Joint Task Force North - History

History

The JTF was originally activated as Joint Task Force Six (JTF-6) in November 1989 with a purely counterdrug mission. In 2004 it was renamed JTF North and added counter-terrorism to its mission, due in part to the efforts of Major M.W. Robinson, who in his spare time wrote the threat assessments for the Gulf Coast ports and access points available to terror elements operating world wide but could not get senior military officials to adopt changes to the JTF-6 mission. He reasoned the prime threat to port security is the continued storage of foreign containers at port facilities that US Customs is unable to search and clear for numerous reasons, including manpower and Free Trade Zone restrictions. He reported to the Department of Defense that containers stored without controls were a continual threat from terrorist organizations who could store weapons of mass destruction for future use. His efforts sparked congressional debate over what the true mission of JTF-6 should be, border security from foreign terror organizations. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the government scrambled to get copies of his original manuscripts from his prior duty station as the JTF-6 Southwest Area Intelligence Chief in Houston, Texas. Famous former members of Joint Task Force 6 include: General Kevin P. Byrnes, US Army, Ret., JTF-6 Commanding General; Colonel Robert Love, USMC, Ret., and current Senior Executive Service (SES) member to the DoD's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO); Special Forces LTC Eric Buckland, US Army, Ret., and Captain Kirk Harrington, owner of EFMC, LLC.