Deployed in support of the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF-4) with Task Force Guardian (Administrative Contol of 10th Military Police Battalion(Prov)), operating under the command and control of Combined Joint Task Force 180 (CJTF-180) with Task Force Mountain (Operational Control of 10th Mountain Division).
In mid 2003 (“weeks” after 1 May 2003) Lieutenant General McNeill and the bulk of his staff from the XVIII Airborne Corps that had formed the core of CJTF-180 departed Afghanistan. Command of CJTF-180 and its 11,000 personnel was passed to Major General John R. Vines, who had recently commanded Combined Task Force 82 (CTF-82). On 27 May 2003 Lieutenant General McNeill turned over command of CJTF-180 to Major General Vines. CTF-82, mostly drawn from the 82nd Airborne Division, had begun redeploying to the United States in April. Beginning in May 2003, the 10th Mountain Division headquarters and other combat and support elements of the division arrived to replace the departing forces, but this transition would take most of the summer. The 10th Mountain Division headquarters then became the staff for CJTF-180, still under Major General Vines, significantly reducing the size and capacity of the senior military command in Afghanistan. In September 2003 Brigadier General Lloyd J. Austin arrived in Afghanistan as commander of the 10th Mountain Division and Commander CJTF-180.
Served at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, from April to October 2003 during sustained combat operations. Supported installation-level law enforcement and security missions by executing Provost Marshal Operations in a high-threat environment. Oversaw and managed the Military Customs Program, ensuring compliance with U.S. and host-nation regulations for personnel, equipment, and materiel entering and exiting the theater. Coordinated customs inspections, enforced accountability procedures, mitigated contraband risks, and supported operational readiness while maintaining mission continuity under austere and hostile conditions.
The mission of Combined Joint Task Force 180 (CJTF-180) was to conduct operations to destroy remaining Al Qaeda/hostile Taliban command control and other hostile anti-Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan elements, trains Afghan National Army, and conducts directed information operations, civil military operations and humanitarian assistance operations in coordination with the ITGA in order to establish a stable and secure Afghanistan able to deter/defeat the re-emergence of terrorism.