Operation Enduring Freedom - Order of Battle
Major developments in 2008 for OEF saw the replacement of Combined Joint Task Force - 82 (CJTF-82) with Combined Joint Task Force - 101 (CJTF-101). CJTF-82, headed up by the 82nd Airborne Division had itself taken over from CJTF-76 led by the 10th Mountain Division in early 2007. In April 2008 CJTF-101, led by elements of the 101st Airborne Division took control of Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan (OEF-A). Deployed were elements of the 1st Brigade Combat Team and 101st Aviation Brigade. The 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division (506th Regimental Combat Team) was also deployed to Afghanistan, but as part of ISAF.
The 10th Mountain Division also deployed elements of its 1st Brigade Combat Team to OEF-A, returning units who had in fact been previously deployed under Operation Enduring Freedom. Complementing the elements contributed by the 10th Mountain and 101st Airborne Divisions were elements of the 27th Brigade Combat Team of the New York National Guard, who along with elements of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. Other elements of the USMC were also deployed as part of the NATO/ISAF mission, as was the 173rd Airborne Brigade. 7th Special Forces Group contributed Operation Detachment Alphas (A-Teams) to operations in Afghanistan, with the exact disposition and command relationships being unclear.
The primary mission of the 1st BCT, 101st Airborne Division, and 1st BCT, 10th Mountain, as well as the US Army BCTs and 24 Marine Expeditionary Unit assigned to ISAF, was the conduct of security operations primarily along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. These operations were conducted together with ISAF units in ISAF's Regional Command South and Regional Command East areas of operation. ISAF was authorized by a revised UN mandate in 2003 to expand beyond only a relatively small multi-national element in and around Kabul to the entire country. This expansion, overlapping with pre-existing OEF deployments, was completed in October 2006. The overlap subsequently led to a debate over whether to combine ISAF and OEF into a single operation, with no decision having been reached as of August 2008.
The expansion of ISAF, who had the primary mission of supporting reconstruction efforts all over Afghanistan led to the tranfer of the PRT program from OEF to ISAF. Training of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP), however, was still shared between ISAF and OEF-A. Combined Joint Task Force Pheonix VII, led by the 27th Brigade Combat Team, New York National Guard was in the lead of OEF-A's training projects by the middle of 2008. At that time the mission also included various coalition partners including France, Germany, Romania, Great Britain, Netherlands, Canada, Croatia, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Poland, and Mongolia. Task Force Pheonix under the command of other units had conducted the mission, under Task Force Pheonix I, since collapse of the Taliban Regime. US forces and coalition partners also conducted mentoring projects for the ANA and ANP under OEF-A, as well as ISAF. Various coalition nations deployed mentoring teams to all five of ISAF's regional commands.
Logistics operations were conducted during 2008 by a Combined Joint Task Force headquartered at Bagram Air Base, led by 101st Sustainment Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, but involving United States Air Force logistical elements as well. USAF personnel were assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, part of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, the lead USAF unit inside Afghanistan under OEF. ISAF maintained a seperate Air Task Force in direct support of its operations, though the two shared facilities and in certain cases conducted support operations for the other coalition.
Other regional USAF elements included 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan and the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing headquartered at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, but deployed to various allied air bases in southwest Asia (including Diego Garcia). US personnel were also known to operate out of Jacobabad and Pasni Air Bases in Pakistan, but the exact composition of any deployed to those bases was unclear.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
