A joint task force is a "joint" (multi-service) ad hoc military formation. The task force concept originated with the United States Navy in the 1920s and 1930s.
"Combined" is the British-American military term for multi-national formations. CTF – Commander Task Force, sometimes Combined Task Force CCTF – Commander Combined Task Force CJTF – Combined Joint Task Force (multi-service and multi-national). During the late 1990s creating CJTFs was part of arranging greater European Union - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation cooperation; see Berlin Plus agreement.
There are two ways in which a U.S. or U.S.-allied task force may be assigned a number. The first is the originally naval scheme promulgated and governed by the Military Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Executive Board (MC4EB), chaired by the Joint Staff J6. Task force numbers allocated under this scheme form the majority of the listings below.
The second is a by-product of the U.S. Army's procedure for forming task-organised forces for combat, differing from strictly doctrinally assigned table of organization and equipment organizations. A battalion, company or brigade commander has very wide latitude in selecting a task force name,See Larry Bond, 'Cauldron' (fiction) or Hackworth, 'About Face'. though often the name of the commander is used (e.g. Task Force Faith; Task Force Smith was named for the commander of the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment). This has often resulted in derivations from the originator unit's numerical designation being used. For example, when a special operations aviation unit was being formed in the late 1970s, the original unit drew heavily on personnel from the 158th Aviation. The designation chosen was Task Force 158, which later grew to become the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Another example comes from 2004 in Afghanistan. On 15 April 2004 the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division arrived in Afghanistan and took command of CJTF-180 from the 10th Mountain Division. Lieutenant General David Barno, commanding then decided to rename CJTF 180 because the "180" designation had traditionally been given to Joint task forces led by the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps. Barno chose Combined Joint Task Force 76 as the new name to evoke America's history and the democratic spirit of 1776.Lieutenant General David W. Barno, interview by Center for Military History, 21 November 2006, 31–32, in A Different Kind of War. The CFC-A commander intended this new designation to highlight the change in command at the operational level at a time when Afghanistan appeared to be moving closer to democracy.
No coordination appears to occur between U.S. Army task forces designated in this way, and the USMCEB scheme. This has resulted in simultaneous designations being used at the same time. For example, Combined Joint Task Force 76, was in use in Afghanistan in 2004, but doubling up on the Task Force 76 designation used for decades by Amphibious Force, United States Seventh Fleet, in north Asia.
Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) is designed to test a strike group's ability to operate in hostile and complex environments with other U.S. and coalition forces. The integrated exercise combines specific warfare areas with the purpose of making preparations for the strike group's upcoming deployment. An example of such an exercise includes The John F. Kennedy (CV-67) Carrier Battle Group which participated in Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 02–1, in the waters off the East Coast as well as on training ranges in North Carolina and Florida during Operation Enduring Freedom January 19, 2002
Numbered USMCEB joint task forces Allied Communications Publication 113: Call Signs Book for Ships in its Annex B lists allocations of task force numbers from 1 to approximately 1000, allocated by the United States Military Communications-Electronic Board in blocks for use by the United States Department of Defense and allies.
Norman Polmar noted in Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, 2005, that the task forces under the commanders of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet are mainly for contingency purposes.Norman Polmar, Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, Naval Institute Press, 2005, p.37 They are employed for specific operations and exercises.
Combined Task Force (CTF) 13 conducted a simulated long range raid on Camp Hanson, Okinawa Japan, March 21, 2016. CTF-13 conducted the raid, which commenced in South Korea, to demonstrate air assault, multi-continent long-range raid capabilities, and the ability to strike and destroy. CTF 13 included 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines.
