23-11-2014, 05:32 PM
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/interna...ns/1387817
Map: 200 years of US military interventions
Updated 10 November 2014, 13:08 AEDT
Simon Elvery
As the United States and its allies fight military campaigns in Iraq and Syria, we've mapped more than two centuries of overseas US military deployments.
By Simon Elvery
A recent report by the United States Congressional Research Service details hundreds of overseas military deployments spanning more than two centuries. The scope of and justification for the deployments vary wildly, from conflicts with pirates and bandits to formal declarations of war against an array of sovereign nations.
Explore where, when and why US armed forces have been deployed using our interactive map.
Pirates, raiders and ruffians
Adventurers, brigands, freebooters, privateers, pirates, raiders, ruffians, smugglers and thieves. These terms are all used to describe the wide variety of groups the US military fought in early conflicts.
Pirates were a common enemy on the high seas, as were cross-border raiders preying on outlying US townships and settlements. During the eight years between 1815 and 1823, there were more than 3,000 pirate attacks on "merchantmen" (non-naval vessels) reported, a rate of more than one per day.
There is a gap of more than a century between the final two reported actions against pirates. Conflicts with pirates seem to wind down throughout the 19th century, finishing with US forces destroying the pirate ship Forward in 1870. But modern times have seen a renewal of US naval forces being deployed against pirates, with the report noting a 2012 operation by "Special Operations Forces" to rescue Ms Jessica Buchanan "who had been kidnapped by a group linked to Somali pirates and financiers".
The surrender of William Walker
Although the colonial expansionism of the United States was coming to an end by the mid-1850s, some vestiges remained. William Walker was a filibustersomeone conducting unauthorised military expeditionswho made several attempts to establish English-speaking colonies in Latin America.
Walker's expeditions met with varying degrees of success and he was briefly, beginning in July 1856, the president of the Republic of Nicaragua. By later that year his grip on power had come unstuck and in 1857, under pressure from a coalition of central American armies, he surrendered to the United States. The US Navy was deployed to accept his surrender and repatriate him to New York City, where he received a hero's welcome.
After damaging his reputation by blaming the US Navy for his defeat in Nicaragua, Walker quickly set off on a new expedition. However, it was very short-lived, with the Navy's Home Squadron deployed to arrest Walker and once again return him to the US. Walker's arrest attracted heavy public criticism and the legality of the Navy's actions came into question.
Bluff, bluster and going too far
External Link: 200 years of US military deployments in one animated map
The report contains a multitude of references to "naval demonstrations" being conducted. Demonstrations and displays of force appear to have been a common tactic employed to further US interests in a variety of situations. As late as 1933, there were attempts to prevent war breaking out by "demonstrating" America's military power.
The attacks by US armed forces weren't always above board and the descriptions of conflicts sometimes appear to be little more than vengeful reprisals. One such instance occurred in 1824 when 200 men under the command of Commodore David Porter attacked a town in Puerto Rico which had "insulted American naval officers". After the attack in which Commodore Porter "forced an apology" he was court-martialled for "overstepping" his authority.
A number of the early conflicts listed, while undertaken by official US military forcesas opposed to privateers or filibusters like William Walkerended up being subsequently disavowed by central government authorities.
Some of these incidents seem to have resulted from a lack of modern communications technologies, such as an incident where Commodore T.A.C Jones, "believing war had come" occupied Monterey, California (at the time, Mexican territory).
Other actions seem to have been disavowed for the benefit of diplomacy such an 1812 incident in east Florida (then Spanish territory) where possession of territory "was obtained by General George Matthews in so irregular a manner that his measures were disavowed by the President."
The legal authorisation for military action has played an important role and continues to be controversial. The legitimacy of actions of individual naval commanders seems to have been regularly called into question in the early years.
In more recent times, the power of the President to commit US forces to conflict has been more of a focus. Since 1973, the War Powers Resolution has been an important part of the legal framework around the use of military force. The majority of post-1980 deployments listed in the report are sourced from the President's regular reporting to Congress required under the legislation and note that the reporting is "consistent with the War Powers Resolution."
The wars: declared and undeclared
The report lists deployments made as part of 11 official declarations of war and eight undeclared wars.
While the US did not officially enter World War II until December 1941, deployments listed for 1940 and 1941 seem to be strategic responses to the spreading war in Europe and Asia. The US deployed troops to guard naval and air bases "leased" from Britain in Newfoundland, Bermuda, St Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad and British Guiana.
Greenland and Iceland were both "taken under the protection" of the United States in 1941 before the US's entry into WWII.
Despite the US military's significant involvement in major conflicts such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War and several Middle East conflicts, there hasn't been an official US declaration of war since WWII. The US constitution specifically gives the US Congress the power to declare war, but provides no specifics describing how such a declaration should be made.
Although none of the major conflicts since WWII are officially declared wars, in most casesincluding the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq Warthe conflicts were authorised by resolutions of US Congress.
Does the map include every deployment?
The map is based on a list compiled by the Congressional Research Service. This is what it says about what isand is notincluded:
"The following list reviews hundreds of instances in which the United States has used military forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict to protect US citizens or promote US interests.
"The list does not include covert actions or numerous instances in which US forces have been stationed abroad since World War II in occupation forces or for participation in mutual security organisations, base agreements, or routine military assistance or training operations...
"Disaster relief, and routine alliance stationing and training exercises are not included here, nor are the Civil and Revolutionary Wars and the continual use of US military units in the exploration, settlement, and pacification of the western part of the United States...
"Because of differing judgments over the actions to be included, other lists may include more or fewer instances."
The report was released on September 15, 2014 and the list of deployments for 2014 is incomplete.
A deployment listed in 2001 and related to the US's response to the September 11 attacks was excluded from the map because the entry did not include location details.
Timeline of US deployments
1798 - 1800: Dominican Republic (Undeclared Naval War with France)
This contest included land actions, such as that in the Dominican Republic, city of Puerto Plata, where marines captured a French privateer under the guns of the forts. Congress authorized military action through a series of statutes.
1801 - 1805: Tripoli (The First Barbary War)
The First Barbary War included the USS George Washington and Philadelphia affairs and the Eaton expedition, during which a few marines landed with United States Agent William Eaton to raise a force against Tripoli in an effort to free the crew of the Philadelphia. Tripoli declared war but not the United States, although Congress authorized U.S. military action by statute.
1806: Mexico
Mexico (Spanish territory). Captain Z. M. Pike, with a platoon of troops, invaded Spanish territory at the headwaters of the Rio Grande on orders from General James Wilkinson. He was made prisoner without resistance at a fort he constructed in present-day Colorado, taken to Mexico, and later released after seizure of his papers.
1806 - 1810: Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico. American gunboats operated from New Orleans against Spanish and French privateers off the Mississippi Delta, chiefly under Captain John Shaw and Master Commandant David Porter.
1810: West Florida
West Florida (Spanish territory). Governor Claiborne of Louisiana, on orders of the President, occupied with troops territory in dispute east of the Mississippi River as far as the Pearl River, later the eastern boundary of Louisiana. He was authorized to seize as far east as the Perdido River.
1812: Amelia Island, Florida
Amelia Island and other parts of east Florida, then under Spain. Temporary possession was authorized by President Madison and by Congress, to prevent occupation by any other power; but possession was obtained by General George Matthews in so irregular a manner that his measures were disavowed by the President.
1812 - 1815: Great Lakes, Gulf Coast (War of 1812)
War of 1812. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Among the issues leading to the war were British interception of neutral ships and blockades of the United States during British hostilities with France.
1813: West Florida
West Florida (Spanish territory). On authority given by Congress, General Wilkinson seized Mobile Bay in April with 600 soldiers. A small Spanish garrison gave way. The United States advanced into disputed territory to the Perdido River, as projected in 1810. No fighting.
1813 - 1814: Nukahiva, Marquesas Islands
U.S. forces built a fort on the island of Nukahiva to protect three prize ships which had been captured from the British.
1814: Florida
Spanish Florida. General Andrew Jackson took Pensacola and drove out the British, with whom the United States was at war.
1814 - 1825: Caribbean
Engagements between pirates and American ships or squadrons took place repeatedly, especially ashore and offshore about Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, and Yucatan. Three thousand pirate attacks on merchantmen were reported between 1815 and 1823. In 1822 Commodore James Biddle employed a squadron of two frigates, four sloops of war, two brigs, four schooners, and two gunboats in the West Indies.
1815: Algiers (The Second Barbary War)
The second Barbary War was declared against the United States by the Dey of Algiers of the Barbary states, an act not reciprocated by the United States. Congress did authorize a military expedition by statutes. A large fleet under Decatur attacked Algiers and obtained indemnities.
1815: Tripoli
After securing an agreement from Algiers, Decatur demonstrated with his squadron at Tunis and Tripoli, where he secured indemnities for offenses during the War of 1812.
1816: Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida. United States forces destroyed Nicholls Fort, called also Negro Fort, which harbored raiders making forays into United States territory.
1816 - 1818: Spanish Florida (First Seminole War)
The Seminole Indians, whose area was a haven for escaped slaves and border ruffians, were attacked by troops under Generals Jackson and Gaines and pursued into northern Florida. Spanish posts were attacked and occupied, British citizens executed. In 1819 the Floridas were ceded to the United States.
1817: Amelia Island, Florida
Amelia Island (Spanish territory off Florida). Under orders of President Monroe, United States forces landed and expelled a group of smugglers, adventurers, and freebooters.
1818: Oregon
The USS Ontario, dispatched from Washington, landed at the Columbia River and in August took possession of Oregon territory. Britain had conceded sovereignty but Russia and Spain asserted claims to the area.
1820 - 1823: Africa
Naval units raided the slave traffic pursuant to the 1819 act of Congress.
1822: Cuba
United States naval forces suppressing piracy landed on the northwest coast of Cuba and burned a pirate station.
1823: Cuba
Brief landings in pursuit of pirates occurred April 8 near Escondido; April 16 near Cayo Blanco; July 11 at Siquapa Bay; July 21 at Cape Cruz; and October 23 at Camrioca.
1824: Cuba
In October the USS Porpoise landed bluejackets near Matanzas in pursuit of pirates. This was during the cruise authorized in 1822.
1824: Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (Spanish territory). Commodore David Porter with a landing party attacked the town of Fajardo which had sheltered pirates and insulted American naval officers. He landed with 200 men in November and forced an apology. Commodore Porter was later court-martialed for overstepping his powers.
1825: Cuba
In March cooperating American and British forces landed at Sagua La Grande to capture pirates.
1827: Greece
In October and November landing parties hunted pirates on the islands of Argenteire, Miconi, and Androse.
1831 - 1832: Falkland Islands
Captain Duncan of the USS Lexington investigated the capture of three American sealing vessels and sought to protect American interests.
1832: Sumatra
February 6 to 9. A naval force landed and stormed a fort to punish natives of the town of Quallah Battoo for plundering the American ship Friendship.
1833: Buenos Aires, Argentina
October 31 to November 15. A force was sent ashore at Buenos Aires to protect the interests of the United States and other countries during an insurrection.
1835 - 1836: Peru
December 10, 1835, to January 24, 1836, and August 31 to December 7, 1836. Marines protected American interests in Callao and Lima during an attempted revolution.
1836: Mexico
General Gaines occupied Nacogdoches (Texas), disputed territory, from July to December during the Texan war for independence, under orders to cross the "imaginary boundary line" if an Indian outbreak threatened.
1838 - 1839: Sumatra
December 24, 1838, to January 4, 1839. A naval force landed to punish natives of the towns of Quallah Battoo and Muckie (Mukki) for depredations on American shipping.
1840: Fiji Islands
July. Naval forces landed to punish natives for attacking American exploring and surveying parties.
1841: Drummond Island
Drummond Island, Kingsmill Group. A naval party landed to avenge the murder of a seaman by the natives.
1841: Upolu Island, Samoa
February 24. A naval party landed and burned towns after the murder of an American seaman on Upolu Island.
1842: Mexico
Commodore T.A.C. Jones, in command of a squadron long cruising off California, occupied Monterey, CA, on October 19, believing war had come. He discovered peace, withdrew, and saluted. A similar incident occurred a week later at San Diego.
1843: China
Sailors and marines from the St. Louis were landed after a clash between Americans and Chinese at the trading post in Canton.
1843: Africa
November 29 to December 16. Four United States vessels demonstrated and landed various parties (one of 200 marines and sailors) to discourage piracy and the slave trade along the Ivory Coast, and to punish attacks by the natives on American seamen and shipping.
1844: Mexico
President Tyler deployed U.S. forces to protect Texas against Mexico, pending Senate approval of a treaty of annexation. (Later rejected.) He defended his action against a Senate resolution of inquiry.
1846 - 1848: Mexico (Mexican War)
Mexican War. On May 13, 1846, the United States recognized the existence of a state of war with Mexico. After the annexation of Texas in 1845, the United States and Mexico failed to resolve a boundary dispute and President Polk said that it was necessary to deploy forces in Mexico to meet a threatened invasion.
1849: Smyrna
In July a naval force gained release of an American seized by Austrian officials.
1851: Turkey
After a massacre of foreigners (including Americans) at Jaffa in January, a demonstration by the Mediterranean Squadron was ordered along the Turkish (Levant) coast.
1851: Africa
Johanns Island (east of Africa). August. Forces from the U.S. sloop of war Dale exacted redress for the unlawful imprisonment of the captain of an American whaling brig.
