User:Marcd30319/Task Force 60

Task Force 60 (TF-60)
Commander Task Force 60 insignia
Active	1950 – present
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Task Force
Role	Naval air/surface/strike/anti-aircraft warfare
Part of	United States Sixth Fleet
Nickname(s)	Battle Force Zulu
Commanders
Notable commanders	James L. Holloway III David E. Jeremiah

Task Force 60 is the Battle Force of the U.S. Sixth Fleet.

Cold War

See also: Greek Civil War

During the 1946's Turkish Straits crisis, as Commander Carrier Division 1, Rear Admiral John H. Cassady commanded Task Group 125.4, consisting of the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt; the cruiser Little Rock; and the destroyers New, Cone, and Corry. This task force deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and paid a highly-publicized port visit to Piraeus, Greece, in September 1946. In conjunction with earlier naval visits, including that of U.S. battleship Missouri to Turkey, this port call demonstrated U.S. support to Greece and Turkey in the face of Soviet pressure. According to historian James Chace, the deployment of Task Group 125.4 "symbolized" American resolve against that Soviet pressure, marking the true beginning of the Cold War.

NATO southern flank

Under this command arrangement, Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe (STRIKFORSOUTH) was effectively the NATO designation for the U.S. Sixth Fleet, though additional NATO headquarters personnel was assigned, while maintaining American control over its nuclear weapons on board the U.S. aircraft carriers of Task Force 60 as mandated by the Atomic Energy Act of 1946.

For 1952's Exercise Longstep, the objective of the Allied ("Blue") forces was to dislodge enemy ("Green") invasion forces from their occupying positions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Green forces consisted of the Italian 56th Tactical Air Force and submarines of the United States, Great Britain, France, Greece, and Turkey lying in wait to ambush the Blue amphibious convoy departing from Italian embarkation ports. Blue naval forces were centered around Task Force 60 and its two aircraft carriers, the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Wasp. Air sorties were flown by American and Italian aircraft attacking Blue naval forces, with Blue carrier-based aircraft counter-attacking Green military targets in northern Italy.

For 1958's Operation Deep Water, the exercise's scenario was that NATO forces would protect the Dardanelles from a Soviet invasion in order to prevent the Soviet Black Sea Fleet from gaining access to the Mediterranean Sea. Given the overwhelming numerical superiority of Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact military forces, NATO embraced the concept of the nuclear umbrella to protect Western Europe from a Soviet ground invasion. Consequently, Operation Deep Water opened with a simulated atomic air strike in the Gallipoli area on 25 September 1957 which included Task Force 60 and its two carriers, the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Randolph

Arab-Isreali conflicts

See also: Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War

The Arab–Israeli conflict refers to the political tension and military conflicts between the Arab League and Israel as well as between Arabs and Israelis. Since May 1948, threee major regional wars have been fought between Israel and its Abab neighbors, as well as numerous regional crises, often involving the United States and the Soviet Union within a Cold War context. Since the U.S. Sixth Fleet operated in the Mediterranean Sea, the aircraft carriers of Task Force 60 often were deployed in response to these Arab–Israeli conflicts.

1956's Suez Crisis was caused by the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser on 26 July 1956. In a coordinated response, the Isreali military launnched Operation Kadesh, the invasion of the Sinai penisula, on 29 October 1956 while a combined the Anglo-French naval task force landed an invasion force to retake the Suez Canal on 31 October 1967, code-named Operation Musketeer. Task Force 60's two carriers, Coral Sea and Randolph, monitored the the Anglo-French task force as well as providing air cover for the evacuation of U.S. nationals from Alexandria, Egypt. With the crisis depending, a two-carrier force was deployed to the Eastern Atlantic Ocean to reinforce Task Force 60 if needed. Designated Task Force 24, this carrier task force consisted of the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Forrestal under the command of Rear Admiral Murr E. Arnold who also commanded Carrier Division 4.

