Task force

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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,^[1] the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many non-military organizations now create "task forces" or task groups for temporary activities that might have once been performed by ad hoc (designated purpose) committees. In non-military contexts, working groups are sometimes called task forces.

In the U.S. Army, a task force is a battalion-sized (usually, although there are variations in size) ad hoc unit formed by attaching smaller elements of other units. A company-sized unit with an armored or mechanized infantry unit attached is called a company team. A similar unit at the brigade level is called a brigade combat team (BCT), and there is also a similar Regimental combat team (RCT).

In the British Army and the armies of other Commonwealth countries, such units are traditionally known as battlegroups.

The 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was a brigade-sized formation which commanded Australian and New Zealand Army units deployed to South Vietnam between 1966 and 1972.^[2] More recently, Australian task forces have been designated to cover temporary support elements such the battalion-sized force which operated in Urozgan Province, Afghanistan from 2006 to 2013,^[3] and the Northern Territory Emergency Response Task Force.^[4]

• Some task forces are named after their commander, such as Dunsterforce.
• Task Force Tarawa, the name given the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade during the 2003 invasion of Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were a Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanded by Brigadier General Richard Natonski, attached to the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
• Task Force Leatherneck is the name given the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade during their 2009 operations in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. They are a Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanded by Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, assigned to work under the International Security Assistance Force.
• US Army Task Force Lethal is the name for 2-12 Infantry battalion out of Fort Carson, Colorado. Part of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment Task Force Lethal. Some of the heaviest firefights US troops were engaged in were in the Kunar province by teams of Task Force Lethal, there to replace members of the 173rd Airborne units and their outpost Restrepo. Task Force Lethal is assigned to work as part of the International Security Assistance Force. Task Force Lethal prides itself as one of the Army's premier multi-task light Infantry units that has trained at home in the mountainous regions of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and excels at high altitude warfare. The commandos of Task Force Lethal have remained one of the US Army's most elite task forces in the global War on Terror since the start in 2003.
• Task Force 1-41 Infantry was a U.S. Army heavy battalion task force which took part in the Gulf War of January–March 1991. Task Force 1-41 Infantry was the first coalition force to breach the Saudi Arabian border on 15 February 1991 and conduct ground combat operations in Iraq engaging in direct and indirect fire fights with the enemy on 17 February 1991. It consisted primarily of the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, and the 4th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, all being part of the 2nd Armored Division (Forward), based at Lucius D. Clay Kaserne, 24 kilometres (15 mi) north of Bremen, in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In government or business a task force is a temporary organization created to solve a particular problem. It is considered to be a more formal ad hoc committee. A taskforce, or more commonly, task force, is a special committee, usually of experts, formed expressly for the purpose of studying a particular problem. The task force usually performs some sort of an audit to assess the current situation, then draws up a list of all the current problems present and evaluates which ones merit fixing and which ones are actually fixable. The task force would then formulate a set of solutions to the problems and pick the "best" solution to each problem, as determined by some set of standards. For example, a task force set up to eliminate excessive government spending might consider a "best" solution to be one that saves the most money. Normally, the task force then presents its findings and proposed solutions to the institution that called for its formation; it is then up to the institution itself to actually act upon the task force's recommendations.

In business, task forces are initiated similar to military situations to form an ad hoc group of persons that focus on a specific subject, which needs urgent addressing, resolutions or results.^[5] Subject-specific task forces are very common.^[6] NASA lessons contain information from different task forces.^[7]

• Internet Engineering Task Force
• Joint Task Force
• Kampfgruppe
• Space Task Group
• Task management

• Timothy M. Bonds, Myron Hura, Thomas-Durrell Young (2010). Enhancing Army Joint Force Headquarters Capabilities. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.