Joint Task Force Liberia was a joint task force formed from August to October 2003 in response to the crisis that developed during the

Second Liberian Civil War The Second Liberian Civil War was a conflict in the West African nation of Liberia lasted from 1999 to 2003. It was preceded by the First Liberian Civil War, which ended in 1996. President Charles Taylor came to power in 1997 after victory in t ...

. The ongoing civil war destabilized the area and created a large number of

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s as rebel forces closed in on

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

and took over

Bushrod Island Bushrod Island is an island near Monrovia, Liberia surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Saint Paul River, the Mesurado River and Stockton Creek (a tidal channel that connects the two rivers). It contains the Freeport of Monrovia, the major nat ...

. As a result, the

Freeport of Monrovia The Freeport of Monrovia is the main commercial port facility in the West African nation of Liberia. It was artificially created on Bushrod Island near Monrovia in 1948. The facility contains four piers and one main wharf with four berths. The po ...

closed, causing food shortages. As the crisis unfolded, U.S. Ambassador to Liberia John W. Blaney requested military assistance. U.S. Secretary of Defense

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and a ...

approved deployment of U.S. forces on July 20, 2003Rhem, Kathleen T.
''21 Marines Sent Into Liberia at Ambassador’s Request''
July 21, 2003. Retrieved on October 24, 2008. and soon afterwards, the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

established Joint Task Force Liberia.

Formation and deployment of the task force

In 2003, the

56th Rescue Squadron The 56th Rescue Squadron is part of the 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, Italy. The squadron was previously assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England. It operates HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters conducting search and resc ...

of the

85th Group The 85th Group is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with United States Air Forces in Europe at Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland, assigned as a unit of the 48th Fighter Wing whose home station is at RA ...

, U.S. Air Force, from Keflavik, Iceland, deployed to Liberia as part of JTF-Liberia. It saved lives by extracting people from the

United States Embassy in Monrovia United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

.USAF Press Release: Group Mission Inactivates at Keflavik, Iceland
(30 Jun 2006) In July, Marines from a forward deployed

Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team The Marine Corps Security Force Regiment is a dedicated security and anti-terrorism unit of the United States Marine Corps. It provides security forces to guard high-value naval installations, most notably those containing nuclear vessels and w ...

(FAST) left

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota ( es, Base Naval de Rota, links=no), is a Spanish-American naval base commanded by a Spanish Rear Admiral. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military co ...

, Spain for Liberia. The FAST platoon reinforced the embassy security and began non-combatant evacuation operations. After a month of the platoon of Marines being alone to defend the Embassy Compound, the 26th MEU, which had steamed at full speed for 2 weeks from the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

finally arrived off shore. Members of the

Southern European Task Force United States Army Africa (USARAF), also known as the ''Southern European Task Force'' (SETAF), was the United States Army service component command of United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM). USARAF's headquarters were located on C ...

formed the headquarters element of the task force while the Iwo Jima

Amphibious Ready Group An amphibious ready group (ARG) of the United States Navy consists of a naval element—a group of warships known as an Amphibious Task Force (ATF)—and a landing force (LF) of U.S. Marines (and occasionally U.S. Army soldiers), in total abou ...

with the

26th Marine Expeditionary Unit The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU) is one of seven Marine expeditionary unit, such units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is an Marine air-ground task force, air-ground task force with a strength of about 2,4 ...

provided the operational forces. The Task Force Command Element Forward embarked aboard the with the intent of keeping a small footprint ashore.Collins, Thomas W. "Joint Efforts Prevent Humanitarian Disaster in Liberia", ''Army Magazine'', February 2004. On August 14, 2003, the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group conducted an

amphibious operation Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

and landed about 150 Marines at

Roberts International Airport Roberts International Airport , informally also known as ''Robertsfield'', is an international airport in the West African nation of Liberia. Located near the town of Harbel in Margibi County, the single runway airport is about outside of t ...

and another 50 at the Freeport of Monrovia on Bushrod Island.

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. History Formation The Nigeria ...

forces also deployed as part of an

ECOMIL {{Short description, West African peacekeeping force ECOWAS mission in Liberia (ECOMIL) was a peacekeeping force sent by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Liberia at the end of Second Liberian Civil War in September 2003. Du ...

, an

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

temporary intervention force. The Joint Task Force Liberia and ECOWAS forces began to stabilize the area and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

brought in humanitarian aid. President Charles Taylor left the country soon afterwards under pressure from the international community, and the stage was set for the arrival of first an ECOWAS interim peacekeeping force, ECOMIL, and then the UN peacekeeping force the

United Nations Mission in Liberia The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian ...

Notes

{{reflist

Formation and deployment of the task force

Notes

Further reading