Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian , Croatian : " Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine " , " ARBiH " ; Serbian : Армија Републике Босне и Херцеговине , АРБиХ ) was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina established by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 following the outbreak of the Bosnian War . Following the end of the war , and the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 , it was transformed into Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Under the State Defense Reform Law the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified into a single structure OSBiH making entity armies defunct . History . Creation and Composition . The Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina , was formed on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War . Before the ARBiH was officially created , a number of paramilitary and civil defense groups were established . The Patriotic League ( PL ) and the local Territorial Defence Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina ( TORBIH ) were the official army while paramilitaries such as the Zelene Beretke ( Green Berets ) and Crni Labudovi ( Black Swans ) units have been founded . Other irregular groups included criminal groups , as well as collections of police and former Yugoslav People ' s Army soldiers . The army was formed in poor circumstances , and suffered from a very limited supply of arms . Critical deficiencies included tank s and other heavy weaponry . The first commander of the army was Sefer Halilović . 1992 . In 1992 , 70 % of Bosnia was under JNA ( Yugoslav People ' s Army ) , and then later VRS ( Bosnian Serb Army ) , control . Sarajevo was under siege . The ARBiH had defended Sarajevo with light weaponry . The army was surrounded and the transfer of supplies was hard , if not impossible . 1993 . 1993 saw no major changes in the front lines against Serbs . Instead , this year marked the start of the Croat - Bosniak war in Central Bosnia and in Herzegovina , notably the Mostar region . Pressured and contained by heavily armed Serb forces in Bosnia - Hercegovina and Croatia , Croat forces - HVO ( Croatian Defence Council ) shifted their focus from defending their parts of Bosnia from Serbs to trying to capture remaining territory held by Bosnian Army . It is widely believed that this was due to the Karađorđevo agreement reached between presidents Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman to split Bosnia between Croatia and Serbia . In order to accomplish this Croatian forces would have to defeat the Bosnian Army , since the territory that they wanted was under Bosnian government control . HVO with great engagement from the Military of Republic of Croatia and material support from Serbs , attacked Bosniak civilian population in Herzegovina and in central Bosnia starting an ethnic cleansing of Bosniak populated territories ( e . g . Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing ) . Vastly underequipped Bosnian forces , fighting on two fronts , were able to repel Croats and gain territory against them on every front . At this time , due to its geographic position , Bosnia was surrounded by Croat and Serb forces from all sides . There was no way to Import weapons or food . What saved Bosnia at this time was its vast Industrial complex ( Steel and Heavy Industries ) that was able to switch to military hardware production . After a short but bloody war and once Croats realized that their partnership with Serbs will not bring them any territorial gains they agreed to the US leadership ' s " Washington treaty " peace agreement . From that point on , Croat and Bosnian government forces continued to fight as allies against Serbs . 1994 . A renewed alliance between HVO and ARBiH was agreed upon , with the objective of forming a strong force that could fight the much stronger and better equipped VRS . This was the time of frequent peace negotiations . 1995 . Despite the loss of several enclave s , notably Srebrenica , 1995 was marked by HVO and ARBiH offensives and later by NATO intervention . Following the Split Agreement , the Croatian army , with cooperation from ARBiH and HVO , launched a series of operations : " Flash , Summer ' 95 , Storm and Mistral " . In conjunction , Bosnian forces launched operations " Sana " and " Una ' 95 " . Bosnian and Croat armies were on the offensive in this phase , captured entire western Bosnia , and the Serb capital Banja Luka was seriously threatened , until peace negotiations stopped further bloodshed . In the period of August – December 1995 , Serb forces were defeated and driven out of the majority of Croatia and western Bosnia , and the ethnic Serb population fled from these parts . Following the second Markale massacre , NATO intervention was launched , which destroyed much of the VRS infrastructure in just a few days ( Operation Deliberate Force ) . The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Accord . Army Corps and Commanding Officers . The army was divided into Corps , each stationed in a particular territory . In 1993 , most brigade s were renamed as Mountain troops given that the lack of heavy weapons made it organizationally pointless to list them as infantry or motorized . In addition , Bosnian terrain favored light infantry over armored and mechanized formations . Equipment . displayed