CTF-151 Goes International

The US Navy likes to share the responsibility with others. Combined Task Force 151, the task force formed to deal with Somali piracy, is a perfect example. It is not very well publicized who is and is not participating, although we know Great Britain, Singapore, Denmark, South Korea, and Turkey either are or have participated.

Now Turkey is going to lead CTF-151 beginning in May.

"The US Navy will transfer command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 to the Turkish Navy on Sunday May 3, 2009," Lieutenant Nathan Christensen of the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

Rear Admiral Michelle Howard will hand over control of the task force to Turkish Rear Admiral Caner Bener in a ceremony aboard the Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, the Navy said.

"Turkey will be the second nation to command the counter-piracy task force. This also marks the first time Turkey will command a Combined Maritime Forces Task Force," the statement said.

By rotating leadership of the international task forces, the US Navy shares the burden of responsibility with international partners. It should also be noted that this is great for cooperation purposes, and over time could be a way the US Navy entices larger navies looking to form better integration of their forces with other international naval forces.

I'm thinking specifically of China and India. Russia has been working with the EU force, although the nice thing about CTF-151 is that when the EU finishes its first year long tour, the Europeans can either choose to do it again themselves another year, or choose to participate with CTF-151.

I think the EU will go with CTF-151, because it isn't about sharing the credit when it comes to Somali piracy, it is about sharing the blame. Getting every nation under a single command will improve the international response though, and getting that command under a UN flag could, potentially, provide legal and political coverage to nations who know that more needs to be done to curb piracy.