Brigadier General Pamela L. McGaha Takes Command of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Brigadier General Pamela McGaha (US Army) officially took command of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo at today's handover ceremony.

She took over the duty from Eric Folkestad (US Army).

Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, Admiral Robert P. Burke, said that command handover ceremonies are universally understood military traditions, and their purpose is to symbolize continuity and mutual commitment to a cause greater than ourselves.

He reminded that this is the 17th handover of the commander of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo and that this is a tangible expression of the Alliance's enduring commitment to support BiH institutions as they implement defense and security sector reforms.

He emphasized that this team remains an integral component of NATO's efforts to maintain security and stability in the Western Balkans, and its role in this is more important today than ever before.

He added that NATO Headquarters Sarajevo is part of broader efforts and that since 2004, the Alliance has been providing support to EUFOR through this headquarters in accordance with the "Berlin Plus" arrangement.

"To this day, our close partnership forms the military component of a broader international team working to achieve goals that we share with the people of BiH: building sustainable capacities of institutions in BiH on this country's path towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration," Burke said.

He added that BiH is closer to its long-term goal today than it was at the beginning of the NATO Headquarters Sarajevo mission.

He thanked Folkestad for his contributions over the past period, especially regarding the 2020 Reform Program.

"The work he has done has helped achieve institutional approval at the state level for the Commission for Cooperation with NATO in BiH, thereby providing a key mechanism for reviewing the draft Reform Program for 2021 as a technical instrument, which it is, and not a place for political struggles at the expense of the continuation of this country's Euro-Atlantic integration," Burke said.

Folkestad said that NATO Headquarters Sarajevo has witnessed many successes of the Armed Forces of BiH and that they have gladly supported key NATO Partnership for Peace programs in the interest of lasting security and greater prosperity for all citizens of BiH.

He added that among the institutions they will continue to support is the Peace Support Operations Training Centre, with which they have had rich cooperation this year. He added that this Centre and the NATO accredited courses that the Centre organizes for military trainees from the entire region and beyond represent a model of defense cooperation and serve as an honor to the Armed Forces.

"Despite all the positive aspects, it cannot be denied that we have heard rhetoric from all sides that is, at best, unhelpful, and at worst, jeopardizes the future and economic security of the citizens of BiH across the country," Folkestad said.

He believes that the young people of BiH deserve more, and this includes those who enter military service every year.

He also referred to cooperation with diplomats and ambassadors representing the 30 NATO allies and numerous other diplomatic missions, including the UN, OSCE, OHR, and others.

"NATO had the great honor this year of being your partner in joint efforts that I can describe in no other words than a historic and noble path to provide assistance to the citizens of BiH in the interest of improvement," Folkestad said.

General McGaha said that there is no doubt that the changes that partners have achieved in the past year will have a huge and positive impact on the quality of life, not only for the dedicated members of the Armed Forces of BiH and their families, but also for their wider communities.

She reminded that this is not her first time in the region and that she was stationed here in 1996 and 1997.

"NATO forces were a catalyst for that peace, but the stability that followed was achieved through cooperation and compromise of political leaders in BiH," McGaha recalled, adding that she could not have imagined at the time that she would one day be a high-ranking military representative of NATO.

She is delighted, for the sake of the people in BiH, how much has changed in recent years.

"It is an exceptional success that it was possible to build such a respectable institution as the unified Armed Forces of BiH in such a short time, and everyone who had a part in it should be very proud. Especially all those who served in the AF BiH during all these important years of transformation," McGaha believes.