View source for Caribbean Peace Force

{{Short description|Peacekeeping coalition that operated in Grenada after the 1983 American invasion}}
[[File:Eastern Caribbean Defense Force.jpg|thumb|Members of the Eastern Caribbean Defence Force participate in Operation Urgent Fury. Includes Royal Barbados Police Force personnel and soldiers of unknown nationality. 3 November 1983]]

The '''Caribbean Peace Force''' ('''CPF'''), also known as the  '''Caribbean Peacekeeping Force''' and the '''Eastern Caribbean Peace Force''' ('''ECPF'''), was a 350-member [[peacekeeping|peacekeeping force]] operating in [[Grenada]] from October 1983 to June 1985 after the [[Invasion of Grenada|Invasion of Grenada, codenamed ''Operation Urgent Fury''.]] The military intervention by the [[United States of America]] in coalition with six [[Caribbean]] nations was in response to the illegal [[Deposition (politics)|deposition]] and execution of Grenadan Prime Minister [[Maurice Bishop]] on Oct. 19, 1983.  Bishop's revolutionary regime was briefly replaced by a military junta composed entirely of Grenadian military officers. On October 25, 1983, the United States, [[Barbados]], [[Jamaica]] and members of the [[Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States]] landed on Grenada, defeated Grenadian and [[Cuba]]n resistance and overthrew the military government of [[Hudson Austin]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last1=Worme|first1=George|title=Grenadian forces to take over security|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/02/08/Grenadian-forces-to-take-over-security/5635476686800/|accessdate=4 September 2017|publisher=UPI|date=Feb 8, 1985}}</ref>

The U.S-led invasion was spearheaded at dawn by [[United States Army Rangers|Army Rangers]], Navy [[SEALs]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] and other elite units. The first Caribbean forces arrived on Grenada by [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] [[C-130]] aircraft from Barbados about five hours later. The vanguard force, led by Brigadier Rudyard Lewis of Barbados, landed on a Ranger-seized runway without any defined military role being assigned to them by the Pentagon.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The U.S. Invasion of Grenada : legacy of a flawed victory|last=Kukielski|first=Philip|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4766-7879-5|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|pages=89|oclc=1123182247}}</ref> An ad hoc plan was developed for them to guard Cuban and Grenadan prisoners who were being captured in mounting numbers by U.S. combat troops, Later, the Caribbean troops took over police duties in St. George's, the island's capital, and guard duties at [[Richmond Hill Prison]]. The peacekeeper force was mostly composed of 150 soldiers from the [[Jamaica Defence Force]] and a 50-man rifle platoon from the [[Barbados Defence Force]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Monographs/Urgent_Fury.pdf|title=Operation Urgent Fury|last=Cole|first=Ronald|date=1997|website=U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019132441/http://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Monographs/Urgent_Fury.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-19 |access-date=2019-12-28}}</ref>  [[Antigua and Barbuda]] also contributed an infantry squad.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Urgent fury : the battle for Grenada|last=Adkin|first=Mark|date=1989|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=0-669-20717-9|location=Lexington, Mass.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/urgentfurybattle0000adki/page/220 220]|oclc=18836419|url=https://archive.org/details/urgentfurybattle0000adki/page/220}}</ref> The remaining members were police or paramilitary constabulary from [[Barbados]], [[Dominica]], [[Saint Lucia|St. Lucia]], [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines|St. Vincent and the Grenadines]] and [[Saint Kitts and Nevis|St. Kitts and Nevis]]. These five Eastern Caribbean island nations were then participants in a [[Regional Security System]].<ref name=":0" />

The Caribbean peacekeepers were not involved in combat, which officially ended on Nov. 2, 1983. U.S. combat troops left the island on Dec. 12, 1983.  The peacekeeping force remained on Grenada until the spring of 1985 to allow the reconstituted domestic police force to be fully trained and equipped.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
<references /><!--added above categories/infobox footers by script-assisted edit-->
{{Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)|state=uncollapsed}}

[[Category:Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States]]
[[Category:International organizations based in the Americas]]
[[Category:Multinational units and formations]]
[[Category:Military in the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1983]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1983]]
[[Category:Grenada–United States relations]]
[[Category:Barbados–Grenada relations]]
[[Category:Grenada–Saint Vincent and the Grenadines relations]]


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