Editing Task force

{{Short description|Group or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity}}
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A '''task force''' ('''TF''') is a [[Military organization|unit or formation]]  established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the [[United States Navy]],<ref name=RobTFs>{{cite journal|author=Robinson, Colin D.|title=The U.S. Navy's task forces: 1–199|journal=Defence and Security Analysis|volume=36|number=1|pages=109–110|date=January 2020|doi=10.1080/14751798.2020.1712028|s2cid=213678034}}</ref> 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|ad hoc (designated purpose)]]'' [[committee]]s. In non-military contexts, [[working group]]s are sometimes called task forces.

==Military==

===Naval===
{{excerpt|Naval task force|templates=-Naval units}}

===Army===
{{army units}}

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 (military unit)|company]]-sized unit with an [[armored warfare|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 of Nations|Commonwealth countries]], such units are traditionally known as [[battlegroup (army)|battlegroup]]s.

The [[1st Australian Task Force]] (1 ATF) was a [[brigade]]-sized formation which commanded [[Australian Army|Australian]] and [[New Zealand Army]] units deployed to [[South Vietnam]] between 1966 and 1972.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Horner |editor-first=David |date=2008 |title=Duty First: A History of the Royal Australian Regiment |edition=Second |location=Crows Nest, New South Wales |publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=9781741753745 |page=177}}</ref> 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,<ref name="APH Afghanistan chronology as of 2010">{{cite web|last1=Brangwin|first1=Nicole|last2=Rann|first2=Anne|title=Australia's military involvement in Afghanistan since 2001: a chronology|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/1011/MilitaryInvolvementAfghanistan|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=31 December 2016|date=16 July 2010}}</ref> and the [[Northern Territory National Emergency Response|Northern Territory Emergency Response Task Force]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Operation OUTREACH|url=http://www.defence.gov.au/opEx/global/opoutreach/index.htm|work=Global Operations|publisher=Department of Defence|access-date=18 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824180209/http://www.defence.gov.au/opEx/global/opoutreach/index.htm|archive-date=24 August 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Other data regarding military US task forces===
* 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&nbsp;mi) north of Bremen, in the Federal Republic of Germany.

==Government==

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 [[expert]]s, 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.

== Business ==
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.<ref>{{Citation|last=Bortal|first=Karim|title=Task Force|date=2016|work=Task Force Management: Leitfaden für Manager|pages=1–34|editor-last=Bortal|editor-first=Karim|place=Berlin, Heidelberg|publisher=Springer|language=de|doi=10.1007/978-3-662-46728-2_1|isbn=978-3-662-46728-2}}</ref> Subject-specific task forces are very common.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Quality Management {{!}} PMI|url=https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/quality-management-9107|access-date=2020-07-17|website=www.pmi.org|language=en}}</ref> NASA lessons contain information from different task forces.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hoffpauir|first=Daniel|date=2015-04-30|title=NASA Lessons Learned|url=http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/functions/lessons/index.html|access-date=2020-07-17|website=NASA}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Internet Engineering Task Force]]
* [[Joint Task Force]]
* [[Kampfgruppe]]
* [[Space Task Group]]
* [[Task management]]

== References ==
<references/>

==Further reading==
*Timothy M. Bonds, Myron Hura, Thomas-Durrell Young (2010). ''[https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG675-1.html Enhancing Army Joint Force Headquarters Capabilities]''. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

[[Category:Ad hoc units and formations| ]]
[[Category:Military units and formations by size]]
[[Category:Problem solving]]
[[Category:Task forces| ]]