Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) is a multinational military formation established by the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State with the stated aim to "degrade and destroy" the organization. Led by United States Army Central (ARCENT), it is composed of military forces and personnel from over 30 countries.

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve
Seal of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve
Founders	United States
Founding leader	United States Central Command
Current Commander	MG Kevin C. Leahy
Deputy Commander	Brig. Ben Halsted
Chief of Staff	Brig Gen Jeffrey T. Schreiner
Senior Enlisted Leader	CMDCM Timothy L. Garman
Spokesperson	Col. Myles B. Caggins III
Dates of operation	10 October 2014 – present (10 years, 6 months and 1 week)
Headquarters	Kuwait
Size	6,350
Part of	CENTCOM
Allies	Primary  United States  United Kingdom  France  Iraq  Turkey  Australia  Canada  Jordan  Denmark  Netherlands  Belgium  Lebanon  Romania  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates In Support of  Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Syrian Free Army  Morocco  Qatar  Bahrain  Italy  Germany  Spain  Portugal  Poland  Georgia  Japan  Taiwan  South Korea  New Zealand  India  Hungary  Estonia  Austria  Albania  Greece  Armenia  Bulgaria  Slovakia  Slovenia  Serbia  Kosovo  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Luxembourg  Latvia  Lithuania  Iceland  North Macedonia  Moldova  Montenegro  Ukraine  Croatia  Czech Republic  Cyprus  Fiji  Finland  Norway  Sweden  Somalia  Singapore  Kenya  Tanzania  Kuwait  Oman  Tunisia  Ireland  Indonesia  Israel (intelligence aid)   Switzerland (non-military aid)
Opponents	Ba'athist Syria  Iran  Islamic State al-Qaeda White Flags
Battles and wars	War against the Islamic State Iraqi theater War in Iraq (2013–2017) Salahuddin campaign Mosul offensive (2015) Anbar campaign (2015–16) Mosul offensive (2016) Battle of Mosul (2016–2017) Hawija offensive (2017) 2017 Western Iraq campaign ISIL insurgency Syrian theater Rojava conflict Rojava–Islamist conflict Siege of Kobanî Manbij offensive (2016) Jarabulus offensive Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) Deir ez-Zor campaign (2017–19) Eastern Syria insurgency (2017–present) 2024 Syrian opposition offensives Deir ez-Zor offensive (2024)
Patch
Website	www.inherentresolve.mil

Formed in October 2014 by U.S. Central Command, CJTF-OIR was intended to replace the ad hoc arrangements that had been established to coordinate operations against ISIL, following its rapid gains in Iraq in June. Its central military action, Operation Inherent Resolve, consists of campaigns in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. The current commander of the coalition is U.S. Army Major General Kevin C. Leahy.

The bulk of CJTF-OIR's combat operations have consisted of airstrikes against Islamic State; various ground forces have been deployed including special forces, artillery, training, and military advisors. The United States accounts for the vast majority of airstrikes (75–80%), with the remainder conducted by Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Although the task force is not under NATO, all 32 members of the military alliance are contributing to CJTF-OIR.

By the end of 2017, CJTF-OIR stated that its airstrikes had killed over 80,000 ISIL fighters. The coalition also provided $3.5 billion in military equipment to the Iraqi Armed Forces, billions more to the Peshmerga, and trained 189,000 Iraqi soldiers and police. It has also provided significant support to the Syrian Democratic Forces, with which it coordinates various operations.

The coalition ended its combat mission in Iraq in December 2021, but U.S. troops remain in the country in a training and advisory role. In September 2024 the Department of Defense announced a "two-phase transition plan" for CJTF-OIR operations in Iraq. In the first phase, finishing in September 2025, the coalition's military mission in Iraq would end, meaning coalition forces would withdraw from certain locations in Iraq as mutually determined. The two-phase transition period in Iraq began in September 2024 and will end in September 2026.

