Special Operations.Com

Operation Noble Obelisk

In April 1997, an Operational Detachment Alpha or "A" Team (13 Special Forces soldiers) from the 3rd Special Forces Group (A) deployed to Freetown, Sierra Leone, for Joint Combined Exchange Training.  Their mission was to train and promote a professional, apolitical military, one supportive of the elected government.  On 25 May 1997, rebel forces and military members toppled the government, and once shooting erupted at their training site, Special Forces manned security positions inside their compound, communicated with SOCEUR and EUCOM, and established intermittent contact with the military.

The next day, the detachment moved to Freetown, 20 miles away.  The Special Forces had to pass through two rebel roadblocks and near an army post, but the rapport with their former trainees enabled the Americans to proceed to the safety of the Embassy.

In Freetown, the detachment commander divided his team to secure the two Embassy compounds, and team members performed advance force operations, including reconnoitering the helicopter landing zone on the coast.  They also defused a tense situation during a meeting of senior ambassadors and rebel forces at the British High Commission residence.  All of these activities required movement through a town riven by looting an indiscriminate fire.

On 29 May, team members conducted an early morning patrol through rebel-held areas to secure the landing zone for the Marines from the 22nd MEU.  They established sniper positions, security, and coordinated with the Nigerians before the Marine helicopters arrived.  The next day, the NEO began, and after escorting official U.S. personnel to the landing zone, Special Forces soldiers served as a buffer by establishing two blocking positions between the Marines and the marauding rebels.  They succeeded in turning back rebel forces to reach the landing zone.  The NEO evacuations ran from 30 May through 03 June, and a total of 2509 people (including 454 U.S.) were evacuated.

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