http://www.bpugcongress.com/
Boot Camp. Business Management & Strategy Drawing Upon Lessons From Real Life Military Scenarios. Colonel Bob Stewart DSO. Presentation given at the BPUG congress, London, 2009
2. Warrior: armed with Chain Gun and 30mm
Cannon which can carry 10 soldiers
March 1991: Command of an infantry battalion
equipped with 50 Warrior armoured vehicles
3. Main Building, Ministry of Defence
Warned for Operations in the Balkans but:
No Mission
No Plan
No Location
4. The MOD reckoned
casualties could be
one in four …
… and the Press
warned thousands
Two wounded soldiers in
Bosnia January 1993 would die regardless
5. Major, NI, 1982
Ballykelly Bomb Site
On 6th December 1982 I had lost 6 soldiers killed and
35 wounded out of 120 soldiers
in the Ballykelly Bomb, Northern Ireland
6. Rupert Smith
At MOD Briefing
General Rupert Smith
gave me this note …
7. Germany August 1992 Bosnia February 1993
The experience was to age me rapidly!
8. A refugee child carried across the front
lines at Turbe in January 1993
Principal Guide was my own Mission
To Save Lives
9. Talking to the Advance Party at Vitez in September 1992
Three Decision Making Tools
10. Tool 1
Mission Analysis
1. What requires to be achieved?
2. What tasks are crucial to that?
3. What resources/constraints apply?
Ideas for Plan
11. Tool 2
The Estimate
1. Mission
• What must I do?
2. Factors (for each factor ask ‘So What?’)
• Strategy/Politics
• Opposition
• Own Resources
• Risks
• Region
• Timings
• Costs
3. Courses Open
• Assess ‘Advantages’ and ‘Disadvantages’ and select best one
4. Plan
• Mission
• Execution of Plan
• Coordination
12. Painting showing recovery of LCpl Wayne
Edwards’ Warrior armoured vehicle after his
death in action
Tool 3
Risk Assessment
Capabilities x Intentions = Risk
14. Operational Example
Mortar Attack
Warrior armoured vehicles
HQ British Forces
Vitez, Central Bosnia
15. Battalion Headquarters and
Logistics Base at Vitez
hours
Sarajevo 2
STARI VITEZ Battalion HQ
Logistics Base
River Lasva
VITEZ
North
1,000 metres
16. Mortars arrive
from high
elevation and
are indirect fire
weapons
STARI VITEZ Battalion HQ
Logistics Base
Early December 1992 VITEZ
Twice we came under mortar attack –
luckily only causing slight damage
17. Before After
So far we were lucky but what if it happened again?
18. Rules of Engagement
Where was the mortar
fired from?
But anyway
Rules of Engagement
disallowed me from
opening fire at mortars!
19. What could I do?
Rules of Engagement were very difficult on this matter
20. Mission Analysis
1. What requires to be achieved?
2. What tasks are crucial to that?
3. What resources/constraints apply?
Ideas for Plan
21.
22.
23. Medium mortars have a maximum range
of about 5,600 metres.
The mortar location must be within that
radius from the base.
s
m etre
0
5 ,6 0
STARI VITEZ Battalion HQ
Logistics Base
VITEZ
24. My Intelligence Section
confirmed the presence of
three mortar locations close to
the base
re s
0 m et
5 ,6 0
STARI VITEZ Battalion HQ
Logistics Base
VITEZ
25. I visited each mortar position and warned that
if they fired again at my camp I would take
effective action against them………
STARI VITEZ Battalion HQ
Logistics Base
VITEZ
26. …. and then placed covert observation patrols close
to each mortar so that I knew when they fired!
STARI VITEZ Battalion HQ
Logistics Base
VITEZ
36. A truck bomb 400 metres from our Logistics
Base killed many people
37. It was rotten work
Our mass grave contained over 100 bodies
38. A platoon commander trying to stop the fighting
I had no mandate to stop the fighting!
39. Honours being paid where Wayne Edwards died
I had already lost
Lance Corporal Wayne Edwards
40. The Logistics Base at Vitez
Bosnian Muslims pleaded for protection at the
gates of my logistics base
41. Garage and
Vehicle Park
d
R oa
Ma in
va
as
Front Lines
rL
ve
Ri
Several hundred
Bosnian Muslim civilians
Tac HQ
Stari Vitez The Situation at our
Garage Logistics Base North
on 12 Feb 93
400 metres
42. Meeting with the Prime Minister in Bosnia
Pressure from directly conflicting orders
43. Civilians begging for help
outside the Logistics Base
Even more pressure - people were dying
44.
45.
46. Challenging the Status Quo
How it’s done now
Strategy Can the strategy be revised?
Not immediately.
No entry to Camps
Tactics Can it be done another way?
Yes – if I interpret ‘Camp’ loosely
Constraints What is immutable? What is not?
Immutable – no civilians allowed in Camps
But ‘Protected Area’ is not a ‘Camp’ is it?
