TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina - The Stars and Stripes flew over Eagle Base for the last time on the morning of June 30, the day the United States turned this sprawling military installation over to its host nation.
LTG H Steven Blum, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, was the senior U.S. military representative at the turnover ceremonies. He commanded the National Guard's 29th Infantry Division at Eagle Base in 2001-02 during a 12-year U.S. military presence.
"When U.S. military forces arrived Bosnia and Herzegovina was a shattered country, reeling from years of devastating warfare," Blum told an audience that included two of Bosnia and Herzegovina's three presidents and other senior officials.
"Bosnia and Herzegovina is today a sovereign, democratic nation, fully at peace, cooperating with its neighbors and committed to joining the Euro-Atlantic community," Blum said.
From 1992-95, this Balkan nation, about the same size and terrain as West Virginia, was engulfed in war. After the Dayton (Ohio) Peace Accords of November 1995, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) flooded 60,000 troops into the country. IFOR was succeeded by SFOR, the Stabilization Force also led by NATO. Finally, SFOR gave way to EUFOR, European Union peacekeeping troops whose mission only now is winding down.
"The American military presence here, initially totaling 20,000 U.S. Soldiers, signified a vital U.S. commitment to the success of the Dayton peace process and to helping Bosnia and Herzegovina on the path to peaceful reconstruction and development," Blum said, speaking alternately in English and the Serbo-Croatian. "Eagle Base was a critical facility for the successful implementation of the military provisions of the Dayton Accords in northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina."
Blum spoke for the more than 100,000 active and reserve U.S. military personnel, including many National Guard members, who have served at Eagle Base since it was established in 1995.
"This is a very special day for us," said U.S. Ambassador Douglas L. McElhaney, who accepted the U.S. flag from Maj. Gen. Richard Wightman Jr., the senior military representative to NATO Headquarters here, after it was lowered and replaced with Bosnia and Herzegovina's blue and yellow flag.
"A lot of money, a lot of people have been through here," McElhaney said, reflecting the enormity of the U.S. commitment to peace. "When the flag comes down, it's always sad to see, but when a Bosnian flag representing all the Croats and Serbs and Bosniaks in this country goes up, it's a very nice thing to see because we know that we were part of it."
The nation's three ethnic groups once fought. Now they share a political process and increasing prosperity. The conflict “ internationally symbolized by the heartbreaking devastation of the capital, Sarajevo, that only a few years earlier had hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics “ once commanded newspaper front pages and led newscasts. The peace receives little publicity.
"No news is good news," McElhaney said. "That's a pretty good indication that things are going well. We have some ups and downs in terms of trying to develop institutions, in terms of trying to bring folks together. But there are a lot of people of good will in this country, and I want to think that one thing that the United States and the military and everyone else leaves here is that willingness to compromise and to do things as a team, to do them together. That's part of our legacy here."
Bosnia and Herzegovina now contributes troops to Operation Iraqi Freedom and aspires to NATO membership.
"This is a great success story," Blum said after the ceremony. "The fact that U.S. forces and NATO forces no longer need this base to maintain stability in this region is a huge sign of success."
Success wasn't a given. "No one knew how long we'd be here or what the final outcome would be," Blum said. "We just had to stop the killing. We had to enforce the Dayton Peace Accords. This is a magnificent success story, U.S. forces working with our allies and NATO partners and some non-NATO partners such as the Russians."
Partners at Eagle Base included U.S., Nordic, Polish, Turkish and Russian brigades.
"This is one of the fastest lifecycles of a military intervention. This is something that we should all celebrate and take great pride in," Blum said at the base that lies about three hours north of Sarajevo where he spoke during a significant anniversary two days earlier.
It was in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, from a spot now marked by a stone block set in a wall along a bustling street, that high school student Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Historians consider that single event in the Balkans as the trigger for World War I, which brought death to millions across the continent and ultimately drew in the United States.
The National Guard's links with Bosnia and Herzegovina continue through the State Partnership Program (SPP). Bosnia and Herzegovina is partnered with Maryland. The SPP is just one example of the continuing security relationship between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Blum said.
President Nebojsa Radmanovic, one of the nation's three presidents who are each elected by its ethic groups, called the handover of Eagle Base a significant, hopeful moment marked by his nation's thanks and symbolizing trust.
About 4.5 million people live in this Balkan country; about 48 percent of them Bosniak, 37 percent Serbian and 14 percent Croatian. About 40 percent are Muslim, 31 percent Orthodox and 15 percent Roman Catholic.
Like its neighbors of Yugoslavia and Croatia, Bosnia is vulnerable to earthquakes. The National Guard State Partnership Program offers insights into how the military can support civilian authorities during rescue and recovery missions following such disasters.
"The transformation of the defense ministry and the integration of the armed forces has become a model for the reform of other ministries and the government as a whole," Blum said. "The armed forces are strengthening their capacity for crisis management, response to natural disasters and peace support."
Those present at the turnover ceremony included President Haris Silajdzic and President Nebojsa Radmanovic; Nikola Spiric, chairman of the council of ministers; Selmo Cikotic, minister of defense, and Lt. Gen. Sifet Podzic, chief of the general staff.
--Some information for this report was obtained from The CIA World Factbook.