The Decisive Edge: SETAF as a Standing JTF.
Abstract
The United States Army Southern European Task Force(SETAF), located in Vicenza, Italy, is a major subordinate command of the United States Army Europe (USAREUR). It has the mission to become the core of a joint task force (JTF) headquarters ready to deploy within seventy-two hours. As the JTF, it is European Command's headquarters of choice for forcible entry, noncombatant evacuation, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief missions. SETAF must be prepared to deploy anywhere within the area of responsibility (AOR) that ranges from Northern Europe to Cape Horn, an area that encompasses some of the most volatile areas of the world. U.S. doctrine call for the establishment of JTFs for specific limited objectives and states that the ad hoc nature of the JTF headquarters allows for flexibility and ability to tailor for the mission. History demonstrates that in practice, U.S. forces have had difficulty in responding to rapidly emerging crises with ad hoc headquarters. The headquarters are initially inefficient and may be incapable of coherently conducting simultaneously phased operations across the continuum of time and space due to lack of initial cohesion, capability, and regional focus. Due to the nature of its missions that call for rapid response to protect American lives and property, and national interests, SETAF can be most effective if organized as a Standing Joint Task Force.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 15, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA370697
Entities
People
- Patrick O. Carpenter
Organizations
- Naval War College