47. We used armour to form a wall like this
We protected civilians with a wall of armour
48. Patrolling in the Battle – Vitez, February 1993
We patrolled aggressively –
shooting two snipers
52. March 1993
The Bosnian Serb Army surrounds Srebrenica in
Eastern Bosnia and shells the people
53. Croatia Serbia
Zagreb Brcko
Banja Luka
Bihac
Tuzla
Tuzla
Croatia Front Line
Maglaj Srebrenica
Vitez Zenica
Gornji Vakuf Front Line
Vitez
Gorazde
Bosnia Vakuf
Gornji Sarajevo
Main Supply Route Tomaslavgrad
Split
Mostar
North
British UN Area
Bosnia 1992 - 93 Dubrovnik 50 kilometres
60. British UN Puma Helicopter in Bosnia
Request for British helicopters to go into Srebrenica -
rejected by MOD – too dangerous and well out of area
MOD not happy about Risk
61. B Squadron 9/12th Lancers near Srebrenica
March 1993
B Squadron were in very dangerous position
close to Srebrenica
62.
63. The need was great
Spoke on radio to General Philippe Morillon
French UN Commander
68. Between 2,000 – 3,000 people were evacuated to
safety in Tuzla
69. At Ahmici Massacre Site
with RSM Stevens on
22nd April 1993
Operational Example
Ahmici
Thursday 22nd April 1993
70. Ethnic Cleansing in operation
Vitez, April 1993
Battle between Croats and Muslims broke out in
Central Bosnia during April 1993
71. The Intelligence Situation in the
Lasva Valley on 22nd April 1993
Mountain Road to Zenica
Dubravica
Approximate
Position of Bosnian Muslim
Battalion HQ Front Lines Forces
Logistics Base
Bosnian Croat
Forces
Kaonik
To Gornji Vakuf
2 hours
River Lasva
North Vitez Bosnian Croat Checkpoint
To Sarajevo
2 hours
1 Kilometre
72. Jean-Pierre Thebault
Jean-Pierre Thebault,
Ambassador European Community Monitoring Mission,
formally requested that I personally get the battles stopped
73. Muslim Front Lines
Dubravica
How could I approach front line positions quickly?
What degree of risk was acceptable?
74. Bosnian Muslim Forces Dubravica
Checkpoint
STANDARD WAY TO APPROACH FRONT LINES
Slowly and by Negotiation from the Rear
Normal – Long Process – Safe – Weapons not Pointing at us
Ahmici
Bosnian Croat Forces
Checkpoint
75. Dubravica
Bosnian Muslim Forces
Checkpoint
RISKY NEW APPROACH
Use No-Man’s-Land
Arrive from front and parallel to defensive positions in enfilade
Quick – Highly Visible –Vulnerable to Attack - Risky
Ahmici
Bosnian Croat Forces
Checkpoint
79. Planned Route: out and
back through Bosnian
Croat Checkpoint
Dubravica
Approximate
Position of Bosnian Muslim
Battalion HQ Front Lines Forces
Bosnian Croat
Forces Kaonik
North River Lasva
Vitez Bosnian Croat Checkpoint
1 Kilometre
81. Actions until 1130hrs
Dubravica
Approximate
Position of
Battalion HQ Front Lines Bosnian Muslim
Forces
Attacked
Bosnian Croat
Forces
Ahmici Kaonik
North
River Lasva
Vitez Bosnian Croat Checkpoint
1 Kilometre
85. Being told by the Muslims that many women and
children had been massacred at Ahmici
86.
87. Actions from 1130 – 1430hrs
Dubravica
Approximate
Position of
Battalion HQ Front Lines Bosnian Muslim
Forces
Bosnian Croat Attacked
Forces
Ahmici Kaonik
North River Lasva
Vitez Bosnian Croat Checkpoint
1 Kilometre
88. Arriving in Ahmici 22nd April 1993
Houses
Mosque Attacked
Fire and Manoeuvre
Vitez 200 metres
Main Road
89. The tumbled minaret of the Ahmici Mosque
became a symbol of genocide in Bosnia
right across the World
90. Ahmici 22 April 1993
Arriving at the far end of Ahmici Village I ordered a
sweep through all houses
91. Ahmici Operation Start Line
1500 – 1900hrs
22nd April 1993
Attacked
Command Post
Established
Mosque
First bodies
discovered
200 metres
Main Road
95. Speaking to BBC, ITV, SKY, CBS and CNN journalists
Briefing the international media on what had
happened and who I thought to be responsible
96. … thus publicising what
was happening to the
World - against my
explicit instructions.
………..
But the Geneva
Conventions are the
highest legal/moral
imperative and above
all other requirements
for an officer.
97. Under fire again at Ahmici a few days later
Establishing a ceasefire took 3 more days of
work on the battlefields.
98. Summary
In Bosnia nobody starved, froze or failed to
receive medical supplies in our area. But we lost
3 people and about 20 others wounded
99. The Army taught that nobody but a
qualified engineer should clear mines
– but we had to do it or fail!
Leadership involves risks, well understood
objectives and careful planning.
For use of the three tools was vital