Task Force 121

Task Force 121 is an example of the United States' 'Joint Task Force' concept of conducting special operations. TF121 is a multi-service force commanded by U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Gregory L. Trebon. The spearhead of the force is a forty-man team made up of operators from the U.S. Army's Delta Force, U.S. Army's INSCOM intelligence unit , the U.S. Navy's DEVGRU, the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, the CIA's Special Activities Division, and the U.S. Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (a.k.a. SOAR, Nightstalkers.) Other Special Operations contributions will include U.S. Air Force Combat Controllers, and U.S. Air Force Pararescue. On occasions, operators from Coalition nations (particularly British and Australian SAS, Norwegian Marinejegerkommandoen, Canadian JTF2 and Polish GROM operators) augment the TF121 and provide direct and indirect operational assistance.

Deployment

TF121 is a combination of the now defunct Task Force 5 and Task Force 20, which operated in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively. Acting on the apparent logistic redundancy of keeping two separate task force teams for Iraq and Afghanistan, General John Abizaid decided to combine both teams into a single streamlined force, forming the TF121.

Mission

TF121's primary mission is the apprehension of "High Value Targets" or HVTs: key figures in organizations involved in the War on Terror, such as Osama bin Laden, Mullah Mohammed Omar and other senior leaders of Al Qaeda, Taliban and high ranking officials of the former Iraqi Regime.

The task force has been organized in such a way that it has a close relationship with intelligence personnel (CIA operators are an integral part of the unit) and has timely and unhindered access to any relevant data gathered by intelligence assets in the area. Such an option is invaluable to any Special Operations team, and especially so to one whose primary mission is hunting elusive fugitives whose hideouts change frequently and randomly.

Many TF121 groups are assigned Special Forces CIRA (Communications Intelligence Reconnaissance and Action) operators with expertise in relevant fields. These operators work closely with the intelligence agencies tied to TF121 and work to pinpoint and identify HVTs aggressively.

Achievements

On 21 July 2003, Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay were killed in a firefight with TF20 operators and soldiers from 101st Airborne. On the 13 December 2003, Operation Red Dawn netted HVT #1, Saddam Hussein. After intelligence narrowed down the target to two possible locations, TF121 coordinated the raid with 600 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team and Hurricane Troop from 1/1 Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The original team was made up primarily of several elite soldiers from various branches. The team leader, Richard Van Patten, now retired, was able to choose several members from the Seal teams, Rangers, and Marines. This group which operated mainly from 1979 through the early 1990's, was disbanded, and reassigned other duties due to the loss of many of its team. Some members today continue to contract through many of military branches. The new TF 121 has operated in and around Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Cultural references

• Groove Games' Combat:Task Force 121
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, includes a top secret joint operations task force named "Task Force 141." The primary purpose of the video game's organization, as in its supposed real life counterpart, is to take on and either kill or capture high priority individuals.
• The Colbert Report used Task Force 121 as an example of a "secret" task force in its television episode airing on 27 September 2010.

See also

• Articles on later incarnations of the same unit, Task Force 145 and Task Force 6-26.
• Good informative article on JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) http://www.specialoperations.com/Units/JSOC/default2.htm