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Task Force Falcon has been the name of several
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
Task forces.


Kosovo

Task Force Falcon, a brigade-sized task force, was created on 9 June 1999 under the command of Brigadier General
Bantz John Craddock Bantz John Craddock (born August 24, 1949) is a former United States Army General (United States), general. His last military assignment was as Commander, United States European Command and NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Supreme ...
using selected elements of
Task Force Hawk Task Force Hawk was a U.S. military unit constructed and deployed by General Wesley Clark to provide additional support to NATO's Operation Allied Force against the Yugoslavian government during the 1999 unrest in the Serbian province of Kosovo. ...
, sent to Albania to provide support for
Operation Allied Force The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...
during the
Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...
. These units were deployed to Camp Able Sentry in Macedonia on that day, and were sent into Kosovo under
Operation Joint Guardian Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
, the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, on 11 June. However, planning for the TF had started months before its creation, in the winter of 1998–1999. It was named Task Force Falcon to complement
Task Force Eagle The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...
, the name for the NATO peacekeeping force in Bosnia, and initially included around 3,500 United States troops. It doubled in size by early spring 1999 after engineers were added for support, and the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division was alerted for deployment in early June. By 8 June, its
United States Army Europe United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...
organization was finalized, including the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor,
9th Engineer Battalion The 9th Engineer Battalion is a unit of the United States Army that deploys to designated contingency areas and conducts combat and/or stability operations in support of a brigade combat team. It is a divisional mechanized combat engineer unit, c ...
, 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery, the 299th Forward Support Battalion, the 2nd Brigade Reconnaissance Troop (E Troop,
4th Cavalry Regiment The 4th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage is traced back to the mid-19th century. It was one of the most effective units of the Army against American Indians on the Texas frontier. Today, the regiment exis ...
), and the headquarters for the 2nd Brigade and a tactical command post for support units from the 1st Infantry Division.


Afghanistan


Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division

The Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (redesignated Combat Aviation Brigade on 19 Sep 2005) was given the epithet ″The Falcon Brigade″ upon its reactivation at
Griffiss Air Force Base Griffiss Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force installation in the northeastern United States, located in Central New York state at Rome, about northwest of Utica. Missions included fighter interceptors, electronic research, i ...
in Rome, New York, as part of the 10th Mountain Division on 2 July 1988. The aviation brigade continues to be known by its epithet, with the exception of being organized as ″Task Force Falcon″ during the
Global War on Terrorism The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...
. In July 2003, the Aviation Brigade headquarters deployed to Bagram Airfield and 2d Battalion, 10th Aviation deployed to Kandahar Airfield in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...
(OEF) IV. While deployed, the Aviation Brigade assumed command of Task Force Panther, Task Force Talon, and Task Force Red Dawg (USMC), and renamed the Brigade to Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Falcon. In winter 2006 the
Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division The Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division is a combat aviation brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. It is a subordinate unit of the 10th Mountain Division. Reactivated in 1988, the 10th Mountain Division's C ...
was deployed again to Afghanistan as the only aviation brigade in the theater, stationed at
Bagram Air Base Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient Bagram at an elevation of above sea leve ...
, Afghanistan. Named "Task Force Falcon," the brigade's mission was to conduct aviation operations to destroy insurgents and anti-coalition militia in an effort to help build the Afghan National Security Force's capability and allow the Afghan government to increase its capabilities. In addition, the Task Force provided logistical and aviation support for
International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...
forces throughout the country, conducted tactical maneuvers and performed security and attack operations when needed. In early 2010 the aviation brigade again task organized as ″Task Force Falcon,″ with its subordinate battalion commands being organized into their respective task forces, in order to prepare for deployment to Afghanistan in support of OEF XI (October 2010 - October 2011). The brigade remained organized in task force structure for sometime upon its return to Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield,
Fort Drum Fort Drum is a U.S. Army military reservation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, on the northern border of New York, United States. The population of the CDP portion of the base was 12,955 at the 2010 census. It is home t ...
, New York.


Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division

In October 2017, half of the
Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division The Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division is the Combat Aviation Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division (United States), 3rd Infantry Division of the United States Army based at Fort Stewart. History The original predecessor of the Comb ...
deployed to Afghanistan as Task Force Falcon, replacing the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division.


References


Citations


Bibliography

* {{Cite book, url=https://history.army.mil/brochures/Kosovo/Kosovo.pdf, title=Operation Joint Guardian: The U.S. Army in Kosovo, last=Phillips, first=R. Cody, publisher=United States Army Center of Military History, year=2007, isbn=9780160790447, series=CMH Pub 70-109-1, location=Washington, D.C. Ad hoc units and formations of the United States Army NATO-led peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia