Preliminary communication
STRATEGIC CONTEXT, OBJECTIVES, AND EPILOGUE OF OPERATION ‘UNA’
Tomislav Kovačić
; Hrvatsko vojno učilište „Dr. Franjo Tuđman”
Abstract
The paper investigates the strategic context of the decision for commencment of the Croatian Army’s operation codenamed ‘Una’ in September 1995. After initial success in executing a demanding hasty river-crossing operation of the Una and Sava rivers, the engaged units of the Croatian Army withdrew to their initial combat positions by D+2. Operation ‘Una’ has been unfairly overshadowed by several successful military operations in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, it holds many lessons for the future. Operation ‘Una’ warns of the importance of a clear policy of civil-military relations and clearly defined, formalized, and attainable objectives. The author researched and presented a comprehensive reconstruction of strategic context and events before the commencement of the operation, and its divergent political and military objectives. Its grimmest consequence was fifty Croatian soldiers killed or missing in action, which should be an additional motive for establishing clear procedures when committing armed forces to achieve national strategic objectives.
Keywords
Operation Una; strategy; Croatian Army; river-crossing; civil-military relations; Una; Sava
Hrčak ID:
314536
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2023.
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