U.S. Army Southern European Task Force
Headquartered at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, about 25 miles west of Venice, SETAF is the organization of choice when it comes to responding to crises and contingencies anywhere within U.S. European Command's area of responsibility. The U.S. Army Southern European Task Force [SETAF] is an airborne rapid reaction force and Joint Task Force Headquarters. SETAF is ready to respond anywhere within the U.S. European Command's area of responsibility. SETAF has been forward deployed since the 1950's and remains an integral part of the U.S. Army's Power Projection ability.
The SETAF mission is to provide trained forces, including a Joint Task Force headquarters, which are deployable within 72 hours. With approximately 1,900 soldiers assigned or in tenant support units, USASETAF is the largest U.S. Army force south of the Alps in Europe, with responsibilities throughout the Southern Region and the Mediterranean area. SETAF plans and conducts joint warfighting or stability operations in NATO's European Command area of responsibility. It enhances regional stability by providing host nation liaison for operations conducted in Italy, and provides fully deployable core of a Joint Task Force oriented on stability operations.
SETAF's soldiers train at home station, at other areas within Italy, and regularly travel to Germany to take advantage of the training opportunities available at both Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels. They also train in former East Bloc countries, and work with soldiers from other nations who come to train with us. Airfield seizures and noncombatant evacuations are SETAF specialties, and conducting an annual full-scale exercise involving both ensures that soldiers are prepared to conduct such complicated and potentially hazardous missions.
SETAF is an instrumental part of the European Command's theater engagement strategy, participating in combined exercises in Morocco, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Ukraine and Hungary. SETAF remains a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army, Europe.
The origins of the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force lie in Austria and Camp Darby, Italy. In 1951, the U.S. and Italy signed an agreement that the U.S. would operate lines of communication across Italy, and that the U.S. would occupy land near Livorno. This land became Camp Darby, named for Brig. Gen. William O. Darby, who was killed in action in northern Italy, April 30, 1945.
All U.S. occupation forces in Austria were withdrawn after the Austrian State Treaty was signed in 1955. Under provisions of the agreement with Italy, Camp Darby was the base for the removal of soldiers, equipment and supplies from Austria.
With Austria neutral, northern Italy's eastern flank became vulnerable to attack. To reduce the danger in that area, the U.S. agreed to establish a force there; and, on October 25, 1955, the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force was activated. USASETAF's first headquarters was on Camp Darby, but the largest number of soldiers has always been in Vicenza. Shortly after activation, USASETAF moved the headquarters to Verona, to Caserma Passalacqua. Troop strength reached 10,000, and USASETAF was formally established with a U.S.-Italian agreement.
In 1959, following President Eisenhower's visit to Rome, a third agreement brought significant changes to USASETAF. Italy's military forces had been re-established. U.S. troop strength was cut in half; equipment from disbanded U.S. units was turned over to Italy; and Italian Army personnel were assigned to the USASETAF general staff to assist with unique binational responsibilities.
The headquarters moved again in 1965 to Caserma Carlo Ederle in Vicenza. Soldier strength dropped to 2,500 in 1970 and civilian employment went down 70 percent in a unilateral cost reduction effort. The port opened by 8th Area Support Group in Livorno was returned to Italian control.
USASETAF's mission and geographical area of responsibility increased in 1972 when the command enlarged its signal support unit and took control of the 558th U.S. Army Artillery Group in Greece and the 528th USAAG in Turkey. These units had been in support of NATO since the early 1960s, along with the 559th USAAG, which had been a USASETAF unit in Italy since 1964.
With the assignment of the 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne Battalion Combat Team) in 1973, SETAF accepted the missions of maintaining and deploying the battalion on its own or as part of the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force (Land). The ABCT, with its own artillery battery, has been redesignated three times, with 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment (ABCT), serving in Vicenza since April 1996.
Until 1992, USASETAF was considered a logistical command. In addition to the ABCT and the three USAAGs, SETAF operated a major depot at Camp Darby with the 8th ASG. With its designation as a support command and later a theater army area command, USASETAF was to be responsible for the reception, preparation for combat, and onward movement of forces entering the southern region for general war.
Political reorientation of Europe in 1989 and 1990 caused major revision of U.S. and NATO military priorities. With the drastic reduction of threat of general war, SETAF received new missions for regional tactical operations as command and control headquarters for Army and Joint units. Its three artillery groups were inactivated and the two support groups became support groups with unique missions. The 8th Area Support Group's depot operation developed into the maintenance and issue of theater reserve stocks organized in unit sets sufficient to fully equip a heavy brigade.
In January 1994, an Infantry Brigade was established at SETAF to provide command and control of SETAF's deployable units. On 12 June 2000, the SETAF Infantry Brigade was redesignated as the 173d Airborne Brigade, continuing the proud legacy of this historic unit. The brigade mission is to operate as a separate, independent brigade; to fall in on a division as an organic brigade; and to operate as the Army Forces component in a Joint task force.
In August 1994, the newly formed brigade deployed to Rwanda on Operation Support Hope to aid millions of displaced citizens. This same operation saw portions of the USASETAF headquarters deploy for the first time in history, as the nucleus of the Joint Task Force Headquarters.
By December 1995, Operation Joint Endeavor was in its initial stages. SETAF demonstrated its role as the theater's reaction force by deploying as the lead element of the peace implementation forces into Bosnia-Herzegovina. After being relieved in-place by the 1st Armored Division in March 1996, SETAF units redeployed to Vicenza. After returning, the 3-325 ABCT was redesignated as the 1-508th ABCT, "Red Devils."
April 1996 proved to be exceptionally busy. Elements of the SETAF Infantry Brigade deployed to Dubrovnik, Croatia to secure the crash site of Treasury Secretary Brown's plane. Another company-plus deployed to Monrovia, Liberia with special operations forces to facilitate noncombatant evacuation operations.
In November 1996, portions of the SETAF-led Joint Task Force Guardian Assistance deployed to Uganda and Rwanda to assess the needs of Rwandan refugees in Zaire. When refugees began returning to Rwanda, the mission changed to verifying refugee numbers and informing Rwanda and assistance agencies.
A SETAF-led JTF headquarters deployed again in March 1997 as part of Operation Guardian Retrieval. The mission was to establish an enabling force in Congo in preparation for the potential evacuation of non-combatants from Zaire. The JTF redeployed upon a peaceful government transition in Zaire.
SETAF provided reception, staging and movement support to TF Hawk during Operation Allied Force in the spring of 1999 and to deploying KFOR units later in the year. From March to July of 1999, SETAF assumed the strategic reserve mission for the Stabilization Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Strategic Reserve, a combined force comprised of U.S., Italian, Turkish, Polish, Romanian and Dutch units, stood ready to respond if events warranted the reinforcement of that critical mission.
On 1 October 1999, SETAF demonstrated its rapid response capability when the SETAF Infantry Brigade and the 1-508 ABCT executed Operation Rapid Guardian, parachuting into southern Kosovo to show U.S. resolve and commitment to the KFOR peacekeeping mission. Two weeks later the SETAF Infantry Brigade and the 1-508 ABCT deployed to Bosnia for Operation Rapid Resolve, further demonstrating our rapid deployment capability.
Later in October 1999, SETAF demonstrated its ability to form a JTF when it was given the mission to be the JTF core of a major contingency planning operation, Skilled Anvil. From October 1999 to February 2000, this JTF developed a comprehensive and executable war plan for use in EUCOM's potential crisis areas.
