While force protection never overcame the purpose for being in theater, it remained a primary consideration. Regular assessment of force protection levels required a certain number of vehicles in a patrol, wearing uniforms on and off base camps, clearance procedures for individual weapons, numbers of troop assemblies and control of locally employed personnel on the base camps. When necessary, leaders met to recommend changes to existing force protection requirements as contingencies developed and the operational environment changed. Dangers in Bosnia take various forms, surfacing occasionally as direct threats and other times as significant command or staff concerns. Acts of terrorism, direct military action by a threat force, civil disorder, traffic accidents or dangerous road conditions, severe weather conditions, disease threats and electronic attacks through local networks or other electronic collection means are a few examples of force protection concerns in Bosnia.
Threats are both active and passive and very often difficult to detect.
The key to identifying force protection threats is continual, rigorous assessment by staff agencies and subordinate organizations coupled with a thorough situational understanding of the tactical environment. With this information, staff analysis and recommendations, commanders can assess threats to the force and focus on staff and subordinate actions. Protecting the force required constant vigilance and continual estimates on ways to mitigate risk and respond to threats. The operational aspect of force protection, while in some ways less tangible, was vitally important to the force. Intensified unannounced inspections of Entity Armed Forces weapons storage sites during the Kosovo bombing campaign.