The Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATFW, JIATF-W, or JIATF West) is a United States federal

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 task forces with the responsibility to combat illegal drug trade

Illegal drug trade

The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...

-related transnational organized crime in the Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...

 region. The Asia-Pacific area of responsibility for JIATF West includes 36 nations and nearly half of the world's population. JIATF West is one of two Joint Interagency Task Forces with a counter-narcotics mission. The other is Joint Interagency Task Force South

Joint Interagency Task Force South

Joint Interagency Task Force South is a multiservice, multiagency national task force based at Naval Air Station Key West , Key West, Florida....

. The task force is run as the "executive agent" of the United States Pacific Command

United States Pacific Command

The United States Pacific Command is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States armed forces responsible for the Pacific Ocean area. It is led by the Commander, Pacific Command , who is the supreme military authority for the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States serving...

 (USPACOM) and is charged with providing U.S. Department of Defense "support to law enforcement for counterdrug and drug-related activities." Approximately 166 active duty

Active duty

Active duty refers to a full-time occupation as part of a military force, as opposed to reserve duty.-Pakistan:The Pakistan Armed Forces are one of the largest active service forces in the world with almost 610,000 full time personnel due to the complex and volatile nature of Pakistan's...

 and reserve

Reserve

-Economic:* Official gold reserves, held by central banks as a store of value* Foreign exchange reserves, the foreign currency deposits held by central banks and monetary authorities...

 U.S. military forces, Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors, and U.S. and foreign law enforcement agency personnel are members of the task force. http://www.pacom.mil/web/site_pages/staff%20directory/jiatfwest/jiatfwest.shtml

The Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

__FORCETOC__The Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is a part of the Department of State within the United States government that advises the President, Secretary of State, other bureaux within the Department of State, and other departments and agencies within the U.S...

 of the United States Department of State

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

 describes the task force's mission as to "[i]n cooperation with U.S. interagency and foreign partners, conduct activities to detect, disrupt, and dismantle drug-related transnational threats in Asia and the Pacific in order to protect U.S. security interests at home and abroad." http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/137311.htm

JIATF West lists its "task force partners" as including the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, Marines

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

, Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

, and Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

; the Drug Enforcement Administration

Drug Enforcement Administration

The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...

 (DEA), Defense Intelligence Agency

Defense Intelligence Agency

The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...

 (DIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 (FBI), National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy...

 (NCIS); United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and the Australian Customs Service

Australian Customs Service

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the Australian Federal Government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border, facilitating the movement of legitimate international travellers and goods, and collecting border-related duties and...

, Australian Federal Police

Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...

, and New Zealand Police

New Zealand Police

The New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...

. http://www.pacom.mil/web/site_pages/staff%20directory/jiatfwest/jiatfwest.shtml

The Director of the Task Force is Rear Admiral

Rear admiral (United States)

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...

 Christopher J. Tomney. http://www.pacom.mil/web/site_pages/staff%20directory/jiatfwest/jiatfwest.shtml

History

JIATF West was established in 1989 as Joint Task Force-Five (JTF-5), headquartered on Coast Guard Island

Coast Guard Island

Coast Guard Island is in the Oakland Estuary between Oakland and Alameda, California. The island is situated in the historic Brooklyn Basin, now known as Embarcadero Cove. It is within the Alameda city limits, but is accessible, by car, only via a bridge to Dennison Street in Oakland.The Island...

 in Alameda, California

Alameda, California

Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...

. JTF-5 was created after the National Defense Authorization Act

National Defense Authorization Act

The National Defense Authorization Act is the name of a United States federal law that has been enacted for each of the past 48 fiscal years to specify the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense.-See also:...

 for Fiscal Year 1989 established the Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 as the lead agency for the Detection and Monitoring (D&M) of maritime and aerial drug trafficking into the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and directed the department to carry out these activities in support of U.S. Law Enforcement activities. Joint Task Forces Four (JTF-4), Five (JTF-5), and Six (JTF-6) were activated by the department in early calendar year 1989 to carry out this D&M mission. The mission of the JTFs was expanded by Section 1004 of the 1991 National Defense Authorization Act to include ten additional specific categories of support that the department could provide to law enforcement agencies. This authority is in addition to the already assigned mission of D&M and has been continuously re-authorized since 1991.

In 1994, the newly signed National Interdiction Command and Control Plan (NICCP) redesignated the JTFs as Joint Interagency Task Forces (JIATFs). JTF-5 was redesignated as Joint Interagency Task Force West. JTF-4 was redesignated JIATF East and given responsibility for the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. JTF-6 was redesignated JIATF South and given responsibility for the Mexico – United States border. (In 1999, JIATF East was merged with JIATF South).

JTF-5 was designated as Joint Interagency Task Force West in 1994. In 2004, JIATF West was relocated to Camp H. M. Smith

Camp H. M. Smith

Camp H. M. Smith is a United States Marine Corps installation in the Hawaiian town of Aiea on the island of Oahu, near the community of Halawa Heights...

 in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 and collocated with Commander, United States Pacific Command to restructure, refocusing counterdrug efforts exclusively in the Asia-Pacific region. JIATF West serves as the USPACOM's executive agent for all counterdrug and counterdrug-related support to law enforcement in the Asia-Pacific fight against transnational crime.

External links

• Official website from the United States Pacific Command
  United States Pacific Command
  The United States Pacific Command is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States armed forces responsible for the Pacific Ocean area. It is led by the Commander, Pacific Command , who is the supreme military authority for the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States serving...
  
  (PACOM)