Samenvatting

With this article the author wants to share his experiences with CIMIC in an SFOR peace support operation in Bosnia . He limits himself to the period around the sending out of his battalion. On the basis of this limited experience it is still possible to draw several lessons that can be useful for the decisionmaking with regard to CIMIC in the operational decision making process of commanders during peace operations.The first part begins by stating the task that he received from my divisional commander, after which a short retrospect of their period, which ran from December 1997 until May 1998, is given. He will subsequently deal in some detail with the way in which they carried out that task. The questions that will be discussed there relate to the contribution that CIMIC can make to the realisation of the units mission and progress in the area. By means of concrete examples the concept of operations will be illustrated. In the last part the author tries to present some tentative conclusions that can be instrumental in formulating lessons learned.