1852 - 1853: Buenos Aires, Argentina
February 3 to 12, 1852; September 17, 1852, to April 1853. Marines were landed and maintained in Buenos Aires to protect American interests during a revolution.
1853: Nicaragua
March 11 to 13. U.S. forces landed to protect American lives and interests during political disturbances.
1853 - 1854: Japan
Commodore Perry and his naval expedition made a display of force leading to the "opening of Japan."
1853 - 1854: Ryukyu
Ryukyu and Bonin Islands. Commodore Perry on three visits before going to Japan and while waiting for a reply from Japan made a naval demonstration, landing marines twice, and secured a coaling concession from the ruler of Naha on Okinawa; he also demonstrated in the Bonin Islands with the purpose of securing facilities for commerce.
1853 - 1854: Bonin Islands
Ryukyu and Bonin Islands. Commodore Perry on three visits before going to Japan and while waiting for a reply from Japan made a naval demonstration, landing marines twice, and secured a coaling concession from the ruler of Naha on Okinawa; he also demonstrated in the Bonin Islands with the purpose of securing facilities for commerce.
1854: China
April 4 to June 15 to 17. American and English ships landed forces to protect American interests in and near Shanghai during Chinese civil strife.
1854: Nicaragua
July 9 to 15. Naval forces bombarded and burned San Juan del Norte (Greytown) to avenge an insult to the American Minister to Nicaragua.
1855: China
May 19 to 21. U.S. forces protected American interests in Shanghai and, from August 3 to 5, fought pirates near Hong Kong.
1855: Fiji Islands
September 12 to November 4. An American naval force landed to seek reparations for depredations on American residents and seamen.
1855: Uruguay
November 25 to 29. United States and European naval forces landed to protect American interests during an attempted revolution in Montevideo.
1856: Panama
Panama, Republic of New Grenada. September 19 to 22. U.S. forces landed to protect American interests during an insurrection.
1856: China
October 22 to December 6. U.S. forces landed to protect American interests at Canton during hostilities between the British and the Chinese, and to avenge an assault upon an unarmed boat displaying the United States flag.
1857: Nicaragua
April to May, November to December. In May Commander C.H. Davis of the United States Navy, with some marines, received the surrender of William Walker, who had been attempting to get control of the country, and protected his men from the retaliation of native allies who had been fighting Walker.
In November and December of the same year United States vessels Saratoga, Wabash, and Fulton opposed another attempt of William Walker on Nicaragua. Commodore Hiram Paulding's act of landing marines and compelling the removal of Walker to the United States was tacitly disavowed by Secretary of State Lewis Cass, and Paulding was forced into retirement.
1858: Uruguay
January 2 to 27. Forces from two United States warships landed to protect American property during a revolution in Montevideo.
1858: Fiji Islands
October 6 to 16. A marine expedition chastised natives for the murder of two American citizens at Waya.
1858 - 1859: Turkey
The Secretary of State requested a display of naval force along the Levant after a massacre of Americans at Jaffa and mistreatment elsewhere "to remind the authorities (of Turkey) of the power of the United States."
1859: Paraguay
Congress authorized a naval squadron to seek redress for an attack on a naval vessel in the Parana River during 1855. Apologies were made after a large display of force.
1859: Mexico
Two hundred United States soldiers crossed the Rio Grande in pursuit of the Mexican bandit Cortina.
1859: China
July 31 to August 2. A naval force landed to protect American interests in Shanghai.
1860: Angola
Angola, Portuguese West Africa. March 1. American residents at Kissembo called upon American and British ships to protect lives and property during problems with natives.
1860: Colombia
Colombia (Bay of Panama). September 27 to October 8. Naval forces landed to protect American interests during a revolution.
1863: Japan
July 16. The USS Wyoming retaliated against a firing on the American vessel Pembroke at Shimonoseki.
1864: Japan
July 14 to August 3. Naval forces protected the United States Minister to Japan when he visited Yedo to negotiate concerning some American claims against Japan, and to make his negotiations easier by impressing the Japanese with American power.
1864: Japan
September 4 to 14. Naval forces of the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands compelled Japan and the Prince of Nagato in particular to permit the Straits of Shimonoseki to be used by foreign shipping in accordance with treaties already signed.
1865: Panama
March 9 and 10. U.S. forces protected the lives and property of American residents during a revolution.
1866: China
From June 20 to July 7, U.S. forces punished an assault on the American consul at Newchwang.
1866: Mexico
To protect American residents, General Sedgwick and 100 men in November obtained surrender of Matamoras. After three days he was ordered by U.S. government to withdraw. His act was repudiated by the President.
1867: Nicaragua
Marines occupied Managua and Leon. Formosa. June 13. A naval force landed and burned a number of huts to punish the murder of the crew of a wrecked American vessel.
1868: Japan
Japan (Osaka, Hiolo, Nagasaki, Yokohama, and Negata). February 4 to 8, April 4 to May 12, June 12 and 13. U.S. forces were landed to protect American interests during the civil war in Japan.
1868: Uruguay
February 7 and 8, 19 to 26. U.S. forces protected foreign residents and the customhouse during an insurrection at Montevideo.
1868: Colombia
April. U.S. forces protected passengers and treasure in transit at Aspinwall during the absence of local police or troops on the occasion of the death of the president of Colombia.
1870: Mexico
June 17 and 18. U.S. forces destroyed the pirate ship Forward, which had been run aground about 40 miles up the Rio Tecapan.
1870: Hawaiian Islands
September 21. U.S. forces placed the American flag at half-mast upon the death of Queen Kalama, when the American consul at Honolulu would not assume responsibility for so doing.
1871: Korea
June 10 to 12. A U.S. naval force attacked and captured five forts to punish natives for depredations on Americans, particularly for murdering the crew of the General Sherman and burning the schooner, and for later firing on other American small boats taking soundings up the Salee River.
1873: Colombia
Colombia (Bay of Panama). May 7 to 22, September 23 to October 9. U.S. forces protected American interests during hostilities between local groups over control of the government of the State of Panama.
1873 - 1896: Mexico
United States troops crossed the Mexican border repeatedly in pursuit of cattle thieves and other brigands. There were some reciprocal pursuits by Mexican troops into border territory. Mexico protested frequently. Notable cases were at Remolina in May 1873 and at Las Cuevas in 1875. Washington orders often supported these excursions. Agreements between Mexico and the United States, the first in 1882, finally legitimized such raids. They continued intermittently, with minor disputes, until 1896.
1874: Hawaiian Islands
February 12 to 20. Detachments from American vessels were landed to preserve order and protect American lives and interests during the coronation of a new king.
1876: Mexico
May 18. An American force was landed to police the town of Matamoras temporarily while it was without other government.
1882: Egypt
July 14 to 18. American forces landed to protect American interests during warfare between British and Egyptians and looting of the city of Alexandria by Arabs.
1885: Colon, Panama
January 18 and 19. U.S. forces were used to guard the valuables in transit over the Panama Railroad, and the safes and vaults of the company during revolutionary activity. In March, April, and May in the cities of Colon and Panama, the forces helped reestablish freedom of transit during revolutionary activity.
1888: Korea
June. A naval force was sent ashore to protect American residents in Seoul during unsettled political conditions, when an outbreak of the populace was expected.
1888: Haiti
December 20. A display of force persuaded the Haitian government to give up an American steamer which had been seized on the charge of breach of blockade.
1888 - 1889: Samoa
November 14, 1888, to March 20, 1889. U.S. forces were landed to protect American citizens and the consulate during a native civil war.
1889: Hawaiian Islands
July 30 and 31. U.S. forces protected American interests at Honolulu during a revolution.
1890: Argentina
A naval party landed to protect U.S. consulate and legation in Buenos Aires.
1891: Haiti
U.S. forces sought to protect American lives and property on Navassa Island.
1891: Bering Strait
July 2 to October 5. Naval forces sought to stop seal poaching.
1891: Chile
August 28 to 30. U.S. forces protected the American consulate and the women and children who had taken refuge in it during a revolution in Valparaiso.
1893: Hawaii
January 16 to April 1. Marines were landed ostensibly to protect American lives and property, but many believed actually to promote a provisional government under Sanford B. Dole. This action was disavowed by the United States.
1894: Brazil
January. A display of naval force sought to protect American commerce and shipping at Rio de Janeiro during a Brazilian civil war.
1894: Nicaragua
July 6 to August 7. U.S. forces sought to protect American interests at Bluefields following a revolution.
1894 - 1895: China
Marines were stationed at Tientsin and penetrated to Peking for protection purposes during the Sino-Japanese War.
1894 - 1895: China
A naval vessel was beached and used as a fort at Newchwang for protection of American nationals.
1894 - 1896: Korea
July 24, 1894 to April 3, 1896. A guard of marines was sent to protect the American legation and American lives and interests at Seoul during and following the Sino-Japanese War.
1895: Colombia
March 8 to 9. U.S. forces protected American interests during an attack on the town of Bocas del Toro by a bandit chieftain.
1896: Nicaragua
May 2 to 4. U.S. forces protected American interests in Corinto during political unrest.
1898: Nicaragua
February 7 and 8. U.S. forces protected American lives and property at San Juan del Sur.
1898: Cuba (The Spanish-American War)
The Spanish-American War. On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war with Spain. The war followed a Cuban insurrection against Spanish rule and the sinking of the USS Maine in the harbor at Havana.
1898 - 1899: China
November 5, 1898, to March 15, 1899. U.S. forces provided a guard for the legation at Peking and the consulate at Tientsin during contest between the Dowager Empress and her son.
1899: Nicaragua
American and British naval forces were landed to protect national interests at San Juan del Norte, February 22 to March 5, and at Bluefields a few weeks later in connection with the insurrection of General Juan P. Reyes.
1899: Samoa
February-May 15. American and British naval forces were landed to protect national interests and to take part in a bloody contention over the succession to the throne.
1899 - 1901: Philippine Islands
U.S. forces protected American interests following the war with Spain and conquered the islands by defeating the Filipinos in their war for independence.
1900: China
May 24 to September 28. American troops participated in operations to protect foreign lives during the Boxer rising, particularly at Peking. For many years after this experience a permanent legation guard was maintained in Peking, and was strengthened at times as trouble threatened.
1901: Panama
Colombia (State of Panama). November 20 to December 4. U.S. forces protected American property on the Isthmus and kept transit lines open during serious revolutionary disturbances.
1902: Colombia
April 16 to 23. U.S. forces protected American lives and property at Bocas del Toro during a civil war.
1902: Panama
Colombia (State of Panama). September 17 to November 18. The United States placed armed guards on all trains crossing the Isthmus to keep the railroad line open, and stationed ships on both sides of Panama to prevent the landing of Colombian troops.
1903: Honduras
March 23 to 30 or 31. U.S. forces protected the American consulate and the steamship wharf at Puerto Cortez during a period of revolutionary activity.
1903: Dominican Republic
March 30 to April 21. A detachment of marines was landed to protect American interests in the city of Santo Domingo during a revolutionary outbreak.
1903: Syria
September 7 to 12. U.S. forces protected the American consulate in Beirut when a local Moslem uprising was feared.
1903 - 1904: Abyssinia
Twenty-five marines were sent to Abyssinia to protect the U.S. Consul General while he negotiated a treaty.
1903 - 1914: Panama
U.S. forces sought to protect American interests and lives during and following the revolution for independence from Colombia over construction of the Isthmian Canal. With brief intermissions, United States Marines were stationed on the Isthmus from November 4, 1903, to January 21, 1914, to guard American interests.
1904: Dominican Republic
January 2 to February 11. American and British naval forces established an area in which no fighting would be allowed and protected American interests in Puerto Plata and Sosua and Santo Domingo City during revolutionary fighting.
1904: Tangier
"We want either Perdicaris alive or Raisula dead." A squadron demonstrated to force release of a kidnapped American. Marines were landed to protect the consul general.
1904: Panama
November 17 to 24. U.S. forces protected American lives and property at Ancon at the time of a threatened insurrection.
1904 - 1905: Korea
January 5, 1904, to November 11, 1905. A guard of Marines was sent to protect the American legation in Seoul during the Russo-Japanese War.
1906 - 1909: Cuba
September 1906 to January 23, 1909. U.S. forces sought to restore order, protect foreigners, and establish a stable government after serious revolutionary activity.
1907: Honduras
March 18 to June 8. To protect American interests during a war between Honduras and Nicaragua, troops were stationed in Trujillo, Ceiba, Puerto Cortez, San Pedro, Laguna, and Choloma.
1910: Nicaragua
May 19 to September 4. U.S. forces protected American interests at Bluefields.
1911: Honduras
January 26. American naval detachments were landed to protect American lives and interests during a civil war in Honduras.
1911: China
As the nationalist revolution approached, in October an ensign and 10 men tried to enter Wuchang to rescue missionaries but retired on being warned away, and a small landing force guarded American private property and consulate at Hankow. Marines were deployed in November to guard the cable stations at Shanghai; landing forces were sent for protection in Nanking, Chinkiang, Taku, and elsewhere.
1912: Honduras
A small force landed to prevent seizure by the government of an American-owned railroad at Puerto Cortez. The forces were withdrawn after the United States disapproved the action.
1912: Panama
Troops, on request of both political parties, supervised elections outside the Canal Zone.
