Task Force Hawk

Planning for Task Force Hawk did not start until 20 March 1999 in Grafenwöhr, Germany; even though, the planning for Operation Allied Force had begun in the winter of 1998. General Clark and Admiral James O. Ellis, while at the Warfighter Exercise, discussed how to utilize the Apaches to augment the Air Force assets poised to strike in four days. The Army's planners would be strapped for time to put together a plan to deploy a mission that had never been employed by an AH-64 Apache unit. Instead of supporting ground troops the Apaches would be supporting Air Force missions. General Clark's vision for the unit was to destroy the Yugoslav units stationed in Kosovo supporting the Serbian police force. The Yugoslav units were not formed in the company or battalion sized formations but rather spread out through the countryside. This meant acquiring the targets and relaying the information to bomber units who couldn't spot them easily. It was projected that the Apache units would be able to identify and eliminate these targets more efficiently, due to their effectiveness in the first Gulf War. The Apaches would be supported by MLRS units conducting SEAD missions. General Clark's hope was that by eliminating a large enough portion of the Serbian forces would force the Yugoslav government to end the conflict. General Clark would face opposition to this opinion from several members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. By 22 March 1999, the planners would be finished with the initial plans for operation. These plans projected that the forces would be deployed to Macedonia, but the Macedonian government refused to allow offensive NATO operations to be launched from their country: "Army planners in Germany learned the mission would probably be cancelled on the Friday before Easter." The original size of the task force was estimated at 2000 but had to be increased due to the lack of force protection that was present in Albania. ==Deployment==

Many units would begin the movement to Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, the main departure point as many of the units were part of V Corps. The airlift was directed by the U.S. Air Force's Air Mobility Operations Control Center (AMOCC) at the Ramstein Air Base, who was also coordinating the relief effect flights to Rinas. The Air Force would utilize the C-17 Globemaster III instead of C-5 Galaxy to deploy the Task Force to Tirana's Rinas Mother Teresa Airport airfield due to the runway length, taxiway, and ramp requirements. The short runway length would not be the only challenge for the deployment at Rinas. Operation Shining Hope was also utilizing the airfield to spearhead the humanitarian effects for the refugees of the war. The limited number of runways would only allow 20 sorties to be flown in the base per day. • Task Force Command Group (V Corps Headquarters) • V Corps Artillery Headquarters • U.S. 41st Field Artillery Brigade – Headquarters • 1st Battalion, 27th Field Artillery (MLRS) • A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery, 212th Brigade (MLRS) • 12th Aviation Brigade • 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment (Two squadrons of Apache pilots, one squadron of AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopters) • F Company, 159th Aviation Regiment, Big Windy (minus) CH-47D Chinook helicopters and aviation maintenance/support • 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (minus) - UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and aviation maintenance/support • 4th Air Support Operations Squadron - Air Force Liaison Element to V Corps • A Company, 3rd Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment - Air Traffic Services personnel • 2d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division • C Company, 47th Forward Support Battalion (FSB) • 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized) • C Company, 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment • A Battery, 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, (M109A6) • Field Artillery Target Acquisition Section, 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, • 2nd Platoon, B Battery, 1st Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (M2A2 Bradley) • D Battery, 1st Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (Avenger) • 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, augmented by: • A and C Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment • C Battery, 1st Battalion, 319th Field Artillery, (M119) • 2nd Platoon, C Company, 307th Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division • V Corps Support Group • 32nd Signal Battalion (MSE) • HQs • A Company (Node Center 2) • C Company • D Company (Long Haul Platoons) • 615th Military Police Company • 3rd Platoon, 212th Military Police Company • Psychological Operations Detachment • Special Operations Command and Control Element 1st Combat Camera Sq.- Charleston AFB SC 515th Transportation Company DD-SD-00-02699.jpg|A C-17 Globemaster III offloads equipment at Rinas Airport, Tirana, Albania on 18 April 1999. Defense.gov News Photo 990421-F-2095R-004.jpg|An AH-64A Apache attack helicopter from Task Force Hawk landing at Rinas Airport on 21 April 1999. Task Force Hawk, Rinas Airport in Tirana, Albania, April 25, 1999.jpg|UH-60 Blackhawk and AH-64A Apache landing on 25 April 1999. Rinas Airfield Hawk AH-64 Task force 1999.jpg|Muddy ground Coordinating aircraft traffic in Tirana.JPEG|Air traffic control 31 May 1999. ==References==