrated into the logistics unit of the German contingent based in Camp Rajlovac near the City of Sarajevo. The contingent included also staff members serving in Butmir headquarters. The mission of this transport unit expired in March 2001. Only the staff members remained at HQ SFOR.
In the context of the intended takeover of the mission by the European Union the Austrian Contingent AUCON 1/SFOR was committed. This contingent comprised 135 troops and included an Infantry Coy, a Liaison Observation Team (LOT) in the AOR of MNTF NW in Banja Luka, and maintenance elements. The Infantry Coy was deployed in the context of the Multinational Specialized Unit (MSU), the predecessor of the Integrated Police Unit (IPU). Its base was in Camp Butmir in Sarajevo.
With the deployment of AUCON 2/EUFOR and the beginning of the MNTF N Operation, the contingent was augmented to almost 300 troops. This augmentation provided additional personnel to HQ and the assumption of the lead nation status for the Composite Coy, including two LOT houses and the Security Coy for the Camp Eaglebase in Tuzla.
In the course of the rotation of AUCON 2 to AUCON 3 in
July 2005 the structure of the contingent was changed again. Participation in IPU was stopped and a reconnaissance company was assigned to MNTF N. The staff elements in the HQs of NATO, EUFOR and MNTF N have remained almost unchanged. The transfer of the Log Base from Camp Butmir to Camp Eagle Base brought an essential improvement for the whole contingent.
The Multinational Task Force North consists of troops from thirteen nations, namely: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey.
The strength of the Task Force amounts to 1,300 troops. Its Headquarters is located in Camp Eaglebase near the City of Tuzla.
Since 1 December 2005 Austria has lead MNTF-N as the framework nation. The Base was built by the Yugoslav Army as airbase "Dubrave” in 1952. When the Yugoslav Army withdrew they destroyed all ammunition and fuel storage facilities. The result was that large parts of the camps became restricted areas because of unexploded ordnances (UXO). The fenced-in area of the base is approximately 9 km2 and the airstrip is 3.5 km long.
Headquarters is organised as a brigade group staff and can form a transferable forward command post. At the beginning of December 2005 a new streamlined structure for HQ became effective to save about 15 percent of the personnel.
Austrian officers and non-commissioned officers have important jobs in this staff. The main units are the Security Coy to guard the Camp and to provide one platoon as a quick reaction force. The Austrian contributions to this company are the
deputy commander and one sentry platoon.
The Signal Coy is made available by Finland including a transferable armoured command post, which disposes of satellite communication.
Austria is the framework nation by contributing the Composite Coy. This coy is broken down into two essential areas: verification and LOT organisation. The strength of the company is
about 245 troops composed of eight nations. The verification element observes and controls all stationary facilities of the local armed forces at regular intervals. Every movement of the local armed forces to locations outside their barracks and storage areas have to be announced and approved by EUFOR in advance. Another task of the verification element is the observation of the activities to disarm mines. These activities are carried out by the responsible local authorities, but only little progress is made, and several accidents have already occurred.
The LOT organisation runs 14 LOT houses, which are supplied by six nations. The crew of one LOT house consists of eight to ten experienced officers and non- commissioned officers. Austria is responsible for the LOT houses Bratunac and Vlasenica. Especially the LOT house Bratunac is of particular importance because of its nearness to Srebrenica, where the worst massacre of this war happened ten years ago.
The Force Multiplier of MNTF N is the Aviation Coy because of the long distances and the relatively small number of troops. Their tasks are liaison, reconnaissance and transport flights. The MNTF N disposes also of the only fully equipped rescue helicopter.
The reconnaissance company disposes of two unarmoured motorised reconnaissance platoons provided by Austria. They serve for the preparation of operations and the provision of information. The most important means to provide information is reconnaissance by conversation; seven local native speakers are available to do this job for the company.
With the Multinational Integrated Logistics Unit (MILU) the Task Force has a supply element to run Camp Eagle Base and to support the installed forces with transport, vitals, sanitary facilities and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD). Moreover, further integration of the national support elements (NSE) is planned in MILU to save costs as well as to reduce personnel.
The most essential element to accomplish the mission of the MNTF N is the manoeuvre battalion. The battalion consists of
one battalion command post and three infantry companies. Each of them disposes of an armoured platoon. Portugal, Poland and Turkey are contributing these three companies. The framework nation for commanding this battalion changes every six months. The battalion command post is located in Camp Eagle Base (CEB) at Tuzla.
The Turkish company is situated in Camp Zenica. The Polish company had its camp in CEB. This deployment leads to a better distribution of troops in the area of responsibility (AOR), and shortens reaction time in the Eastern part of the country extremely.