Multinational Force in Lebanon

Multinational Force Beirut – Lebanon
Force multinationale de sécurité à Beyrouth Forza Multinazionale in Libano
Clockwise from top left: United States Navy LARC-V landing in Beirut, September 1982; Lebanese Army in Beirut, 1982; Italian President Sandro Pertini in Lebanon during a visit to the Italian contingent in 1983; PLO office in Sidon, 1982; Fighter jet taking off from French aircraft carrier Foch off the coast of Lebanon, 1983; French Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma helicopters in Beirut, Lebanon, 1983; USMC Bell AH-1T SeaCobra helicopter on patrol outside the city of Beirut, May 1983; U.S. Marines on patrol in Beirut, April 1983; Israeli troops in Sidon, August 1982; Green Line, Beirut 1982
Active	Aug. 25, 1982-Mar. 31, 1984
Countries	United States  France  Italy  United Kingdom
Role	Peacekeeping mission Interposition force
Garrison/HQ	Beirut, Lebanon
Disbanded	March 1984
Commanders
USMNF (Task Force 62) (Aug 82-Feb 84)	Col. James M. Mead, 32d MAU (Aug 82-Oct 82) Col. Thomas M. Stokes, Jr., 24th MAU (Oct 82-Feb 83) Col. James M. Mead, 22d MAU (Feb-May 83) Col. Timothy J. Geraghty, 24th MAU (May-Nov 83) BGen. Jim R. Joy, 22d MAU (Nov 83-Feb 84)
British Forces (Feb 83-Feb 84)	Lt. Col. John deP. Ferguson, Queen's Dragoon Guards (Sep 83-Jan 84)
French Forces (Aug 82-Mar 84)	11th Airborne Division, B. Gen. Jacques Granger (Aug-Sep 82) 11th Airborne Division, B. Gen. Jacques Granger (Sep 82-Jan 83) 9th Marine Infantry Division, BGen. Michel Datin (Jan-May 83) 31st Brigade, B. Gen. Jean-Claude Coulon (May-Sep 83) 11th Airborne Division, B. Gen. Francois Cann (Sep 83-Jan 84) 9th Marine Infantry Division, B. Gen. Datin (Feb-Mar 84)
Italian Forces (Aug 82-Jan 84)	BGen. Franco Angioni (Aug 82-Jan 84)
Insignia
Patches	1982-83 Patch/Multinational Peacekeeping Force (II) Patch

Col. James M. Mead, 32d MAU (Aug 82-Oct 82)
Col. Thomas M. Stokes, Jr., 24th MAU (Oct 82-Feb 83)
Col. James M. Mead, 22d MAU (Feb-May 83)
Col. Timothy J. Geraghty, 24th MAU (May-Nov 83)

11th Airborne Division, B. Gen. Jacques Granger (Aug-Sep 82)
11th Airborne Division, B. Gen. Jacques Granger (Sep 82-Jan 83)
9th Marine Infantry Division, BGen. Michel Datin (Jan-May 83)
31st Brigade, B. Gen. Jean-Claude Coulon (May-Sep 83)
11th Airborne Division, B. Gen. Francois Cann (Sep 83-Jan 84)

The Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in August 1982 following the 1981 U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the PLO and Israel to end their involvement in the conflict between Lebanon's pro-government and pro-Syrian factions. The ceasefire held until June 3, 1982 when the PLO attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador to London. Three days later, Israel reentered the PLO-controlled West Beirut and blockaded the city in order to contain insurgency. Seven weeks into the blockade, the besieged PLO acceded to a new agreement for their withdrawal. The agreement provided for the deployment of a Multinational Force to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces in evacuating the PLO, Syrian forces and other foreign combatants involved in Lebanon's civil war.

The four-nation MNF was created as an interposition force meant to oversee the peaceful withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The participants included the U.S. Multinational Force (USMNF), which consisted of four different Marine Amphibious Units (MAUs); British 1st Dragoon Guards cavalry regiment; the 1st inter-arm Foreign and French Brigade, 4 Foreign Legion Regiments, 28 French Armed Forces regiments including French and Foreign paratroopers, units of the National Gendarmerie, Italian paratroopers from the Folgore Brigade, infantry units from the Bersaglieri regiments and Marines of the San Marco Regiment. Additionally, the MNF was in charge of training various units of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

...
Wikipedia