1912: Cuba
June 5 to August 5. U.S. forces protected American interests on the Province of Oriente, and in Havana.
1912: China
August 24 to 26, on Kentucky Island, and August 26 to 30 at Camp Nicholson. U.S. forces protected Americans and American interests during revolutionary activity.
1912: Turkey
November 18 to December 3. U.S. forces guarded the American legation at Constantinople during a Balkan War.
1912 - 1925: Nicaragua
August to November 1912. U.S. forces protected American interests during an attempted revolution. A small force, serving as a legation guard and seeking to promote peace and stability, remained until August 5, 1925.
1912 - 1941: China
The disorders which began with the overthrow of the dynasty during Kuomintang rebellion in 1912, which were redirected by the invasion of China by Japan, led to demonstrations and landing parties for the protection of U.S. interests in China continuously and at many points from 1912 on to 1941. The guard at Peking and along the route to the sea was maintained until 1941. In 1927, the United States had 5,670 troops ashore in China and 44 naval vessels in its waters. In 1933 the United States had 3,027 armed men ashore. The protective action was generally based on treaties with China concluded from 1858 to 1901.
1913: Mexico
September 5 to 7. A few marines landed at Ciaris Estero to aid in evacuating American citizens and others from the Yaqui Valley, made dangerous for foreigners by civil strife.
1914: Haiti
January 29 to February 9, February 20 to 21, October 19. Intermittently, U.S. naval forces protected American nationals in a time of rioting and revolution.
1914: Dominican Republic
June and July. During a revolutionary movement, United States naval forces by gunfire stopped the bombardment of Puerto Plata, and by threat of force maintained Santo Domingo City as a neutral zone.
1914 - 1917: Mexico
Undeclared Mexican-American hostilities followed the Dolphin affair and Villa's raids and included capture of Vera Cruz and later Pershing's expedition into northern Mexico.
1915 - 1934: Haiti
July 28, 1915, to August 15, 1934. U.S. forces maintained order during a period of chronic political instability.
1916: China
American forces landed to quell a riot taking place on American property in Nanking.
1916 - 1924: Dominican Republic
May 1916 to September 1924. American naval forces maintained order during a period of chronic and threatened insurrection.
1917: China
American troops were landed at Chungking to protect American lives during a political crisis.
1917 - 1918: Germany (World War I)
World War I. On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war with Germany and on December 7, 1917, with Austria-Hungary. Entrance of the United States into the war was precipitated by Germany's submarine warfare against neutral shipping.
Note: Although the US deployed troops to multiple countries during WWI, only Germany is listed in the report.
1917 - 1922: Cuba
U.S. forces protected American interests during an insurrection and subsequent unsettled conditions. Most of the United States armed forces left Cuba by August 1919, but two companies remained at Camaguey until February 1922.
1918 - 1919: Mexico
After withdrawal of the Pershing expedition, U.S. troops entered Mexico in pursuit of bandits at least three times in 1918 and six times in 1919. In August 1918 American and Mexican troops fought at Nogales.
1918 - 1920: Panama
U.S. forces were used for police duty according to treaty stipulations, at Chiriqui, during election disturbances and subsequent unrest.
1918 - 1920: Russia
Soviet Russia. Marines were landed at and near Vladivostok in June and July to protect the American consulate and other points in the fighting between the Bolshevik troops and the Czech Army, which had traversed Siberia from the western front. A joint proclamation of emergency government and neutrality was issued by the American, Japanese, British, French, and Czech commanders in July. In August 7,000 men were landed in Vladivostok and remained until January 1920, as part of an allied occupation force. In September 1918, 5,000 American troops joined the allied intervention force at Archangel and remained until June 1919. These operations were in response to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and were partly supported by Czarist or Kerensky elements.
1919: Dalmatia
U.S. forces were landed at Trau at the request of Italian authorities to police order between the Italians and Serbs.
1919: Turkey
Marines from the USS Arizona were landed to guard the U.S. Consulate during the Greek occupation of Constantinople.
1919: Honduras
September 8 to 12. A landing force was sent ashore to maintain order in a neutral zone during an attempted revolution.
1920: China
March 14. A landing force was sent ashore for a few hours to protect lives during a disturbance at Kiukiang.
1920: Guatemala
April 9 to 27. U.S. forces protected the American legation and other American interests, such as the cable station, during a period of fighting between Unionists and the government of Guatemala.
1920 - 1922: Russia
Russia (Siberia). February 16, 1920, to November 19, 1922. A Marine guard was sent to protect the United States radio station and property on Russian Island, Bay of Vladivostok.
1921: Panama; Costa Rica
Panama-Costa Rica. American naval squadrons demonstrated in April on both sides of the Isthmus to prevent war between the two countries over a boundary dispute.
1922: Turkey
September and October. A landing force was sent ashore with consent of both Greek and Turkish authorities to protect American lives and property when the Turkish Nationalists entered Smyrna.
1922 - 1923: China
Between April 1922 and November 1923 marines were landed five times to protect Americans during periods of unrest.
1924: Honduras
February 28 to March 31, September 10 to 15. U.S. forces protected American lives and interests during election hostilities.
1924: China
September. Marines were landed to protect Americans and other foreigners in Shanghai during Chinese factional hostilities.
1925: China
January 15 to August 29. Fighting of Chinese factions accompanied by riots and demonstrations in Shanghai brought the landing of American forces to protect lives and property in the International Settlement.
1925: Honduras
Honduras. April 19 to 21. U.S. forces protected foreigners at La Ceiba during a political upheaval.
1925: Panama
October 12 to 23. Strikes and rent riots led to the landing of about 600 American troops to keep order and protect American interests.
1926 - 1933: Nicaragua
Nicaragua. May 7 to June 5, 1926; August 27, 1926, to January 3, 1933. The coup d'e_tat of General Chamorro aroused revolutionary activities leading to the landing of American marines to protect the interests of the United States. United States forces came and went intermittently until January 3, 1933.
1926: China
August and September. The Nationalist attack on Hankow brought the landing of American naval forces to protect American citizens. A small guard was maintained at the consulate general even after September 16, when the rest of the forces were withdrawn. Likewise, when Nationalist forces captured Kiukiang, naval forces were landed for the protection of foreigners November 4 to 6.
1927: China
February. Fighting at Shanghai caused American naval forces and marines to be increased. In March a naval guard was stationed at the American consulate at Nanking after Nationalist forces captured the city. American and British destroyers later used shell fire to protect Americans and other foreigners. Subsequently additional forces of marines and naval vessels were stationed in the vicinity of Shanghai and Tientsin.
1932: China
American forces were landed to protect American interests during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.
1933: Cuba
During a revolution against President Gerardo Machado naval forces demonstrated but no landing was made.
1934: China
Marines landed at Foochow to protect the American Consulate.
1940: Newfoundland; Bermuda; St. Lucia; Bahamas; Jamaica; Antigua; Trinidad; Guiana
Newfoundland, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad, and British Guiana. Troops were sent to guard air and naval bases obtained by negotiation with Great Britain. These were sometimes called lend-lease bases.
1941: Greenland
Greenland was taken under protection of the United States in April.
1941: Guiana
Netherlands (Dutch Guiana). In November the President ordered American troops to occupy Dutch Guiana, but by agreement with the Netherlands government in exile, Brazil cooperated to protect aluminum ore supply from the bauxite mines in Surinam.
1941: Iceland
Iceland was taken under the protection of the United States, with consent of its government, for strategic reasons.
1941: Germany
Sometime in the spring the President ordered the Navy to patrol ship lanes to Europe. By July U.S. warships were convoying and by September were attacking German submarines. In November, the Neutrality Act was partly repealed to protect U.S. military aid to Britain.
1941 - 1945: Japan; Germany; Italy; Bulgaria; Hungary; Romania (World War II)
On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war with Japan, on December 11 with Germany and Italy, and on June 5, 1942, with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. The United States declared war against Japan after the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, and against Germany and Italy after those nations, under the dictators Hitler and Mussolini, declared war against the United States. The United States declared war against Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania in response to the declarations of war by those nations against the United States.
1945: China
In October 50,000 U.S. Marines were sent to North China to assist Chinese Nationalist authorities in disarming and repatriating the Japanese in China and in controlling ports, railroads, and airfields. This was in addition to approximately 60,000 U.S. forces remaining in China at the end of World War II.
1946: Trieste
President Truman ordered the augmentation of U.S. troops along the zonal occupation line and the reinforcement of air forces in northern Italy after Yugoslav forces shot down an unarmed U.S. Army transport plane flying over Venezia Giulia. Earlier U.S. naval units had been dispatched to the scene.
1948: Palestine
A marine consular guard was sent to Jerusalem to protect the U.S. Consul General.
1948 - 1949: Berlin
After the Soviet Union established a land blockade of the U.S., British, and French sectors of Berlin on June 24, 1948, the United States and its allies airlifted supplies to Berlin until after the blockade was lifted in May 1949.
1948 - 1949: China
Marines were dispatched to Nanking to protect the American Embassy when the city fell to Communist troops, and to Shanghai to aid in the protection and evacuation of Americans.
1950 - 1953: Korea (Korean War)
The United States responded to North Korean invasion of South Korea by going to its assistance, pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions. U.S. forces deployed in Korea exceeded 300,000 during the last year of the conflict. Over 36,600 U.S. military were killed in action.
1950 - 1955: Taiwan
Formosa (Taiwan). In June 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War, President Truman ordered the U.S. Seventh Fleet to prevent Chinese Communist attacks upon Formosa and Chinese Nationalist operations against mainland China.
1954 - 1955: China
Naval units evacuated U.S. civilians and military personnel from the Tachen Islands.
1956: Egypt
A marine battalion evacuated U.S. nationals and other persons from Alexandria during the Suez crisis.
1958: Lebanon
Marines were landed in Lebanon at the invitation of its government to help protect against threatened insurrection supported from the outside. The President's action was supported by a congressional resolution passed in 1957 that authorized such actions in that area of the world.
1959 - 1960: The Caribbean
2d Marine Ground Task Force was deployed to protect U.S. nationals during the Cuban crisis.
1962: Thailand
The 3d Marine Expeditionary Unit landed on May 17, 1962, to support that country during the threat of Communist pressure from outside; by July 30 the 5,000 marines had been withdrawn.
1962: Cuba
On October 22, President Kennedy instituted "quarantine" on the shipment of offensive missiles to Cuba from the Soviet Union. He also warned the Soviet Union that the launching of any missile from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere would bring about U.S. nuclear retaliation on the Soviet Union. A negotiated settlement was achieved in a few days.
1962 - 1975: Laos
From October 1962 until 1975, the United States played an important role in military support of anti-Communist forces in Laos.
1964: Congo
The United States sent four transport planes to provide airlift for Congolese troops during a rebellion and to transport Belgian paratroopers to rescue foreigners.
1964 - 1973: Vietnam (Vietnam War)
U.S. military advisers had been in South Vietnam for a decade, and their numbers had been increased as the military position of the Saigon government became weaker. After citing what he termed were attacks on U.S. destroyers in the Tonkin Gulf, President Johnson asked in August 1964 for a resolution expressing U.S. determination to support freedom and protect peace in Southeast Asia. Congress responded with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, expressing support for "all necessary measures" the President might take to repel armed attack against U.S. forces and prevent further aggression. Following this resolution, and following a Communist attack on a U.S. installation in central Vietnam, the United States escalated its participation in the war to a peak of 543,000 military personnel by April 1969.
1965: Dominican Republic
The United States intervened to protect lives and property during a Dominican revolt and sent more troops as fears grew that the revolutionary forces were coming increasingly under Communist control.
1967: Congo
The United States sent three military transport aircraft with crews to provide the Congo central government with logistical support during a revolt.
1970: Cambodia
U.S. troops were ordered into Cambodia to clean out Communist sanctuaries from which Viet Cong and North Vietnamese attacked U.S. and South Vietnamese forces in Vietnam. The object of this attack, which lasted from April 30 to June 30, was to ensure the continuing safe withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam and to assist the program of Vietnamization.
1974: Cyprus
Evacuation from Cyprus. United States naval forces evacuated U.S. civilians during hostilities between Turkish and Greek Cypriot forces.
1975: Vietnam
Evacuation from Vietnam. On April 3, 1975, President Ford reported U.S. naval vessels, helicopters, and marines had been sent to assist in evacuation of refugees and U.S. nationals from Vietnam.
1975: Cambodia
Evacuation from Cambodia. On April 12, 1975, President Ford reported that he had ordered U.S. military forces to proceed with the planned evacuation of U.S. citizens from Cambodia.
1975: South Vietnam
On April 30, 1975, President Ford reported that a force of 70 evacuation helicopters and 865 marines had evacuated about 1,400 U.S. citizens and 5,500 third country nationals and South Vietnamese from landing zones near the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and the Tan Son Nhut Airfield.
1975: Cambodia
Mayaguez incident. On May 15, 1975, President Ford reported he had ordered military forces to retake the SS Mayaguez, a merchant vessel en route from Hong Kong to Thailand with a U.S. citizen crew which was seized by Cambodian naval patrol boats in international waters and forced to proceed to a nearby island.
1976: Lebanon
On July 22 and 23, 1974, helicopters from five U.S. naval vessels evacuated approximately 250 Americans and Europeans from Lebanon during fighting between Lebanese factions after an overland convoy evacuation had been blocked by hostilities.
