Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian , Croatian , Serbian Latinic : " Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine , OSBIH " ; Serbian Cyrillic : Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине , ОСБИХ ) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The Bosnian Armed forces were unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies : the Bosniak - Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska . The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina , founded in 2004 , is in charge of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina . There are approximately 15 , 250 active and professional troops , 5 , 000 reserve troops and 1 , 000 civilian staff . Chain of command . The supreme commander of the Bosnian Armed Forces is the president of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Therefore , the Presidency commands the Bosnian Army , then the Bosnian Ministry of Defence with the minister Selmo Cikotić , then the Chiefs of Joint Staff with Sifet Podžić as the head . The BiH Chief of Joint Staff is Lieutenant General Miladin Milojčić . Conscription was completely abolished in Bosnia and Herzegovina effective on and from 1 January 2006 . Defence law . The Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence Law addresses the following areas : the Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina , Government Institutions , Entity Jurisdictions and Structure , Budget and Financing , Composition of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina , War Declaration , natural disasters , conflict of interests and professionalism , Oath to Bosnia - Herzegovina , flags , anthem and military insignia , and transitional and end orders . History . The AFBiH was formed from three armies of the Bosnian War period : the Bosnian ( dominantly Bosniak with numbers of Serbs and Croats ) Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina , the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska , and the Croat Defence Council . The Army of the Republic of Bosnia And Herzegovina was created on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War . Before the ARBiH was formally created , there existed Territorial Defence , an official military force of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina , and a number of paramilitary groups such as the Green Berets , Patriotic League , and civil defense groups , as well as many criminal gangs and collections of police and military professionals . The army was formed under poor circumstances , with a very low number of tanks , APC s and no military aviation assets . The army was divided into Corps , each Corp was stationed in a territory . The first commander was Sefer Halilović . The Army of Republika Srpska was created on 12 May 1992 . Before the VRS was formally created , there were a number of paramilitary groups such as the Srpska Dobrovoljačka Garda , Beli Orlovi , as well as some Russian , Greek and other volunteers . The army was equipped with ex - JNA inventory . It had about 200 tanks , mostly T - 55 s and 85 M - 84 s , and 150 APCs with several heavy artillery pieces . The Air Defense of VRS has shot down several aircraft , like F - 16 , Mirage 2000 , F - 18 and one Croatian Air Force MiG - 21 . The VRS received support from the Yugoslav Army and FRY until 1994 , when Slobodan Milošević stopped military relations with Republika Srpska . The Croatian Defence Council was the main military formation of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg - Bosnia during the Bosnian War . It was first organized military force to with the aim to control the Croat populated areas , created on 8 April 1992 . They ranged from men armed with shotguns assigned to village defense tasks to organized , uniformed , and well - equipped brigade - sized formations that nevertheless employed part - time soldiers . As time went on , the HVO forces became increasingly better organized and more " professional " , but it was not until early 1994 , that the HVO began to form the so - called guards brigades , mobile units manned by full - time professional soldiers . In 1995 – 96 , a NATO - led international peacekeeping force ( IFOR ) of 60 , 000 troops served in Bosnia and Herzegovina , beginning on December 21 , 1995 to implement and monitor the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement . IFOR was succeeded by a smaller , NATO - led Stabilization Force or SFOR . The number of SFOR troops was reduced first to 12 , 000 and then to 7 , 000 . SFOR was in turn succeeded by an even smaller , European Union - led European Union Force , EUFOR Althea . As of 2004 , EUFOR Althea numbered around 7 , 000 troops . As the joint AFBiH began to develop , troops began to be sent abroad . Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed a unit of 37 men to destroy munitions and clear mines , in addition to 6 command personnel as part of the Multinational force in Iraq . The unit was first deployed to Fallujah , then Talil Air Base , and is now located at Camp Echo . In December 2006 , the Bosnian government formerly extended its mandate through June 2007 . Bosnia and Herzegovina is planning to send another 49 soldiers from the 6th Infantry Division to Iraq in August 2008 , their mission will be to protect / guard Camp Victory in Baghdad . Structure . The Military units are commanded by the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Joint Staff in Sarajevo . There are two major commands under the Joint Staff : Operational Command and Support Command . There are three regiments that are each formed by soldiers from the three ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina : Bosniaks , Croats and Serbs and trace their roots to the armies that were created during the Bosnian war . These regiments have their distinct ethnic insignias and consist of three active battalions each . Headquarters of Regiment s have no operational authority . On the basis of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina , the regimental headquarters have the following tasks : to manage the regimental museum , monitor financial fund Regiment , prepare , investigate and cherish the history of the regiment , the regiment publish newsletters , maintain cultural and historical heritage , give guidance on holding special ceremonies , give guidance on customs , dress and deportment Regiment , conduct officer , NCO and military clubs . Each regiments three battalions divided evenly between the three active brigades of the Army . Within the armed forces , there are a number of services . These include a Technical service , Air technology service , Military Police service , Communications service , Sanitary service , a Veterans service , Civilian service , Financial service , Information service , Legal service , Religious service , and a Musical service . Uniform and Insignia . Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in 2005 and at that time they needed a uniform for the newly founded army . MARPAT was designated as the future uniform of AFBIH . Insignia is found on military hats or berets , on the right and left shoulder on the uniform of all Soldiers of the Armed Forces . All , except for generals , wear badges on their hats or berets with either the land force badge or air force badge . Generals wear badges with the coat of arms of Bosnia surrounded with branches and two swords . All soldiers of the armed forces have on their right shoulder a flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina . All members of the 3 regiments wear their regiment insignia on the left shoulder . There are other insignias , brigades or other institution are worn under the regiment insignia . The name of the soldiers is worn on the left part of the chest while the name " Armed Forces of BiH " is worn on the right part of the chest . Equipment . The armed forces ' equipment includes :