The term 'task force' originated in the Royal Navy, and is used by militaries to refer to temporary groupings of forces outside of the standard divisional structure to complete a specific task. For example, in the Second World War the US Navy's Fast Carrier Task Force was created as the primary offensive force in the war in the Pacific, and was made up of a number of carrier groups, their supporting ships, and the aircraft with which they were loaded. The term is also used by civilians to describe an ad hoc committee formed to solve a specific problem.

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) and USS Hornet (CV-8) both participated in the Doolittle Raid and the Battle of Midway. Hornet carried and launched the 16 B-25's of the Doolittle Raiders while Enterprise provided the air cover for the task force. At the Battle of Midway, the two carriers comprised Task Force 16 while Yorktown was the only carrier in Task Force 17.

Absolutely; while not visibly apparent, every Carrier Battle Group or Task Force has at least one escort Fast-Attack submarine with it. The typical role is advance recon for the group (forward scouting ahead of the projected charted course), as well as perimeter search and detection for any hostile submarines.

A task force meeting is a gathering of a task force group. A task force is a group of people who come together to work on a single task or objective.

to command the task force.