1976: South Korea
Additional forces were sent to Korea after two American soldiers were killed by North Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea while cutting down a tree.
1978: Zaire
From May 19 through June 1978, the United States utilized military transport aircraft to provide logistical support to Belgian and French rescue operations in Zaire.
1980: Iran
On April 26, 1980, President Carter reported the use of six U.S. transport planes and eight helicopters in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue American hostages being held in Iran.
1981: El Salvador
After a guerilla offensive against the government of El Salvador, additional U.S. military advisers were sent to El Salvador, bringing the total to approximately 55, to assist in training government forces in counterinsurgency.
1981: Libya
On August 19, 1981, U.S. planes based on the carrier USS Nimitz shot down two Libyan jets over the Gulf of Sidra after one of the Libyan jets had fired a heat-seeking missile. The United States periodically held freedom of navigation exercises in the Gulf of Sidra, claimed by Libya as territorial waters but considered international waters by the United States.
1982: Sinai
On March 19, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of military personnel and equipment to participate in the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. Participation had been authorized by the Multinational Force and Observers Resolution, P.L. 97-132.
1982: Lebanon
On August 21, 1982, President Reagan reported the dispatch of 80 marines to serve in the multinational force to assist in the withdrawal of members of the Palestine Liberation force from Beirut. The Marines left September 20, 1982.
1982 - 1983: Lebanon
On September 29, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of 1200 marines to serve in a temporary multinational force to facilitate the restoration of Lebanese government sovereignty. On September 29, 1983, Congress passed the Multinational Force in Lebanon Resolution (P.L. 98-119) authorizing the continued participation for 18 months.
1983: Egypt
After a Libyan plane bombed a city in Sudan on March 18, 1983, and Sudan and Egypt appealed for assistance, the United States dispatched an AWACS electronic surveillance plane to Egypt.
1983 - 1989: Honduras
In July 1983 the United States undertook a series of exercises in Honduras that some believed might lead to conflict with Nicaragua. On March 25, 1986, unarmed U.S. military helicopters and crewmen ferried Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border to repel Nicaraguan troops.
1983: Chad
On August 8, 1983, President Reagan reported the deployment of two AWACS electronic surveillance planes and eight F-15 fighter planes and ground logistical support forces to assist Chad against Libyan and rebel forces.
1983: Grenada
On October 25, 1983, President Reagan reported a landing on Grenada by Marines and Army airborne troops to protect lives and assist in the restoration of law and order and at the request of five members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
1984: Persian Gulf
On June 5, 1984, Saudi Arabian jet fighter planes, aided by intelligence from a U.S. AWACS electronic surveillance aircraft and fueled by a U.S. KC-10 tanker, shot down two Iranian fighter planes over an area of the Persian Gulf proclaimed as a protected zone for shipping.
1985: Italy
On October 10, 1985, U.S. Navy pilots intercepted an Egyptian airliner and forced it to land in Sicily. The airliner was carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, who had killed an American citizen during the hijacking.
1986: Libya
On March 26, 1986, President Reagan reported to Congress that, on March 24 and 25, U.S. forces, while engaged in freedom of navigation exercises around the Gulf of Sidra, had been attacked by Libyan missiles and the United States had responded with missiles. On April 16, 1986, President Reagan reported that U.S. air and naval forces had conducted bombing strikes on terrorist facilities and military installations in Libya.
1986: Bolivia
U.S. Army personnel and aircraft assisted Bolivia in anti-drug operations.
1987 - 1988: Persian Gulf
After the Iran-Iraq War resulted in several military incidents in the Persian Gulf, the United States increased U.S. joint military forces operations in the Persian Gulf and adopted a policy of reflagging and escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Gulf. President Reagan reported that U.S. Navy ships had been fired upon or struck mines or taken other military action on September 23, October 10, and October 20, 1987, and April 19, July 4, and July 14, 1988. The United States gradually reduced its forces after a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq on August 20, 1988.
1988: Panama
In mid-March and April 1988, during a period of instability in Panama and as pressure grew for Panamanian military leader General Manuel Noriega to resign, the United States sent 1,000 troops to Panama, to "further safeguard the canal, U.S. lives, property and interests in the area." The forces supplemented 10,000 U.S. military personnel already in Panama.
1989: Libya
On January 4, 1989, two U.S. Navy F-14 aircraft based on the USS John F. Kennedy shot down two Libyan jet fighters over the Mediterranean Sea about 70 miles north of Libya. The U.S. pilots said the Libyan planes had demonstrated hostile intentions.
1989: Panama
On May 11, 1989, in response to General Noriega's disregard of the results of the Panamanian election, President Bush ordered a brigade-sized force of approximately 1,900 troops to augment the estimated 11,000 U.S. forces already in the area.
1989: Colombia; Bolivia; Peru
Andean Initiative in War on Drugs. On September 15, 1989, President Bush announced that military and law enforcement assistance would be sent to help the Andean nations of Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru combat illicit drug producers and traffickers. By mid-September there were 50-100 U.S. military advisers in Colombia in connection with transport and training in the use of military equipment, plus seven Special Forces teams of 2-12 persons to train troops in the three countries.
1989: Philippines
On December 2, 1989, President Bush reported that on December 1 U.S. fighter planes from Clark Air Base in the Philippines had assisted the Aquino government to repel a coup attempt. In addition, 100 marines were sent from the U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay to protect the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
1989 - 1990: Panama
On December 21, 1989, President Bush reported that he had ordered U.S. military forces to Panama to protect the lives of American citizens and bring General Noriega to justice. By February 13, 1990, all the invasion forces had been withdrawn.
1990: Liberia
On August 6, 1990, President Bush reported that a reinforced rifle company had been sent to provide additional security to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, and that helicopter teams had evacuated U.S. citizens from Liberia.
1990: Saudi Arabia
On August 9, 1990, President Bush reported that he had ordered the forward deployment of substantial elements of the U.S. Armed Forces into the Persian Gulf region to help defend Saudi Arabia after the August 2 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. On November 16, 1990, he reported the continued buildup of the forces to ensure an adequate offensive military option.
1991: Iraq; Kuwait
On January 18, 1991, President Bush reported that he had directed U.S. Armed Forces to commence combat operations on January 16 against Iraqi forces and military targets in Iraq and Kuwait, in conjunction with a coalition of allies and U.N. Security Council resolutions. On January 12 Congress had passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq Resolution (P.L. 102-1). Combat operations were suspended on February 28, 1991. On May 17, 1991, President Bush stated in a status report to Congress that the Iraqi repression of the Kurdish people had necessitated a limited introduction of U.S. forces into northern Iraq for emergency relief purposes.
1991: Zaire
On September 25-27, 1991, after widespread looting and rioting broke out in Kinshasa, U.S. Air Force C-141s transported 100 Belgian troops and equipment into Kinshasa. U.S. planes also carried 300 French troops into the Central African Republic and hauled back American citizens and third country nationals from locations outside Zaire.
1992: Sierra Leone
On May 3, 1992, U.S. military planes evacuated Americans from Sierra Leone, where military leaders had overthrown the government.
1992: Kuwait
On August 3, 1992, the United States began a series of military exercises in Kuwait, following Iraqi refusal to recognize a new border drawn up by the United Nations and refusal to cooperate with U.N. inspection teams.
1992: Iraq
On September 16, 1992, President Bush stated in a status report to Congress that he had ordered U.S. participation in the enforcement of a prohibition against Iraqi flights in a specified zone in southern Iraq, and aerial reconnaissance to monitor Iraqi compliance with the cease-fire resolution.
1992: Somalia
On December 10, 1992, President Bush reported that he had deployed U.S. Armed Forces to Somalia in response to a humanitarian crisis and a U.N. Security Council Resolution determining that the situation constituted a threat to international peace. This operation, called Operation Restore Hope, was part of a U.S.-led United Nations Unified Task Force (UNITAF) and came to an end on May 4, 1993. U.S. forces continued to participate in the successor United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II), which the U.N. Security Council authorized to assist Somalia in political reconciliation and restoration of peace.
1993: Iraq; Kuwait
On January 19, 1993, President Bush said in a status report that on December 27, 1992, U.S. aircraft had shot down an Iraqi aircraft in the prohibited zone; on January 13 aircraft from the United States and coalition partners had attacked missile bases in southern Iraq; and further military actions had occurred on January 17 and 18. Administration officials said the United States was deploying a battalion task force to Kuwait to underline the continuing U.S. commitment to Kuwaiti independence. On January 21, 1993, shortly after his inauguration, President Clinton said the United States would continue the Bush policy on Iraq, and U.S. aircraft fired at targets in Iraq after pilots sensed Iraqi radar or anti-aircraft fire directed at them.
1993: Bosnia
On February 28, 1993, the United States began an airdrop of relief supplies aimed at Muslims surrounded by Serbian forces in Bosnia. On April 13, 1993, President Clinton reported U.S. forces were participating in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air action to enforce a U.N. ban on all unauthorized military flights over Bosnia-Herzegovina
1993: Iraq
In a status report on Iraq of May 24, President Clinton said that on April 9 and April 18 U.S. planes had bombed or fired missiles at Iraqi anti-aircraft sites that had tracked U.S. aircraft.
1993: Somalia
On June 10, 1993, President Clinton reported that in response to attacks against U.N. forces in Somalia by a factional leader, the U.S. Quick Reaction Force in the area had participated in military action to quell the violence. On July 1 President Clinton reported further air and ground military operations on June 12 and June 17 aimed at neutralizing military capabilities that had impeded U.N. efforts to deliver humanitarian relief and promote national reconstruction, and additional instances occurred in the following months.
1993: Iraq
On June 28, 1993, President Clinton reported that on June 26 U.S. naval forces had launched missiles against the Iraqi Intelligence Service's headquarters in Baghdad in response to an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate former President Bush in Kuwait in April 1993.
1993: Iraq
In a status report of July 22, 1993, President Clinton said on June 19 a U.S. aircraft had fired a missile at an Iraqi anti-aircraft site displaying hostile intent. U.S. planes also bombed an Iraqi missile battery on August 19, 1993.
1993: Macedonia
On July 9, 1993, President Clinton reported the deployment of 350 U.S. soldiers to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to participate in the U.N. Protection Force to help maintain stability in the area of former Yugoslavia.
1993: Haiti
On October 20, 1993, President Clinton reported that U.S. ships had begun to enforce a U.N. embargo against Haiti.
1994: Bosnia
On February 17, 1994, President Clinton reported that the United States had expanded its participation in United Nations and NATO efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict in former Yugoslavia and that 60 U.S. aircraft were available for participation in the authorized NATO missions.
1994: Bosnia
On March 1, 1994, President Clinton reported that on February 28 U.S. planes patrolling the "no-fly zone" in former Yugoslavia under NATO shot down four Serbian Galeb planes.
1994: Bosnia
On April 12, 1994, President Clinton reported that on April 10 and 11, U.S. warplanes under NATO command had fired against Bosnian Serb forces shelling the "safe" city of Gorazde.
1994: Rwanda
On April 12, 1994, President Clinton reported that combat-equipped U.S. military forces had been deployed to Burundi to conduct possible non-combatant evacuation operations of U.S. citizens and other third-country nationals from Rwanda, where widespread fighting had broken out. By September 30, 1994, all U.S. troops had departed from Rwanda and surrounding nations. In the Defense Appropriations Act for FY1995 (P.L. 103-335, signed September 30, 1994), Congress barred use of funds for U.S. military participation in or around Rwanda after October 7, 1994, except for any action necessary to protect U.S. citizens.
1994: Macedonia
On April 19, 1994, President Clinton reported that the U.S. contingent in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had been augmented by a reinforced company of 200 personnel.
1994: Haiti
On April 20, 1994, President Clinton reported that U.S. naval forces had continued enforcement of the U.N. embargo in the waters around Haiti and that 712 vessels had been boarded since October 20, 1993.
1994: Bosnia
On August 22, 1994, President Clinton reported the use on August 5 of U.S. aircraft under NATO to attack Bosnian Serb heavy weapons in the Sarajevo heavy weapons exclusion zone upon request of the U.N. Protection Forces.
1994: Haiti
On September 21, 1994, President Clinton reported the deployment of 1,500 troops to Haiti to restore democracy in Haiti. The troop level was subsequently increased to 20,000.
1994: Bosnia
On November 22, 1994, President Clinton reported the use of U.S. combat aircraft on November 21, 1994, under NATO, to attack bases used by Serbs to attack the town of Bihac in Bosnia.
1994: Macedonia
On December 22, 1994, President Clinton reported that the U.S. Army contingent in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continued its peacekeeping mission and that the current contingent would soon be replaced by about 500 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, and 1st Armored Division from Kirchgons, Germany.
1995: Somalia
Somalia. On March 1, 1995, President Clinton reported that on February 27, 1995, 1,800 combat- equipped U.S. Armed Forces personnel began deployment into Mogadishu, Somalia, to assist in the withdrawal of U.N. forces assigned there to the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II). This mission was completed on March 3, 1995.
1995: Haiti
On March 21, 1995, President Clinton reported that U.S. military forces in Haiti as part of a U.N. Multinational Force had been reduced to just under 5,300 personnel. He noted that as of March 31, 1995, approximately 2,500 U.S. personnel would remain in Haiti as part of the U.N. Mission in Haiti (UNMIH).
1995: Bosnia
...
