IMPACT OF PARTICIPATION IN UN PEACEKEEPING CONTINGENTS ON OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY OF BAF

Abstract

Bangladesh is a peace-loving country and contribution to international peace
and security is one of her foreign policy commitment. Bangladesh’s contribution
in UN peacekeeping stems from these noble values. BAF is firmly committed
to support the national interest of establishing world peace and harmony. To
uphold this national interest, BAF has been participating in UN peacekeeping
operations for more than two decades and has developed its competencies in
this regard. Present BAF deployment in UN peacekeeping missions involve a
significant number of combat support air assets with support personnel and a
few personnel from combat operational units. The large involvement of BAF in
UN peacekeeping has certain impact on its operational capability. This research
paper has analysed the factors that are associated with impact of UN participation
on BAF operational capability. Additionally, this paper has also analysed various
challenges of BAF participation in UN peacekeeping contingents and measures
to address them for optimizing BAF operational capability. Impact of UN
experience on combat support operational capability has been measured using
the indicators like quality over quantity, operational tempo, capacity building and
sustainability. Through various analysis, it has been found that experience of UN
participation has moderate to strong effect on combat support capability of BAF,
thereby it enhances operational capability of BAF.