Joint task force Abbrev. State Notes Joint Task Force 1 US Operation Crossroads, Task Force One later utilized for Operation Sea Orbit Joint Task Force 2 CAN In September 1964, Major General George Brown was selected to organize and command JTF-2, a Joint Chiefs of Staff organization formed at Sandia Base, New Mexico, to test the services' weapon systems. It was staffed by personnel of all three services. Low Altitude Program nuclear test organisation, 1965–70.National Archives and Records Administration, Federal Record Group 374.5.2, accessed June 2013. In 1990s seemingly transferred to Canada, possibly completely out of USMCEB formal system for use by Canadian special forces. The Canadian SOF unit that took this designation was formed on 1 April 1993. Joint Task Force 3 US Formed late 1949 in preparation for Operation Greenhouse nuclear test series. Performing organization for the DNA was Kaman Tempo, Santa Barbara, California. Also see Barton C. Hacker, 'Elements of Controversy'. Joint Task Force 4 USFrom 1960 to 1 December 1963, planning headquarters for Sub-Saharan Africa, responsible to Atlantic Command. Lt Gen Louis W. Truman reassigned as chief of staff for Caribbean operations during Cuban Missile Crisis. Superseded by creation of CINCMEAFSA (Commander-in-Chief U.S. Strike Command).History of the Unified Command Plan 1946-2012, pp. 22-24. Drug interdiction task force in Caribbean Sea from December 1989. Became Joint Interagency Task Force East on 1 October 1994. Later amalgamated into Joint Interagency Task Force South in 1994. Later became post-conflict reconstruction task force, eventually to become the ill-fated Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Joint Task Force 5 US Drug interdiction task force at Coast Guard Island, Alameda, California, from December 1989. Later became Joint Interagency Task Force West. Joint Task Force 6 US Drug interdiction task force at El Paso, Texas, from December 1989. Became Joint Task Force North in 2004. Now seemingly Task Force 6, the naval component commander, U.S. Africa Command, an additional duty post for Commander, Sixth Fleet.Science Advisor, NAVEUR/NAVAF/Sixth Fleet, Science and Technology Shortfalls , 26 June 2012, accessed January 2014. Joint Task Force 7 US Operation Sandstone, a series of nuclear weapon tests in 1948; Operation Chromite, Inchon amphibious landing under Vice Admiral Arthur Struble. As Commander, Joint Task Force Seven, and Commander, Seventh Fleet, Struble was in command of the amphibious phase of the operation. Used for Operation Castle atomic tests in the 1940s-1950s. Combined Joint Task Force 7 US CJTF 7 was the interim military formation that directed the U.S. military effort in Iraq between June 2003 and May 2004. Joint Task Force 8 US TF 8 was the carrier task force in 1941; during the 1942 Aleutian Islands campaign Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald commanded Task Force 8 afloat. Theobald as Commander North Pacific Force (ComNorPac) reported to Admiral Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas, in Hawaii. Task Force 8 consisted of five cruisers, thirteen destroyers, three tankers, six submarines, as well as naval aviation elements of Fleet Air Wing Four. Later JTF 8 was the Operation Dominic nuclear test organization, April–November 1962.See Operation Dominic Technical Report, 1 February 1983; full report accessible via https://www.osti.gov/opennet/servlets/purl/16389215.pdf; Insignia visible at Joint Task Force 8 insignia. Joint Task Force 11 US During World War II, Task Force 11 was a United States Navy aircraft carrier task force in the Pacific theater.JTF at Soto Cano Air Base, 1983. By 1984 redesignated Joint Task Force Bravo. Task Force 12 US Theater Anti-Submarine Warfare Force, Pacific / Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, Pacific (PATRECONFORPAC).Globalsecurity.org, Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, Pacific Task Force 13 USIn 1945, was Amphibious Training Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Task Force 14 USForce sent to raid Wake Island on 5–6 October 1943. Under Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery, the force included Essex, Lexington, , USS Cowpens (CVL-25), two other escort carriers, two heavy and four light cruisers, and 24 destroyers. Task Force 15 USTask Group 15.5 was the Pensacola Convoy, 1941-42. Task Force 16 USCelebrated carrier task force c. 1941–42; Service Force, Pacific Fleet, by 1943; Maritime Defense Zone, U.S. Pacific Fleet, commanded by a Coast Guard officer (2005). Task Force 17 US Celebrated carrier task force during World War II; Submarines, Pacific Fleet, 1943; Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet (2005). Task Force 18 US 's task force for 1942 Doolittle Raid; Minecraft, Pacific Fleet, under Rear Admiral Alexander Sharp, 1 May 1945 (sometime flagship was ); Sealift forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet (2005). Task Force 19 US Air Force, Pacific, December 1, 1943, under Vice Admiral John Towers. Task Force 20 US Task Group 20.5, a carrier battle group built around , was part of Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, 1982. Deputy Commander, Fleet and Joint Operations, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, with responsibility for subordinate seagoing formations, until 1 October 2012. Task Force 25 US Caribbean Contingency Force, United States Second Fleet Task Forces 30-39 US All allocated to United States Third Fleet Task Force 31 US Task Force 35 US Service forces, South Pacific Force, Rear Admiral Cobb, December 1, 1943. Task Force 38 US Fast Carrier Task Force, World War II. Task Force 44 US Task Forces 50-57 US All allocated to United States Fifth Fleet Task Force 57 US Task Force 58 US Recently Maritime Surveillance Force in the North Persian Gulf. Fast Carrier Task Force, World War II. Task Force 60