Operation Uphold Democracy

The Haiti encountered by soldiers and marines participating in Uphold Democracy was a country of about 6.5 million people inhabiting a landmass about the size of the state of Maryland. The population was predominantly rural, roman catholic, black, French Creole-speaking, and extremely poor, Haiti having earned the distinction of being the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Although a few Haitians descended from Europeans rather than African slaves, and although many of the former were affluent, social tensions focused on class rather than race.

One-third of the Haitian landscape had suffered serious soil erosion as result of generations of indifference to ecological problems. Most Haitians could not afford health care, and in rural areas, sick persons often sought help from voodoo priests. The masses lived without running water or proper sanitation, and AIDS was among the many diseases afflicting them. Paved roads were rare, and ferries from Port-au-Prince provided the main transportation to the southern peninsula of the country. Coffee exports, light manufacturing, and tourism, which had been among the few bright spots in the Haiti economy, all had come close to collapse as a result of the embargoes imposed following the coup.

Operation Uphold Democracy was the most decisive in a series of military operations to support United States policy aims in Haiti. In October of 1993, in the wake of General Cedras’ failure to comply with the terms of the Governors Island accord, United States Atlantic Command (USACOM) formed Joint Task Force (JTF) 120 and gave it the mission to protect and evacuate American citizens and key Haitian nationals. Built around a United States Navy Cruiser-Destroyer group, this Joint Task Force provided off-shore protection and evacuation support and also directed United Nations maritime embargo operations around Haiti. In June of 1994, USACOM formed JTF-160 to address the flood of Haitian migrants, which in turn had resulted from the worsening situation on the island and President Clinton’s decision to suspend direct repatriation. This second JTF, though activated aboard a hospital ship in Kingston, Jamaica, soon moved to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, where it established safe havens for roughly 15,000 Haitians.

The third and fourth JTF’s corresponded to two separate plans for ending the junta’s reign in Haiti. A plan for forced entry into Haiti would be executed, if appropriate, by Combined JTF-180 (CJTF-180), under the command of Lieutenant General Henry H. Shelton, Commander of XVIIIth Airborne Corps. The 82d Airborne Division would be the divisional element leading the assault, and about 1800 marines would participate by conducting an amphibious landing in Cap Haitien. A plan for semi-permissive entry would be executed, if appropriate, by Combined JTF-190 (CJTF-190), under the command of Major General David C. Meade, Commander of 10th Mountain Division. One infantry brigade would seize control of Port-au-Prince
while another would air assault separate elements into Cap Haitien and Jeremie, cities on the northern and southern claws of the Haitien landmass. During the summer of 1994, as the political situation worsened, the staff of USACOM and the staffs of component commands of all services feverishly refined these two alternative plans for the same operation. The codename for the forced entry was Uphold Democracy; the codename for the semi-permissive entry was Maintain Democracy.

Yet the Uphold Democracy that occurred was actually a blend of the two alternative plans, and both CJTF-180 and CJTF-190 had pieces of the resulting operation. When former President Carter announced that General Cedras and his de facto regime had agreed to step down, the plan for forced entry was already underway. The Commander-in-Chief of USACOM, Admiral Paul D. Miller, quickly halted the forced entry, organized CJTF-190 as a subordinate command to CJTF-180, and ordered a semi-permissive entry. General Shelton, at the headquarters of CJTF-180, promptly recalled the 82d Airborne Division to Fort Bragg and directed CJTF-190 to land at Port-au-Prince airport.

Two brigades of the 10th Mountain Division—one aviation and one infantry—began executing this modified plan on 19 September from the U.S.S. Eisenhower, where Army infantry and helicopters had been loaded onto the aircraft carrier. By nightfall of 19 September, about 2,000 soldiers were on the ground near Port-au-Prince.

The next day, 20 September, another 3,000 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division deployed in Port-au-Prince while about 1,800 marines launched an amphibious landing into Cap Haitien from the U.S.S. Wasp. This was D + 1, the end of which found nearly 7,000 United States soldiers and marines ashore, having suffered no casualties. By 21 September, D + 2, the number was over 10,000. Within days, this number had swelled to more than 15,000, including two battalions from 3d Special Forces Group. Close to 21,000 United States soldiers and marines were in Haiti on 4 October, when the first group of soldiers from the other coalition nations arrived.

Cedras soon resigned and left the country, and President Aristide returned. On or about 6 October, the marines departed Cap Haitien to be replaced by the second infantry brigade from the 10th Mountain Division. On 24 October, CJTF 180 stood down, handing command of the multinational force in Haiti (MNF) to the commander of CJTF- 190. By January 1995, the role of the 10th Mountain Division within this MNF would be replaced by the 25th Infantry Division, and by the end of March 1995 the MNF itself would eventually be replaced by a peacekeeping force, the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). Reflecting broad international support for the deployment, some 32 nations would eventually contribute forces to either MNF or UNMIH. Also, most of the migrants in safe havens at Guantanamo Bay would eventually return to Haiti.

Yet Uphold Democracy did not unfold without tense moments. Compelled by the terms of the Carter-Jonassaint agreement to co-exist with the Haitian police force, newly arrived United States troops concerned themselves with maintaining essential civic order rather than with policing crimes committed by Haitians against Haitians. After 20 September, when police who were loyal to the Cedras regime brutally beat pro-Aristide demonstrators in the streets of Port-au-Prince, the maintenance of civic order demanded that United States troops intervene to stop violent crimes.

Tension would escalate further before it subsided. On 25 September a Marine Corps lieutenant opened fire and shot a threatening policeman, initiating a barrage of fire—from members of 2d platoon, E Company, 2d Battalion, 2d Brigade, 2d Marine Division—that left 10 Haitian security men dead in Cap Haitien. This incident emboldened Aristide supporters and intimidated the police forces. On 30 September, in Port-au-Prince, six Haitian demonstrators died and about a dozen received injuries at the hands of gunmen loyal to the junta. Months later, even after violent confrontations had indeed subsided and a stable environment had been achieved, assassins killed Mireille Durocher Bertin, a political opponent of President Aristide.

The assassination, occurring just days before the MNF transferred responsibilities to UNMIH, served to remind all outside parties that Haiti’s problems could not be solved overnight. Nevertheless, despite these tense episodes, President Clinton justly termed Operation Uphold Democracy a “remarkable success” during a ceremony on 31 March marking the transfer of responsibilities to the United Nations.