United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-07-27 monographic deposited born digital 36 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-784 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784 P0b002ee1803922aa f:d01784 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784 GAO-01-784 Military intervention Military policies NATO military forces International cooperation Armed forces abroad International organizations Peacekeeping DOD Operation Allied Force Kosovo Yugoslavia Other Written Product A01479 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance succeeded in achieving the goals of Operation Allied Force--Yugoslavian forces were removed from Kosovo, refugees returned, and a peacekeeping force was put in place, with no allied combat fatalities. Through it all, the NATO allies stayed united and learned much about working together as a combat force. These achievements, though, did not come easily, and the departures from accepted U.S. military doctrine were troubling for many U.S. military commanders and planners involved in the operation. The Department of Defense (DOD) has made efforts to address these and other issues through revisions in its doctrine, and many activities are underway in DOD and the services to study these issues and adjust military doctrine. Nevertheless, GAO made two observations for both the executive and legislative branches to consider about the nature of conducting military operations in a multinational environment. First, the challenges of dealing with the constraints of working within a multinational environment may not be completely resolved through the development of new joint multinational operations doctrine and revisions to joint and service doctrine. These revisions to doctrine will likely not be able to provide conclusive solutions to these issues because each multinational operation will differ according to the nations that participate and the extent of their interests. Second, future multinational operation, particularly those where vital interests are not at stake, will likely continue to emphasize avoiding collateral damage and multinational force casualties. These concerns will likely weigh as heavily in the decision-making process as achieving the military objectives, and therefore, military commanders of multinational operations should not expect to always apply decisive military force with a strict adherence to military doctrine. As a result, to balance the variety of interests and concerns that arise during multinational operations, these operations may not be conducted as effectively or efficiently as operations that more closely follow U.S. military doctrine, which may lead to higher costs. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784.pdf GAO-01-784 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-784 Other Written Product GAO-01-784; Kosovo Air Operations: Need to Maintain Alliance Cohesion Resulted in Doctrinal Departures; Military intervention Military policies NATO military forces International cooperation Armed forces abroad International organizations Peacekeeping DOD Operation Allied Force Kosovo Yugoslavia