Map: 200 years of US military interventions
Updated 10 November 2014, 13:08 AEDT
Simon Elvery
As the United States and its allies fight military campaigns in Iraq and Syria, we've mapped more than two centuries of overseas US military deployments.
By Simon Elvery
A recent report by the United States Congressional Research Service details hundreds of overseas military deployments spanning more than two centuries. The scope of and justification for the deployments vary wildly, from conflicts with pirates and bandits to formal declarations of war against an array of sovereign nations.
Explore where, when and why US armed forces have been deployed using our interactive map.
Pirates, raiders and ruffians
Adventurers, brigands, freebooters, privateers, pirates, raiders, ruffians, smugglers and thieves. These terms are all used to describe the wide variety of groups the US military fought in early conflicts.
Pirates were a common enemy on the high seas, as were cross-border raiders preying on outlying US townships and settlements. During the eight years between 1815 and 1823, there were more than 3,000 pirate attacks on "merchantmen" (non-naval vessels) reported, a rate of more than one per day.
There is a gap of more than a century between the final two reported actions against pirates. Conflicts with pirates seem to wind down throughout the 19th century, finishing with US forces destroying the pirate ship Forward in 1870. But modern times have seen a renewal of US naval forces being deployed against pirates, with the report noting a 2012 operation by "Special Operations Forces" to rescue Ms Jessica Buchanan "who had been kidnapped by a group linked to Somali pirates and financiers".
The surrender of William Walker
Although the colonial expansionism of the United States was coming to an end by the mid-1850s, some vestiges remained. William Walker was a filibustersomeone conducting unauthorised military expeditionswho made several attempts to establish English-speaking colonies in Latin America.
Walker's expeditions met with varying degrees of success and he was briefly, beginning in July 1856, the president of the Republic of Nicaragua. By later that year his grip on power had come unstuck and in 1857, under pressure from a coalition of central American armies, he surrendered to the United States. The US Navy was deployed to accept his surrender and repatriate him to New York City, where he received a hero's welcome.
After damaging his reputation by blaming the US Navy for his defeat in Nicaragua, Walker quickly set off on a new expedition. However, it was very short-lived, with the Navy's Home Squadron deployed to arrest Walker and once again return him to the US. Walker's arrest attracted heavy public criticism and the legality of the Navy's actions came into question.
Bluff, bluster and going too far
External Link: 200 years of US military deployments in one animated map
The report contains a multitude of references to "naval demonstrations" being conducted. Demonstrations and displays of force appear to have been a common tactic employed to further US interests in a variety of situations. As late as 1933, there were attempts to prevent war breaking out by "demonstrating" America's military power.
The attacks by US armed forces weren't always above board and the descriptions of conflicts sometimes appear to be little more than vengeful reprisals. One such instance occurred in 1824 when 200 men under the command of Commodore David Porter attacked a town in Puerto Rico which had "insulted American naval officers". After the attack in which Commodore Porter "forced an apology" he was court-martialled for "overstepping" his authority.
A number of the early conflicts listed, while undertaken by official US military forcesas opposed to privateers or filibusters like William Walkerended up being subsequently disavowed by central government authorities.
Some of these incidents seem to have resulted from a lack of modern communications technologies, such as an incident where Commodore T.A.C Jones, "believing war had come" occupied Monterey, California (at the time, Mexican territory).
Other actions seem to have been disavowed for the benefit of diplomacy such an 1812 incident in east Florida (then Spanish territory) where possession of territory "was obtained by General George Matthews in so irregular a manner that his measures were disavowed by the President."
The legal authorisation for military action has played an important role and continues to be controversial. The legitimacy of actions of individual naval commanders seems to have been regularly called into question in the early years.
In more recent times, the power of the President to commit US forces to conflict has been more of a focus. Since 1973, the War Powers Resolution has been an important part of the legal framework around the use of military force. The majority of post-1980 deployments listed in the report are sourced from the President's regular reporting to Congress required under the legislation and note that the reporting is "consistent with the War Powers Resolution."
The wars: declared and undeclared
The report lists deployments made as part of 11 official declarations of war and eight undeclared wars.
While the US did not officially enter World War II until December 1941, deployments listed for 1940 and 1941 seem to be strategic responses to the spreading war in Europe and Asia. The US deployed troops to guard naval and air bases "leased" from Britain in Newfoundland, Bermuda, St Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad and British Guiana.
Greenland and Iceland were both "taken under the protection" of the United States in 1941 before the US's entry into WWII.
Despite the US military's significant involvement in major conflicts such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War and several Middle East conflicts, there hasn't been an official US declaration of war since WWII. The US constitution specifically gives the US Congress the power to declare war, but provides no specifics describing how such a declaration should be made.
Although none of the major conflicts since WWII are officially declared wars, in most casesincluding the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq Warthe conflicts were authorised by resolutions of US Congress.
Does the map include every deployment?
The map is based on a list compiled by the Congressional Research Service. This is what it says about what isand is notincluded:
"The following list reviews hundreds of instances in which the United States has used military forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict to protect US citizens or promote US interests.
"The list does not include covert actions or numerous instances in which US forces have been stationed abroad since World War II in occupation forces or for participation in mutual security organisations, base agreements, or routine military assistance or training operations...
"Disaster relief, and routine alliance stationing and training exercises are not included here, nor are the Civil and Revolutionary Wars and the continual use of US military units in the exploration, settlement, and pacification of the western part of the United States...
"Because of differing judgments over the actions to be included, other lists may include more or fewer instances."
The report was released on September 15, 2014 and the list of deployments for 2014 is incomplete.
A deployment listed in 2001 and related to the US's response to the September 11 attacks was excluded from the map because the entry did not include location details.
Timeline of US deployments
1798 - 1800: Dominican Republic (Undeclared Naval War with France)
This contest included land actions, such as that in the Dominican Republic, city of Puerto Plata, where marines captured a French privateer under the guns of the forts. Congress authorized military action through a series of statutes.
1801 - 1805: Tripoli (The First Barbary War)
The First Barbary War included the USS George Washington and Philadelphia affairs and the Eaton expedition, during which a few marines landed with United States Agent William Eaton to raise a force against Tripoli in an effort to free the crew of the Philadelphia. Tripoli declared war but not the United States, although Congress authorized U.S. military action by statute.
1806: Mexico
Mexico (Spanish territory). Captain Z. M. Pike, with a platoon of troops, invaded Spanish territory at the headwaters of the Rio Grande on orders from General James Wilkinson. He was made prisoner without resistance at a fort he constructed in present-day Colorado, taken to Mexico, and later released after seizure of his papers.
1806 - 1810: Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico. American gunboats operated from New Orleans against Spanish and French privateers off the Mississippi Delta, chiefly under Captain John Shaw and Master Commandant David Porter.
1810: West Florida
West Florida (Spanish territory). Governor Claiborne of Louisiana, on orders of the President, occupied with troops territory in dispute east of the Mississippi River as far as the Pearl River, later the eastern boundary of Louisiana. He was authorized to seize as far east as the Perdido River.
1812: Amelia Island, Florida
Amelia Island and other parts of east Florida, then under Spain. Temporary possession was authorized by President Madison and by Congress, to prevent occupation by any other power; but possession was obtained by General George Matthews in so irregular a manner that his measures were disavowed by the President.
1812 - 1815: Great Lakes, Gulf Coast (War of 1812)
War of 1812. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Among the issues leading to the war were British interception of neutral ships and blockades of the United States during British hostilities with France.
1813: West Florida
West Florida (Spanish territory). On authority given by Congress, General Wilkinson seized Mobile Bay in April with 600 soldiers. A small Spanish garrison gave way. The United States advanced into disputed territory to the Perdido River, as projected in 1810. No fighting.
1813 - 1814: Nukahiva, Marquesas Islands
U.S. forces built a fort on the island of Nukahiva to protect three prize ships which had been captured from the British.
1814: Florida
Spanish Florida. General Andrew Jackson took Pensacola and drove out the British, with whom the United States was at war.
1814 - 1825: Caribbean
Engagements between pirates and American ships or squadrons took place repeatedly, especially ashore and offshore about Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, and Yucatan. Three thousand pirate attacks on merchantmen were reported between 1815 and 1823. In 1822 Commodore James Biddle employed a squadron of two frigates, four sloops of war, two brigs, four schooners, and two gunboats in the West Indies.
1815: Algiers (The Second Barbary War)
The second Barbary War was declared against the United States by the Dey of Algiers of the Barbary states, an act not reciprocated by the United States. Congress did authorize a military expedition by statutes. A large fleet under Decatur attacked Algiers and obtained indemnities.
1815: Tripoli
After securing an agreement from Algiers, Decatur demonstrated with his squadron at Tunis and Tripoli, where he secured indemnities for offenses during the War of 1812.
1816: Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida. United States forces destroyed Nicholls Fort, called also Negro Fort, which harbored raiders making forays into United States territory.
1816 - 1818: Spanish Florida (First Seminole War)
The Seminole Indians, whose area was a haven for escaped slaves and border ruffians, were attacked by troops under Generals Jackson and Gaines and pursued into northern Florida. Spanish posts were attacked and occupied, British citizens executed. In 1819 the Floridas were ceded to the United States.
1817: Amelia Island, Florida
Amelia Island (Spanish territory off Florida). Under orders of President Monroe, United States forces landed and expelled a group of smugglers, adventurers, and freebooters.
1818: Oregon
The USS Ontario, dispatched from Washington, landed at the Columbia River and in August took possession of Oregon territory. Britain had conceded sovereignty but Russia and Spain asserted claims to the area.
1820 - 1823: Africa
Naval units raided the slave traffic pursuant to the 1819 act of Congress.
1822: Cuba
United States naval forces suppressing piracy landed on the northwest coast of Cuba and burned a pirate station.
1823: Cuba
Brief landings in pursuit of pirates occurred April 8 near Escondido; April 16 near Cayo Blanco; July 11 at Siquapa Bay; July 21 at Cape Cruz; and October 23 at Camrioca.
1824: Cuba
In October the USS Porpoise landed bluejackets near Matanzas in pursuit of pirates. This was during the cruise authorized in 1822.
1824: Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (Spanish territory). Commodore David Porter with a landing party attacked the town of Fajardo which had sheltered pirates and insulted American naval officers. He landed with 200 men in November and forced an apology. Commodore Porter was later court-martialed for overstepping his powers.
1825: Cuba
In March cooperating American and British forces landed at Sagua La Grande to capture pirates.
1827: Greece
In October and November landing parties hunted pirates on the islands of Argenteire, Miconi, and Androse.
1831 - 1832: Falkland Islands
Captain Duncan of the USS Lexington investigated the capture of three American sealing vessels and sought to protect American interests.
1832: Sumatra
February 6 to 9. A naval force landed and stormed a fort to punish natives of the town of Quallah Battoo for plundering the American ship Friendship.
1833: Buenos Aires, Argentina
October 31 to November 15. A force was sent ashore at Buenos Aires to protect the interests of the United States and other countries during an insurrection.
1835 - 1836: Peru
December 10, 1835, to January 24, 1836, and August 31 to December 7, 1836. Marines protected American interests in Callao and Lima during an attempted revolution.
1836: Mexico
General Gaines occupied Nacogdoches (Texas), disputed territory, from July to December during the Texan war for independence, under orders to cross the "imaginary boundary line" if an Indian outbreak threatened.
1838 - 1839: Sumatra
December 24, 1838, to January 4, 1839. A naval force landed to punish natives of the towns of Quallah Battoo and Muckie (Mukki) for depredations on American shipping.
1840: Fiji Islands
July. Naval forces landed to punish natives for attacking American exploring and surveying parties.
1841: Drummond Island
Drummond Island, Kingsmill Group. A naval party landed to avenge the murder of a seaman by the natives.
1841: Upolu Island, Samoa
February 24. A naval party landed and burned towns after the murder of an American seaman on Upolu Island.
1842: Mexico
Commodore T.A.C. Jones, in command of a squadron long cruising off California, occupied Monterey, CA, on October 19, believing war had come. He discovered peace, withdrew, and saluted. A similar incident occurred a week later at San Diego.
1843: China
Sailors and marines from the St. Louis were landed after a clash between Americans and Chinese at the trading post in Canton.
1843: Africa
November 29 to December 16. Four United States vessels demonstrated and landed various parties (one of 200 marines and sailors) to discourage piracy and the slave trade along the Ivory Coast, and to punish attacks by the natives on American seamen and shipping.
1844: Mexico
President Tyler deployed U.S. forces to protect Texas against Mexico, pending Senate approval of a treaty of annexation. (Later rejected.) He defended his action against a Senate resolution of inquiry.
1846 - 1848: Mexico (Mexican War)
Mexican War. On May 13, 1846, the United States recognized the existence of a state of war with Mexico. After the annexation of Texas in 1845, the United States and Mexico failed to resolve a boundary dispute and President Polk said that it was necessary to deploy forces in Mexico to meet a threatened invasion.
1849: Smyrna
In July a naval force gained release of an American seized by Austrian officials.
1851: Turkey
After a massacre of foreigners (including Americans) at Jaffa in January, a demonstration by the Mediterranean Squadron was ordered along the Turkish (Levant) coast.
1851: Africa
Johanns Island (east of Africa). August. Forces from the U.S. sloop of war Dale exacted redress for the unlawful imprisonment of the captain of an American whaling brig.