Lebanonese crises

See also: 1958 Lebanon crisis and 1982 Lebanon War

Jordanian crisis

Main article: Black September in Jordan

In 1970, Rear Admiral James L. Holloway III commanded Task Force 60 which deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct carrier air operations in reaction to the Syrian invasion of Jordan. After the strong U.S. military response brought about the withdrawal of the Syrian forces, TF-60 covered the evacuation of an Army MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) unit from Amman, Jordan, by a Marine Expeditionary Group. For this performance of duty, Admiral Holloway was awarded a second Distinguished Service Medal and shared in a Meritorious Unit Commendation awarded to his flagship, the carrier Independence.

Libyan operations

See also: Gulf of Sidra incident (1981), Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986), Operation El Dorado Canyon, and Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)

After the 1969 coup d'état which brought Muammar Gaddafi to power in Libya, there have been a number of international incidents concerning territorial claims of the Gaddafi regime over the waters of the Gulf of Sidra.

In 1973, Gaddafi claimed much of the Gulf of Sidra to be within Libyan internal waters by drawing a straight line at 32 degrees, 30 minutes north between a point near Benghazi and the western headland of the gulf at Misrata with an exclusive 62 nautical miles (115 km) fishing zone. Gaddafi declared it The Line of Death, the crossing of which would invite a military response. The US claimed its rights to conduct naval operations in international waters, the nowadays standard of 12-mile (19 km) territorial limit from a country's shore as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Gaddafi claimed it to be a territorial sea, not just a coastal area. In response the United States authorized Naval exercises in the Gulf of Sidra to conduct Freedom of Navigation (FON) operations.

In August 1981, during the United States Sixth Fleet Freedom of Navigation exercises, Libyan fighter planes were assembled from elsewhere in the country to fly patrols near the American ships. On 19 August, two Libyan Su-22 Fitter fighter-bombers were intercepted by two F-14 Tomcat fighters from the aircraft carrier Nimitz. During the engagement, one of the American planes was targeted by an air-to-air Atoll missile. After evading the missile, both Libyan planes were shot down with Sidewinder missiles launched by the Tomcats. According to some reports, the two Libyan pilots managed to eject and were rescued from the sea. According to other reports, the parachute of one of the Libyan pilots failed to open.

In 1986, under the command Admiral David E. Jeremiah, Task Force 60 conducted a series of naval manuevers code-named Attain Document in the Gulf of Sidra. These naval manuevers were intended to assert the freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Sidra as well as to challenge the territorial claims of Libya to that body of water. Subsequently, Task Force 60 carried out Operation El Dorado Canyon, a series of punitive air-strikes against Libya in retaliations to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing. During both operations, Task Force 60, the three-carrier task force of the Sixth Fleet, code-named Battle Force Zulu. TF-60 consisted of the Coral Sea, Saratoga, and America.

Achille Lauro incident

Main article: Achille Lauro hijacking

On the orders of Ronald Reagan, the plane carrying the hijackers was intercepted by F-14 Tomcats from the VF-74 "BeDevilers" and the VF-103 "Sluggers" of Carrier Air Wing 17, based on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, and directed to land at Naval Air Station Sigonella, a NATO base in Sicily, where the hijackers were arrested by the Italians after a disagreement between American and Italian authorities. The other passengers on the plane (including the hijackers' leader, Muhammad Zaidan) were allowed to continue on to their destination,

21st Century

Currently, when any Carrier Strike Group enters into the Mediterranean control zone it is usually designated TF 60 and the battle group commander, a one or two-star flag officer, assumes duties as Commander Task Force 60 (CTF 60) from COMDESRON 60. The Task Force is often composed of one or more aircraft carriers, each with an accompanying complement of two to six cruisers and destroyers. On board the aircraft carrier is an Carrier air wing of 65–85 aircraft. This air wing is the primary striking arm of the Strike Group, and includes attack, fighter, anti-submarine, and reconnaissance aircraft.

In November 2007, Task Group 60.4 held the Africa Partnership Station role. In 2012, Task Group 60.5 was permanently assigned as the Southeast Africa Task Group. The Group may be renamed the South and East Africa Task Group. It held the alternate designation of Task Force 363

As of 2011 Task Force 60 will normally be the commander of Naval Task Force Europe and Africa. Any naval unit within the USEUCOM or USAFRICOM AOR may be assigned to TF 60 as required upon signal from the Commander of the Sixth Fleet.