Admiral Smith assumed command of Allied Forces Southern Europe. Commander Joint Task Force Provide Promise. and Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe. Twenty eight hours later. under his command. NATO conducted its first ever airtoground combat operations near Gorazde. Bosnia. On numerous occasions between that April and August. 1995. NATO air forces supported the U.N. forces in Bosnia with close air support and air strikes. Simultaneously. as Commander Joint Task Force Provide Promise. he continued to oversee airland and airdrop support to the U.N. refugee program in Bosnia. saving thousands of lives. As tensions continued to rise in the fall of 1995. Admiral Smith directed Operation Deliberate Force.