Steven P. Schook

Commander NHQSa

(SFOR Web Site; BBC - 23/10/04; AP, AFP, RFE/RL - 05/10/04)

US Brigadier General Steven P. Schook assumed command of the permanent NATO Headquarters in Sarajevo (NHQSa) on 2 December 2004. The 9th and final commander of the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR), Schook took up his new post as the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was transferred to an EU-led force (EUFOR).

Born and raised in Mt Clemens, Michigan, Schook is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

During his military career, Schook has held various command positions. From 1997 through 2002, he served on the Joint Staff as Chief, Conventional War Plans Division, later heading the Joint Doctrine Division, Operational Plans and Interoperability. Subsequently, he served as the executive officer to the commanding general at the United States Army Forces Command in Ft McPherson, Georgia.

Schook was appointed commander of SFOR while he was serving as chief of staff at KFOR headquarters in Pristina.

With the launch of EUFOR, the residual NATO presence in Sarajevo will focus on providing advice on defence reform to the BiH authorities, counterterrorism and the apprehension of war crimes suspects sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

"The door to Partnership for Peace is open for BiH," Schook said as he succeeded US Major General Virgil L. Packett in the post of SFOR commander. He emphasised, however, that full co-operation with the ICTY -- including the arrest and handover of indicted war criminals -- is a key precondition which BiH must meet.

Schook is married and has two children.