1852 - 1853: Buenos Aires, Argentina
February 3 to 12, 1852; September 17, 1852, to April 1853. Marines were landed and maintained in Buenos Aires to protect American interests during a revolution.
1853: Nicaragua
March 11 to 13. U.S. forces landed to protect American lives and interests during political disturbances.
1853 - 1854: Japan
Commodore Perry and his naval expedition made a display of force leading to the "opening of Japan."
1853 - 1854: Ryukyu
Ryukyu and Bonin Islands. Commodore Perry on three visits before going to Japan and while waiting for a reply from Japan made a naval demonstration, landing marines twice, and secured a coaling concession from the ruler of Naha on Okinawa; he also demonstrated in the Bonin Islands with the purpose of securing facilities for commerce.
1853 - 1854: Bonin Islands
Ryukyu and Bonin Islands. Commodore Perry on three visits before going to Japan and while waiting for a reply from Japan made a naval demonstration, landing marines twice, and secured a coaling concession from the ruler of Naha on Okinawa; he also demonstrated in the Bonin Islands with the purpose of securing facilities for commerce.
1854: China
April 4 to June 15 to 17. American and English ships landed forces to protect American interests in and near Shanghai during Chinese civil strife.
1854: Nicaragua
July 9 to 15. Naval forces bombarded and burned San Juan del Norte (Greytown) to avenge an insult to the American Minister to Nicaragua.
1855: China
May 19 to 21. U.S. forces protected American interests in Shanghai and, from August 3 to 5, fought pirates near Hong Kong.
1855: Fiji Islands
September 12 to November 4. An American naval force landed to seek reparations for depredations on American residents and seamen.
1855: Uruguay
November 25 to 29. United States and European naval forces landed to protect American interests during an attempted revolution in Montevideo.
1856: Panama
Panama, Republic of New Grenada. September 19 to 22. U.S. forces landed to protect American interests during an insurrection.
1856: China
October 22 to December 6. U.S. forces landed to protect American interests at Canton during hostilities between the British and the Chinese, and to avenge an assault upon an unarmed boat displaying the United States flag.
1857: Nicaragua
April to May, November to December. In May Commander C.H. Davis of the United States Navy, with some marines, received the surrender of William Walker, who had been attempting to get control of the country, and protected his men from the retaliation of native allies who had been fighting Walker.
In November and December of the same year United States vessels Saratoga, Wabash, and Fulton opposed another attempt of William Walker on Nicaragua. Commodore Hiram Paulding's act of landing marines and compelling the removal of Walker to the United States was tacitly disavowed by Secretary of State Lewis Cass, and Paulding was forced into retirement.
1858: Uruguay
January 2 to 27. Forces from two United States warships landed to protect American property during a revolution in Montevideo.
1858: Fiji Islands
October 6 to 16. A marine expedition chastised natives for the murder of two American citizens at Waya.
1858 - 1859: Turkey
The Secretary of State requested a display of naval force along the Levant after a massacre of Americans at Jaffa and mistreatment elsewhere "to remind the authorities (of Turkey) of the power of the United States."
1859: Paraguay
Congress authorized a naval squadron to seek redress for an attack on a naval vessel in the Parana River during 1855. Apologies were made after a large display of force.
1859: Mexico
Two hundred United States soldiers crossed the Rio Grande in pursuit of the Mexican bandit Cortina.
1859: China
July 31 to August 2. A naval force landed to protect American interests in Shanghai.
1860: Angola
Angola, Portuguese West Africa. March 1. American residents at Kissembo called upon American and British ships to protect lives and property during problems with natives.
1860: Colombia
Colombia (Bay of Panama). September 27 to October 8. Naval forces landed to protect American interests during a revolution.
1863: Japan
July 16. The USS Wyoming retaliated against a firing on the American vessel Pembroke at Shimonoseki.
1864: Japan
July 14 to August 3. Naval forces protected the United States Minister to Japan when he visited Yedo to negotiate concerning some American claims against Japan, and to make his negotiations easier by impressing the Japanese with American power.
1864: Japan
September 4 to 14. Naval forces of the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands compelled Japan and the Prince of Nagato in particular to permit the Straits of Shimonoseki to be used by foreign shipping in accordance with treaties already signed.
1865: Panama
March 9 and 10. U.S. forces protected the lives and property of American residents during a revolution.
1866: China
From June 20 to July 7, U.S. forces punished an assault on the American consul at Newchwang.
1866: Mexico
To protect American residents, General Sedgwick and 100 men in November obtained surrender of Matamoras. After three days he was ordered by U.S. government to withdraw. His act was repudiated by the President.
1867: Nicaragua
Marines occupied Managua and Leon. Formosa. June 13. A naval force landed and burned a number of huts to punish the murder of the crew of a wrecked American vessel.
1868: Japan
Japan (Osaka, Hiolo, Nagasaki, Yokohama, and Negata). February 4 to 8, April 4 to May 12, June 12 and 13. U.S. forces were landed to protect American interests during the civil war in Japan.
1868: Uruguay
February 7 and 8, 19 to 26. U.S. forces protected foreign residents and the customhouse during an insurrection at Montevideo.
1868: Colombia
April. U.S. forces protected passengers and treasure in transit at Aspinwall during the absence of local police or troops on the occasion of the death of the president of Colombia.
1870: Mexico
June 17 and 18. U.S. forces destroyed the pirate ship Forward, which had been run aground about 40 miles up the Rio Tecapan.
1870: Hawaiian Islands
September 21. U.S. forces placed the American flag at half-mast upon the death of Queen Kalama, when the American consul at Honolulu would not assume responsibility for so doing.
1871: Korea
June 10 to 12. A U.S. naval force attacked and captured five forts to punish natives for depredations on Americans, particularly for murdering the crew of the General Sherman and burning the schooner, and for later firing on other American small boats taking soundings up the Salee River.
1873: Colombia
Colombia (Bay of Panama). May 7 to 22, September 23 to October 9. U.S. forces protected American interests during hostilities between local groups over control of the government of the State of Panama.
1873 - 1896: Mexico
United States troops crossed the Mexican border repeatedly in pursuit of cattle thieves and other brigands. There were some reciprocal pursuits by Mexican troops into border territory. Mexico protested frequently. Notable cases were at Remolina in May 1873 and at Las Cuevas in 1875. Washington orders often supported these excursions. Agreements between Mexico and the United States, the first in 1882, finally legitimized such raids. They continued intermittently, with minor disputes, until 1896.
1874: Hawaiian Islands
February 12 to 20. Detachments from American vessels were landed to preserve order and protect American lives and interests during the coronation of a new king.
1876: Mexico
May 18. An American force was landed to police the town of Matamoras temporarily while it was without other government.
1882: Egypt
July 14 to 18. American forces landed to protect American interests during warfare between British and Egyptians and looting of the city of Alexandria by Arabs.
1885: Colon, Panama
January 18 and 19. U.S. forces were used to guard the valuables in transit over the Panama Railroad, and the safes and vaults of the company during revolutionary activity. In March, April, and May in the cities of Colon and Panama, the forces helped reestablish freedom of transit during revolutionary activity.
1888: Korea
June. A naval force was sent ashore to protect American residents in Seoul during unsettled political conditions, when an outbreak of the populace was expected.
1888: Haiti
December 20. A display of force persuaded the Haitian government to give up an American steamer which had been seized on the charge of breach of blockade.
1888 - 1889: Samoa
November 14, 1888, to March 20, 1889. U.S. forces were landed to protect American citizens and the consulate during a native civil war.
1889: Hawaiian Islands
July 30 and 31. U.S. forces protected American interests at Honolulu during a revolution.
1890: Argentina
A naval party landed to protect U.S. consulate and legation in Buenos Aires.
1891: Haiti
U.S. forces sought to protect American lives and property on Navassa Island.
1891: Bering Strait
July 2 to October 5. Naval forces sought to stop seal poaching.
1891: Chile
August 28 to 30. U.S. forces protected the American consulate and the women and children who had taken refuge in it during a revolution in Valparaiso.
1893: Hawaii
January 16 to April 1. Marines were landed ostensibly to protect American lives and property, but many believed actually to promote a provisional government under Sanford B. Dole. This action was disavowed by the United States.
1894: Brazil
January. A display of naval force sought to protect American commerce and shipping at Rio de Janeiro during a Brazilian civil war.
1894: Nicaragua
July 6 to August 7. U.S. forces sought to protect American interests at Bluefields following a revolution.
1894 - 1895: China
Marines were stationed at Tientsin and penetrated to Peking for protection purposes during the Sino-Japanese War.
1894 - 1895: China
A naval vessel was beached and used as a fort at Newchwang for protection of American nationals.
1894 - 1896: Korea
July 24, 1894 to April 3, 1896. A guard of marines was sent to protect the American legation and American lives and interests at Seoul during and following the Sino-Japanese War.
1895: Colombia
March 8 to 9. U.S. forces protected American interests during an attack on the town of Bocas del Toro by a bandit chieftain.
1896: Nicaragua
May 2 to 4. U.S. forces protected American interests in Corinto during political unrest.
1898: Nicaragua
February 7 and 8. U.S. forces protected American lives and property at San Juan del Sur.
1898: Cuba (The Spanish-American War)
The Spanish-American War. On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war with Spain. The war followed a Cuban insurrection against Spanish rule and the sinking of the USS Maine in the harbor at Havana.
1898 - 1899: China
November 5, 1898, to March 15, 1899. U.S. forces provided a guard for the legation at Peking and the consulate at Tientsin during contest between the Dowager Empress and her son.
1899: Nicaragua
American and British naval forces were landed to protect national interests at San Juan del Norte, February 22 to March 5, and at Bluefields a few weeks later in connection with the insurrection of General Juan P. Reyes.
1899: Samoa
February-May 15. American and British naval forces were landed to protect national interests and to take part in a bloody contention over the succession to the throne.
1899 - 1901: Philippine Islands
U.S. forces protected American interests following the war with Spain and conquered the islands by defeating the Filipinos in their war for independence.
1900: China
May 24 to September 28. American troops participated in operations to protect foreign lives during the Boxer rising, particularly at Peking. For many years after this experience a permanent legation guard was maintained in Peking, and was strengthened at times as trouble threatened.
1901: Panama
Colombia (State of Panama). November 20 to December 4. U.S. forces protected American property on the Isthmus and kept transit lines open during serious revolutionary disturbances.
1902: Colombia
April 16 to 23. U.S. forces protected American lives and property at Bocas del Toro during a civil war.
1902: Panama
Colombia (State of Panama). September 17 to November 18. The United States placed armed guards on all trains crossing the Isthmus to keep the railroad line open, and stationed ships on both sides of Panama to prevent the landing of Colombian troops.
1903: Honduras
March 23 to 30 or 31. U.S. forces protected the American consulate and the steamship wharf at Puerto Cortez during a period of revolutionary activity.
1903: Dominican Republic
March 30 to April 21. A detachment of marines was landed to protect American interests in the city of Santo Domingo during a revolutionary outbreak.
1903: Syria
September 7 to 12. U.S. forces protected the American consulate in Beirut when a local Moslem uprising was feared.
1903 - 1904: Abyssinia
Twenty-five marines were sent to Abyssinia to protect the U.S. Consul General while he negotiated a treaty.
1903 - 1914: Panama
U.S. forces sought to protect American interests and lives during and following the revolution for independence from Colombia over construction of the Isthmian Canal. With brief intermissions, United States Marines were stationed on the Isthmus from November 4, 1903, to January 21, 1914, to guard American interests.
1904: Dominican Republic
January 2 to February 11. American and British naval forces established an area in which no fighting would be allowed and protected American interests in Puerto Plata and Sosua and Santo Domingo City during revolutionary fighting.
1904: Tangier
"We want either Perdicaris alive or Raisula dead." A squadron demonstrated to force release of a kidnapped American. Marines were landed to protect the consul general.
1904: Panama
November 17 to 24. U.S. forces protected American lives and property at Ancon at the time of a threatened insurrection.
1904 - 1905: Korea
January 5, 1904, to November 11, 1905. A guard of Marines was sent to protect the American legation in Seoul during the Russo-Japanese War.
1906 - 1909: Cuba
September 1906 to January 23, 1909. U.S. forces sought to restore order, protect foreigners, and establish a stable government after serious revolutionary activity.
1907: Honduras
March 18 to June 8. To protect American interests during a war between Honduras and Nicaragua, troops were stationed in Trujillo, Ceiba, Puerto Cortez, San Pedro, Laguna, and Choloma.
1910: Nicaragua
May 19 to September 4. U.S. forces protected American interests at Bluefields.
1911: Honduras
January 26. American naval detachments were landed to protect American lives and interests during a civil war in Honduras.
1911: China
As the nationalist revolution approached, in October an ensign and 10 men tried to enter Wuchang to rescue missionaries but retired on being warned away, and a small landing force guarded American private property and consulate at Hankow. Marines were deployed in November to guard the cable stations at Shanghai; landing forces were sent for protection in Nanking, Chinkiang, Taku, and elsewhere.
1912: Honduras
A small force landed to prevent seizure by the government of an American-owned railroad at Puerto Cortez. The forces were withdrawn after the United States disapproved the action.
1912: Panama
Troops, on request of both political parties, supervised elections outside the Canal Zone.
1912: Cuba
June 5 to August 5. U.S. forces protected American interests on the Province of Oriente, and in Havana.
