Joint Task Force Liberia was a joint

task force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

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 civil war in the West African nation of Liberia that lasted from 1999 to 2003. The war was mainly caused by transition failures after the First Civil War, especially the peace-building process which would res ...

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

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s as rebel forces closed in on

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

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 na ...

. 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, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...

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, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

established Joint Task Force Liberia.

Formation and deployment of the task force

In 2003, the 56th Rescue Squadron of the

85th Group The 85th Fighter Group is an active United States Air Force organization, stationed at Ebbing Air National Guard Base as an active associate of the 188th Wing. It serves as a training unit for countries using the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning I ...

, 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 expeditionary security and anti-terrorism regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Its mission is to provide security forces to guard high-value naval installations, most notably t ...

(FAST) left

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota (), is a Spanish naval base, that is jointly used by the Spanish Navy and the United States Navy. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in ...

, Spain for Liberia. The FAST platoon reinforced the embassy security and began

non-combatant evacuation operation A Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) is an operation conducted to Emergency evacuation, evacuate civilians from another country, generally due to a deteriorating security situation. Australia *2021 - Fall of Kabul (2021), Afghanistan Chin ...

s. 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 The Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF–AF), formally the United States Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, (SETAF-AF) is a formation of the United States Army headquartered at Caserma Del Din, Italy. History The Southern Eur ...

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 abo ...

with the

26th Marine Expeditionary Unit The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU) is one of seven such marine expeditionary units (MEUs) currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is an air-ground task force with a strength of about 2,400 personnel when at full ...

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 the ...

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 the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chie ...

forces also deployed as part of an ECOMIL, an

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa. Collectively, the present and former members comprise an area ...

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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

brought in

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

. 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 United Nations 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 ...

Notes

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Formation and deployment of the task force

Notes

Further reading