Structure

Brig. Richard Bell, deputy commander of CJTF-OIR, visiting coalition personnel at Al Asad Airbase, Iraq on 24 July 2021

As of September 2019, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Robert "Pat" White commanded CJTF-OIR in an appointment which consolidated three commander's tasks. White is also the commander of the U.S. III Corps, which assumed authority over CJTF-OIR from ARCENT on 22 September 2015, turned over its command to XVIII Airborne Corps in August 2016, and then resumed command on 5 September 2017. White has two deputies, a British Army officer, Major General Gerald Strickland, who is currently serving as CJTF-OIR Deputy Commander-Stability, and a U.S. Air Force officer, Major General Alexus G. Grynkewich, who is currently serving as CJTF-OIR Deputy Commander-Operations and Intelligence. CJTF-OIR's headquarters is at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and includes approximately 700 personnel from 27 nations who are involved in coordinating operations in Iraq and Syria.

Lt. Gen. White handed over operational control to Lt. Gen. Paul Calvert on 9 September, 2020. Command was subsequently passed to Maj. Gen. John Brennan on 9 September 2021.

A dozen countries not involved in combat operations still contribute to the Building Capacity Mission (BPC) in Iraq. Those who have announced their participation in the program, which trains Iraqi security forces, include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain. As a result of the BPC program, nearly 6,500 Iraqi forces completed training, with approximately 5,400 currently in training.

Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant

The Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (SOJTF-OIR) patch in 2017

Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (CSOJTF-Levant) was initially known as Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (SOJTF-OIR), formed in 2015 as a joint special operations task force that is regarded as spearheading CJTF-OIR's campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. SOJTF-Levant serves under Special Operations Command Central and has trained special operations units in the region.

Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve was restructured, consolidated, and quietly established as Combined Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant on 1 July 2022. CSOJTF-Levant was to oversee a broader, regional approach to special operations, including activities in Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt, commanded by Army Brig. Gen. Isaac J. Peltier. According to retired Army general and former USSOCOM and USCENTCOM commander Joseph Votel, the consolidated task force was "a maturing of our overall approach in the region", adding that CSOJTF-L combines "multiple SOF headquarters and units that were conducting a variety of missions across" the area of responsibility.

History

CJTF-OIR commander Major General John W. Brennan, Jr. holds a meeting with coalition personnel at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, 28 January 2022

From August 2014 to August 2015, coalition aircraft flew a total of 45,259 sorties, with the U.S. Air Force flying the majority (67%) and dropped more than 5,600 bombs, the Royal Air Force conducted 30% of the airstrikes. At the time, The Guardian reported that a team of independent journalists had published details of 52 airstrikes which killed more than 450 civilians. The coalition acknowledged only 2 non-combatant deaths.

On 3 October 2015, Tunisia announced it would join CJTF–OIR.

By April 2017, CJTF-OIR estimated that it had killed 70,000 Islamic State fighters since 2014, with Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve killing "over 21,000". The War Zone magazine estimated that SOJTF-OIR was responsible "for around 30 percent of all dead terrorists in Iraq and Syria", adding "we don't know whether SOJTF-OIR counts terrorists who died in air or artillery strikes its personnel called in among the task force's final count."

On 14 April 2017, members of SOJTF-OIR's headquarters element received new, distinctive patches, replacing the interim 1st Special Forces Group unit patch.

On 22 December 2018, three days after Donald Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw all its troops from Syria, Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the coalition against ISIL, announced his resignation from his post.

In April 2019, a joint investigation by Amnesty International and Airwars reported that 1,600 civilians were killed by coalition airstrikes and U.S. artillery shelling during the four-month battle to capture the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIL in 2017. The Coalition states it conducted 34,464 strikes against ISIL targets between 8 August 2014 and end of March 2019, and unintentionally killed at least 1,291 civilians.

See also

• Asia portal
• International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
• Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF–I)
• Islamic terrorism in Europe

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External links

• Operational Inherent Resolve – Official Website
• Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve on Facebook
• Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve on Twitter
• Defense.gov Special Report: Operation Inherent Resolve
• The Global Coalition – Official Web Site