1912: China
August 24 to 26, on Kentucky Island, and August 26 to 30 at Camp Nicholson. U.S. forces protected Americans and American interests during revolutionary activity.
1912: Turkey
November 18 to December 3. U.S. forces guarded the American legation at Constantinople during a Balkan War.
1912 - 1925: Nicaragua
August to November 1912. U.S. forces protected American interests during an attempted revolution. A small force, serving as a legation guard and seeking to promote peace and stability, remained until August 5, 1925.
1912 - 1941: China
The disorders which began with the overthrow of the dynasty during Kuomintang rebellion in 1912, which were redirected by the invasion of China by Japan, led to demonstrations and landing parties for the protection of U.S. interests in China continuously and at many points from 1912 on to 1941. The guard at Peking and along the route to the sea was maintained until 1941. In 1927, the United States had 5,670 troops ashore in China and 44 naval vessels in its waters. In 1933 the United States had 3,027 armed men ashore. The protective action was generally based on treaties with China concluded from 1858 to 1901.
1913: Mexico
September 5 to 7. A few marines landed at Ciaris Estero to aid in evacuating American citizens and others from the Yaqui Valley, made dangerous for foreigners by civil strife.
1914: Haiti
January 29 to February 9, February 20 to 21, October 19. Intermittently, U.S. naval forces protected American nationals in a time of rioting and revolution.
1914: Dominican Republic
June and July. During a revolutionary movement, United States naval forces by gunfire stopped the bombardment of Puerto Plata, and by threat of force maintained Santo Domingo City as a neutral zone.
1914 - 1917: Mexico
Undeclared Mexican-American hostilities followed the Dolphin affair and Villa's raids and included capture of Vera Cruz and later Pershing's expedition into northern Mexico.
1915 - 1934: Haiti
July 28, 1915, to August 15, 1934. U.S. forces maintained order during a period of chronic political instability.
1916: China
American forces landed to quell a riot taking place on American property in Nanking.
1916 - 1924: Dominican Republic
May 1916 to September 1924. American naval forces maintained order during a period of chronic and threatened insurrection.
1917: China
American troops were landed at Chungking to protect American lives during a political crisis.
1917 - 1918: Germany (World War I)
World War I. On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war with Germany and on December 7, 1917, with Austria-Hungary. Entrance of the United States into the war was precipitated by Germany's submarine warfare against neutral shipping.
Note: Although the US deployed troops to multiple countries during WWI, only Germany is listed in the report.
1917 - 1922: Cuba
U.S. forces protected American interests during an insurrection and subsequent unsettled conditions. Most of the United States armed forces left Cuba by August 1919, but two companies remained at Camaguey until February 1922.
1918 - 1919: Mexico
After withdrawal of the Pershing expedition, U.S. troops entered Mexico in pursuit of bandits at least three times in 1918 and six times in 1919. In August 1918 American and Mexican troops fought at Nogales.
1918 - 1920: Panama
U.S. forces were used for police duty according to treaty stipulations, at Chiriqui, during election disturbances and subsequent unrest.
1918 - 1920: Russia
Soviet Russia. Marines were landed at and near Vladivostok in June and July to protect the American consulate and other points in the fighting between the Bolshevik troops and the Czech Army, which had traversed Siberia from the western front. A joint proclamation of emergency government and neutrality was issued by the American, Japanese, British, French, and Czech commanders in July. In August 7,000 men were landed in Vladivostok and remained until January 1920, as part of an allied occupation force. In September 1918, 5,000 American troops joined the allied intervention force at Archangel and remained until June 1919. These operations were in response to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and were partly supported by Czarist or Kerensky elements.
1919: Dalmatia
U.S. forces were landed at Trau at the request of Italian authorities to police order between the Italians and Serbs.
1919: Turkey
Marines from the USS Arizona were landed to guard the U.S. Consulate during the Greek occupation of Constantinople.
1919: Honduras
September 8 to 12. A landing force was sent ashore to maintain order in a neutral zone during an attempted revolution.
1920: China
March 14. A landing force was sent ashore for a few hours to protect lives during a disturbance at Kiukiang.
1920: Guatemala
April 9 to 27. U.S. forces protected the American legation and other American interests, such as the cable station, during a period of fighting between Unionists and the government of Guatemala.
1920 - 1922: Russia
Russia (Siberia). February 16, 1920, to November 19, 1922. A Marine guard was sent to protect the United States radio station and property on Russian Island, Bay of Vladivostok.
1921: Panama; Costa Rica
Panama-Costa Rica. American naval squadrons demonstrated in April on both sides of the Isthmus to prevent war between the two countries over a boundary dispute.
1922: Turkey
September and October. A landing force was sent ashore with consent of both Greek and Turkish authorities to protect American lives and property when the Turkish Nationalists entered Smyrna.
1922 - 1923: China
Between April 1922 and November 1923 marines were landed five times to protect Americans during periods of unrest.
1924: Honduras
February 28 to March 31, September 10 to 15. U.S. forces protected American lives and interests during election hostilities.
1924: China
September. Marines were landed to protect Americans and other foreigners in Shanghai during Chinese factional hostilities.
1925: China
January 15 to August 29. Fighting of Chinese factions accompanied by riots and demonstrations in Shanghai brought the landing of American forces to protect lives and property in the International Settlement.
1925: Honduras
Honduras. April 19 to 21. U.S. forces protected foreigners at La Ceiba during a political upheaval.
1925: Panama
October 12 to 23. Strikes and rent riots led to the landing of about 600 American troops to keep order and protect American interests.
1926 - 1933: Nicaragua
Nicaragua. May 7 to June 5, 1926; August 27, 1926, to January 3, 1933. The coup d'e_tat of General Chamorro aroused revolutionary activities leading to the landing of American marines to protect the interests of the United States. United States forces came and went intermittently until January 3, 1933.
1926: China
August and September. The Nationalist attack on Hankow brought the landing of American naval forces to protect American citizens. A small guard was maintained at the consulate general even after September 16, when the rest of the forces were withdrawn. Likewise, when Nationalist forces captured Kiukiang, naval forces were landed for the protection of foreigners November 4 to 6.
1927: China
February. Fighting at Shanghai caused American naval forces and marines to be increased. In March a naval guard was stationed at the American consulate at Nanking after Nationalist forces captured the city. American and British destroyers later used shell fire to protect Americans and other foreigners. Subsequently additional forces of marines and naval vessels were stationed in the vicinity of Shanghai and Tientsin.
1932: China
American forces were landed to protect American interests during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.
1933: Cuba
During a revolution against President Gerardo Machado naval forces demonstrated but no landing was made.
1934: China
Marines landed at Foochow to protect the American Consulate.
1940: Newfoundland; Bermuda; St. Lucia; Bahamas; Jamaica; Antigua; Trinidad; Guiana
Newfoundland, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Trinidad, and British Guiana. Troops were sent to guard air and naval bases obtained by negotiation with Great Britain. These were sometimes called lend-lease bases.
1941: Greenland
Greenland was taken under protection of the United States in April.
1941: Guiana
Netherlands (Dutch Guiana). In November the President ordered American troops to occupy Dutch Guiana, but by agreement with the Netherlands government in exile, Brazil cooperated to protect aluminum ore supply from the bauxite mines in Surinam.
1941: Iceland
Iceland was taken under the protection of the United States, with consent of its government, for strategic reasons.
1941: Germany
Sometime in the spring the President ordered the Navy to patrol ship lanes to Europe. By July U.S. warships were convoying and by September were attacking German submarines. In November, the Neutrality Act was partly repealed to protect U.S. military aid to Britain.
1941 - 1945: Japan; Germany; Italy; Bulgaria; Hungary; Romania (World War II)
On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war with Japan, on December 11 with Germany and Italy, and on June 5, 1942, with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. The United States declared war against Japan after the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, and against Germany and Italy after those nations, under the dictators Hitler and Mussolini, declared war against the United States. The United States declared war against Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania in response to the declarations of war by those nations against the United States.
1945: China
In October 50,000 U.S. Marines were sent to North China to assist Chinese Nationalist authorities in disarming and repatriating the Japanese in China and in controlling ports, railroads, and airfields. This was in addition to approximately 60,000 U.S. forces remaining in China at the end of World War II.
1946: Trieste
President Truman ordered the augmentation of U.S. troops along the zonal occupation line and the reinforcement of air forces in northern Italy after Yugoslav forces shot down an unarmed U.S. Army transport plane flying over Venezia Giulia. Earlier U.S. naval units had been dispatched to the scene.
1948: Palestine
A marine consular guard was sent to Jerusalem to protect the U.S. Consul General.
1948 - 1949: Berlin
After the Soviet Union established a land blockade of the U.S., British, and French sectors of Berlin on June 24, 1948, the United States and its allies airlifted supplies to Berlin until after the blockade was lifted in May 1949.
1948 - 1949: China
Marines were dispatched to Nanking to protect the American Embassy when the city fell to Communist troops, and to Shanghai to aid in the protection and evacuation of Americans.
1950 - 1953: Korea (Korean War)
The United States responded to North Korean invasion of South Korea by going to its assistance, pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions. U.S. forces deployed in Korea exceeded 300,000 during the last year of the conflict. Over 36,600 U.S. military were killed in action.
1950 - 1955: Taiwan
Formosa (Taiwan). In June 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War, President Truman ordered the U.S. Seventh Fleet to prevent Chinese Communist attacks upon Formosa and Chinese Nationalist operations against mainland China.
1954 - 1955: China
Naval units evacuated U.S. civilians and military personnel from the Tachen Islands.
1956: Egypt
A marine battalion evacuated U.S. nationals and other persons from Alexandria during the Suez crisis.
1958: Lebanon
Marines were landed in Lebanon at the invitation of its government to help protect against threatened insurrection supported from the outside. The President's action was supported by a congressional resolution passed in 1957 that authorized such actions in that area of the world.
1959 - 1960: The Caribbean
2d Marine Ground Task Force was deployed to protect U.S. nationals during the Cuban crisis.
1962: Thailand
The 3d Marine Expeditionary Unit landed on May 17, 1962, to support that country during the threat of Communist pressure from outside; by July 30 the 5,000 marines had been withdrawn.
1962: Cuba
On October 22, President Kennedy instituted "quarantine" on the shipment of offensive missiles to Cuba from the Soviet Union. He also warned the Soviet Union that the launching of any missile from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere would bring about U.S. nuclear retaliation on the Soviet Union. A negotiated settlement was achieved in a few days.
1962 - 1975: Laos
From October 1962 until 1975, the United States played an important role in military support of anti-Communist forces in Laos.
1964: Congo
The United States sent four transport planes to provide airlift for Congolese troops during a rebellion and to transport Belgian paratroopers to rescue foreigners.
1964 - 1973: Vietnam (Vietnam War)
U.S. military advisers had been in South Vietnam for a decade, and their numbers had been increased as the military position of the Saigon government became weaker. After citing what he termed were attacks on U.S. destroyers in the Tonkin Gulf, President Johnson asked in August 1964 for a resolution expressing U.S. determination to support freedom and protect peace in Southeast Asia. Congress responded with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, expressing support for "all necessary measures" the President might take to repel armed attack against U.S. forces and prevent further aggression. Following this resolution, and following a Communist attack on a U.S. installation in central Vietnam, the United States escalated its participation in the war to a peak of 543,000 military personnel by April 1969.
1965: Dominican Republic
The United States intervened to protect lives and property during a Dominican revolt and sent more troops as fears grew that the revolutionary forces were coming increasingly under Communist control.
1967: Congo
The United States sent three military transport aircraft with crews to provide the Congo central government with logistical support during a revolt.
1970: Cambodia
U.S. troops were ordered into Cambodia to clean out Communist sanctuaries from which Viet Cong and North Vietnamese attacked U.S. and South Vietnamese forces in Vietnam. The object of this attack, which lasted from April 30 to June 30, was to ensure the continuing safe withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam and to assist the program of Vietnamization.
1974: Cyprus
Evacuation from Cyprus. United States naval forces evacuated U.S. civilians during hostilities between Turkish and Greek Cypriot forces.
1975: Vietnam
Evacuation from Vietnam. On April 3, 1975, President Ford reported U.S. naval vessels, helicopters, and marines had been sent to assist in evacuation of refugees and U.S. nationals from Vietnam.
1975: Cambodia
Evacuation from Cambodia. On April 12, 1975, President Ford reported that he had ordered U.S. military forces to proceed with the planned evacuation of U.S. citizens from Cambodia.
1975: South Vietnam
On April 30, 1975, President Ford reported that a force of 70 evacuation helicopters and 865 marines had evacuated about 1,400 U.S. citizens and 5,500 third country nationals and South Vietnamese from landing zones near the U.S. Embassy in Saigon and the Tan Son Nhut Airfield.
1975: Cambodia
Mayaguez incident. On May 15, 1975, President Ford reported he had ordered military forces to retake the SS Mayaguez, a merchant vessel en route from Hong Kong to Thailand with a U.S. citizen crew which was seized by Cambodian naval patrol boats in international waters and forced to proceed to a nearby island.
1976: Lebanon
On July 22 and 23, 1974, helicopters from five U.S. naval vessels evacuated approximately 250 Americans and Europeans from Lebanon during fighting between Lebanese factions after an overland convoy evacuation had been blocked by hostilities.
