Filipovici
By Sgt. Maj. Patrick van de Poele
First published in
SFOR Informer #73
Filipovici - Along SFOR road "Riesling", between Foca and Gorazde,
a careful observer will see an arrow directing him towards Filipovici.
Following it about a kilometre an SFOR enclosure can be found, tucked
in between two hills and surrounded by woods. It is situated in Republika
Srpska but within only a few hundred metres of the Inter-Entity Boundary
Line (IEBL). The Camp is in the Area of Responsibility (AOR) of the Central
Brigade, MND-SE. The camp was set up to shorten transit times for the
units patrolling the area. The location chosen was a huge Ammunition and
Fuel depot of the Yugoslavian Army. Part of the Depot was cleared away
to install the Camp but the remainder is marked as heavily mined and is
out of bounds. Many of the installations, including accommodations are
built in ex-ammunition bunkers, the rest are in light buildings or containers.
All three nations in the Brigade are represented in the camp, which contains
three units, a reinforced Infantry Company, a German transmissions unit
and a Forward Air Control Unit.
The Company occupying the camp comes from the French Battalion in Rajlovac
(BATFRA) and its commander, Capt. Charles-Henry de
Besombes, is also the Camp Commandant. His company is the Reconnaissance
and Fire Support Company of the 2nd Regiment of Parachutists belonging
to the French Foreign Legion and is usually based in Calvi, Corsica. This
unit will spend its four-month tour at Filipovici. They arrived in Bosnia
and Hercegovina in late July, just in time to participate in the security
blanket of the Summit for Stability in the Balkans. They are reinforced
by a platoon each of German and Ukrainian Infantry, which rotate about
every 15 days. In all the unit numbers more than 200 men depending on
the type of platoon sent by the Germans.
In all their have six platoons and they cover an area going from the
Pass of Cemerno in the South to the outskirts of Gorazde in the North,
from Miljevina in the West to the Montenegrin border in the East. The
only town of importance in their AOR is Foca and the most notable points
are the Drina valley and the Sutjeska National Park at Tjentiste with
its monuments commemorating Tito and the Partisans.
"Our four French platoons work on a rotating base, one is on routine
patrols with the Germans and Ukrainians, the second is away on three day
recce missions. The third is executing punctual missions such as escorting
weapon site inspections, the Entity Armed Forces on exercise or training
movements. They also guard SFOR work parties and other organisations,
such as OHR, IPTF or ONGs
as needed. The fourth Platoon has Camp security and routine communal life
tasks." explained the Company XO Capt. Gery de Stabenrath.
The three-day recce missions consist of sending a platoon out for three
days. They will check every road and track in a given area as well as
checking possible helicopter landing zones. They get to know the local
population, reporting on eventual returnee movements and new constructions.
It is during these missions that most of the legionnaires have visited
Tjentiste.
"We have a very good working relationship with the Germans and the Ukrainians,
all our patrols are tri-national. We also use every occasion to create
links between the different nations based here at Filipovici," said Capt.
de Stabenrath.
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