1976: South Korea
Additional forces were sent to Korea after two American soldiers were killed by North Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea while cutting down a tree.
1978: Zaire
From May 19 through June 1978, the United States utilized military transport aircraft to provide logistical support to Belgian and French rescue operations in Zaire.
1980: Iran
On April 26, 1980, President Carter reported the use of six U.S. transport planes and eight helicopters in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue American hostages being held in Iran.
1981: El Salvador
After a guerilla offensive against the government of El Salvador, additional U.S. military advisers were sent to El Salvador, bringing the total to approximately 55, to assist in training government forces in counterinsurgency.
1981: Libya
On August 19, 1981, U.S. planes based on the carrier USS Nimitz shot down two Libyan jets over the Gulf of Sidra after one of the Libyan jets had fired a heat-seeking missile. The United States periodically held freedom of navigation exercises in the Gulf of Sidra, claimed by Libya as territorial waters but considered international waters by the United States.
1982: Sinai
On March 19, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of military personnel and equipment to participate in the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. Participation had been authorized by the Multinational Force and Observers Resolution, P.L. 97-132.
1982: Lebanon
On August 21, 1982, President Reagan reported the dispatch of 80 marines to serve in the multinational force to assist in the withdrawal of members of the Palestine Liberation force from Beirut. The Marines left September 20, 1982.
1982 - 1983: Lebanon
On September 29, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of 1200 marines to serve in a temporary multinational force to facilitate the restoration of Lebanese government sovereignty. On September 29, 1983, Congress passed the Multinational Force in Lebanon Resolution (P.L. 98-119) authorizing the continued participation for 18 months.
1983: Egypt
After a Libyan plane bombed a city in Sudan on March 18, 1983, and Sudan and Egypt appealed for assistance, the United States dispatched an AWACS electronic surveillance plane to Egypt.
1983 - 1989: Honduras
In July 1983 the United States undertook a series of exercises in Honduras that some believed might lead to conflict with Nicaragua. On March 25, 1986, unarmed U.S. military helicopters and crewmen ferried Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border to repel Nicaraguan troops.
1983: Chad
On August 8, 1983, President Reagan reported the deployment of two AWACS electronic surveillance planes and eight F-15 fighter planes and ground logistical support forces to assist Chad against Libyan and rebel forces.
1983: Grenada
On October 25, 1983, President Reagan reported a landing on Grenada by Marines and Army airborne troops to protect lives and assist in the restoration of law and order and at the request of five members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
1984: Persian Gulf
On June 5, 1984, Saudi Arabian jet fighter planes, aided by intelligence from a U.S. AWACS electronic surveillance aircraft and fueled by a U.S. KC-10 tanker, shot down two Iranian fighter planes over an area of the Persian Gulf proclaimed as a protected zone for shipping.
1985: Italy
On October 10, 1985, U.S. Navy pilots intercepted an Egyptian airliner and forced it to land in Sicily. The airliner was carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, who had killed an American citizen during the hijacking.
1986: Libya
On March 26, 1986, President Reagan reported to Congress that, on March 24 and 25, U.S. forces, while engaged in freedom of navigation exercises around the Gulf of Sidra, had been attacked by Libyan missiles and the United States had responded with missiles. On April 16, 1986, President Reagan reported that U.S. air and naval forces had conducted bombing strikes on terrorist facilities and military installations in Libya.
1986: Bolivia
U.S. Army personnel and aircraft assisted Bolivia in anti-drug operations.
1987 - 1988: Persian Gulf
After the Iran-Iraq War resulted in several military incidents in the Persian Gulf, the United States increased U.S. joint military forces operations in the Persian Gulf and adopted a policy of reflagging and escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Gulf. President Reagan reported that U.S. Navy ships had been fired upon or struck mines or taken other military action on September 23, October 10, and October 20, 1987, and April 19, July 4, and July 14, 1988. The United States gradually reduced its forces after a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq on August 20, 1988.
1988: Panama
In mid-March and April 1988, during a period of instability in Panama and as pressure grew for Panamanian military leader General Manuel Noriega to resign, the United States sent 1,000 troops to Panama, to "further safeguard the canal, U.S. lives, property and interests in the area." The forces supplemented 10,000 U.S. military personnel already in Panama.
1989: Libya
On January 4, 1989, two U.S. Navy F-14 aircraft based on the USS John F. Kennedy shot down two Libyan jet fighters over the Mediterranean Sea about 70 miles north of Libya. The U.S. pilots said the Libyan planes had demonstrated hostile intentions.
1989: Panama
On May 11, 1989, in response to General Noriega's disregard of the results of the Panamanian election, President Bush ordered a brigade-sized force of approximately 1,900 troops to augment the estimated 11,000 U.S. forces already in the area.
1989: Colombia; Bolivia; Peru
Andean Initiative in War on Drugs. On September 15, 1989, President Bush announced that military and law enforcement assistance would be sent to help the Andean nations of Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru combat illicit drug producers and traffickers. By mid-September there were 50-100 U.S. military advisers in Colombia in connection with transport and training in the use of military equipment, plus seven Special Forces teams of 2-12 persons to train troops in the three countries.
1989: Philippines
On December 2, 1989, President Bush reported that on December 1 U.S. fighter planes from Clark Air Base in the Philippines had assisted the Aquino government to repel a coup attempt. In addition, 100 marines were sent from the U.S. Navy base at Subic Bay to protect the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
1989 - 1990: Panama
On December 21, 1989, President Bush reported that he had ordered U.S. military forces to Panama to protect the lives of American citizens and bring General Noriega to justice. By February 13, 1990, all the invasion forces had been withdrawn.
1990: Liberia
On August 6, 1990, President Bush reported that a reinforced rifle company had been sent to provide additional security to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, and that helicopter teams had evacuated U.S. citizens from Liberia.
1990: Saudi Arabia
On August 9, 1990, President Bush reported that he had ordered the forward deployment of substantial elements of the U.S. Armed Forces into the Persian Gulf region to help defend Saudi Arabia after the August 2 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. On November 16, 1990, he reported the continued buildup of the forces to ensure an adequate offensive military option.
1991: Iraq; Kuwait
On January 18, 1991, President Bush reported that he had directed U.S. Armed Forces to commence combat operations on January 16 against Iraqi forces and military targets in Iraq and Kuwait, in conjunction with a coalition of allies and U.N. Security Council resolutions. On January 12 Congress had passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq Resolution (P.L. 102-1). Combat operations were suspended on February 28, 1991. On May 17, 1991, President Bush stated in a status report to Congress that the Iraqi repression of the Kurdish people had necessitated a limited introduction of U.S. forces into northern Iraq for emergency relief purposes.
1991: Zaire
On September 25-27, 1991, after widespread looting and rioting broke out in Kinshasa, U.S. Air Force C-141s transported 100 Belgian troops and equipment into Kinshasa. U.S. planes also carried 300 French troops into the Central African Republic and hauled back American citizens and third country nationals from locations outside Zaire.
1992: Sierra Leone
On May 3, 1992, U.S. military planes evacuated Americans from Sierra Leone, where military leaders had overthrown the government.
1992: Kuwait
On August 3, 1992, the United States began a series of military exercises in Kuwait, following Iraqi refusal to recognize a new border drawn up by the United Nations and refusal to cooperate with U.N. inspection teams.
1992: Iraq
On September 16, 1992, President Bush stated in a status report to Congress that he had ordered U.S. participation in the enforcement of a prohibition against Iraqi flights in a specified zone in southern Iraq, and aerial reconnaissance to monitor Iraqi compliance with the cease-fire resolution.
1992: Somalia
On December 10, 1992, President Bush reported that he had deployed U.S. Armed Forces to Somalia in response to a humanitarian crisis and a U.N. Security Council Resolution determining that the situation constituted a threat to international peace. This operation, called Operation Restore Hope, was part of a U.S.-led United Nations Unified Task Force (UNITAF) and came to an end on May 4, 1993. U.S. forces continued to participate in the successor United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II), which the U.N. Security Council authorized to assist Somalia in political reconciliation and restoration of peace.
1993: Iraq; Kuwait
On January 19, 1993, President Bush said in a status report that on December 27, 1992, U.S. aircraft had shot down an Iraqi aircraft in the prohibited zone; on January 13 aircraft from the United States and coalition partners had attacked missile bases in southern Iraq; and further military actions had occurred on January 17 and 18. Administration officials said the United States was deploying a battalion task force to Kuwait to underline the continuing U.S. commitment to Kuwaiti independence. On January 21, 1993, shortly after his inauguration, President Clinton said the United States would continue the Bush policy on Iraq, and U.S. aircraft fired at targets in Iraq after pilots sensed Iraqi radar or anti-aircraft fire directed at them.
1993: Bosnia
On February 28, 1993, the United States began an airdrop of relief supplies aimed at Muslims surrounded by Serbian forces in Bosnia. On April 13, 1993, President Clinton reported U.S. forces were participating in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air action to enforce a U.N. ban on all unauthorized military flights over Bosnia-Herzegovina
1993: Iraq
In a status report on Iraq of May 24, President Clinton said that on April 9 and April 18 U.S. planes had bombed or fired missiles at Iraqi anti-aircraft sites that had tracked U.S. aircraft.
1993: Somalia
On June 10, 1993, President Clinton reported that in response to attacks against U.N. forces in Somalia by a factional leader, the U.S. Quick Reaction Force in the area had participated in military action to quell the violence. On July 1 President Clinton reported further air and ground military operations on June 12 and June 17 aimed at neutralizing military capabilities that had impeded U.N. efforts to deliver humanitarian relief and promote national reconstruction, and additional instances occurred in the following months.
1993: Iraq
On June 28, 1993, President Clinton reported that on June 26 U.S. naval forces had launched missiles against the Iraqi Intelligence Service's headquarters in Baghdad in response to an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate former President Bush in Kuwait in April 1993.
1993: Iraq
In a status report of July 22, 1993, President Clinton said on June 19 a U.S. aircraft had fired a missile at an Iraqi anti-aircraft site displaying hostile intent. U.S. planes also bombed an Iraqi missile battery on August 19, 1993.
1993: Macedonia
On July 9, 1993, President Clinton reported the deployment of 350 U.S. soldiers to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to participate in the U.N. Protection Force to help maintain stability in the area of former Yugoslavia.
1993: Haiti
On October 20, 1993, President Clinton reported that U.S. ships had begun to enforce a U.N. embargo against Haiti.
1994: Bosnia
On February 17, 1994, President Clinton reported that the United States had expanded its participation in United Nations and NATO efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict in former Yugoslavia and that 60 U.S. aircraft were available for participation in the authorized NATO missions.
1994: Bosnia
On March 1, 1994, President Clinton reported that on February 28 U.S. planes patrolling the "no-fly zone" in former Yugoslavia under NATO shot down four Serbian Galeb planes.
1994: Bosnia
On April 12, 1994, President Clinton reported that on April 10 and 11, U.S. warplanes under NATO command had fired against Bosnian Serb forces shelling the "safe" city of Gorazde.
1994: Rwanda
On April 12, 1994, President Clinton reported that combat-equipped U.S. military forces had been deployed to Burundi to conduct possible non-combatant evacuation operations of U.S. citizens and other third-country nationals from Rwanda, where widespread fighting had broken out. By September 30, 1994, all U.S. troops had departed from Rwanda and surrounding nations. In the Defense Appropriations Act for FY1995 (P.L. 103-335, signed September 30, 1994), Congress barred use of funds for U.S. military participation in or around Rwanda after October 7, 1994, except for any action necessary to protect U.S. citizens.
1994: Macedonia
On April 19, 1994, President Clinton reported that the U.S. contingent in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had been augmented by a reinforced company of 200 personnel.
1994: Haiti
On April 20, 1994, President Clinton reported that U.S. naval forces had continued enforcement of the U.N. embargo in the waters around Haiti and that 712 vessels had been boarded since October 20, 1993.
1994: Bosnia
On August 22, 1994, President Clinton reported the use on August 5 of U.S. aircraft under NATO to attack Bosnian Serb heavy weapons in the Sarajevo heavy weapons exclusion zone upon request of the U.N. Protection Forces.
1994: Haiti
On September 21, 1994, President Clinton reported the deployment of 1,500 troops to Haiti to restore democracy in Haiti. The troop level was subsequently increased to 20,000.
1994: Bosnia
On November 22, 1994, President Clinton reported the use of U.S. combat aircraft on November 21, 1994, under NATO, to attack bases used by Serbs to attack the town of Bihac in Bosnia.
1994: Macedonia
On December 22, 1994, President Clinton reported that the U.S. Army contingent in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continued its peacekeeping mission and that the current contingent would soon be replaced by about 500 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, and 1st Armored Division from Kirchgons, Germany.
1995: Somalia
Somalia. On March 1, 1995, President Clinton reported that on February 27, 1995, 1,800 combat- equipped U.S. Armed Forces personnel began deployment into Mogadishu, Somalia, to assist in the withdrawal of U.N. forces assigned there to the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II). This mission was completed on March 3, 1995.
1995: Haiti
On March 21, 1995, President Clinton reported that U.S. military forces in Haiti as part of a U.N. Multinational Force had been reduced to just under 5,300 personnel. He noted that as of March 31, 1995, approximately 2,500 U.S. personnel would remain in Haiti as part of the U.N. Mission in Haiti (UNMIH).
1995: Bosnia
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