Special Operations.Com
Operations
PROVIDE RELIEF and RESTORE HOPE
Somalia
1992-1995
(continued)
UNOSOM
II
On
5 June 1993, General Mohamed Farah Aideed’s Somalia
National Alliance forces ambushed and killed 24 Pakistani
soldiers assigned to UN Operations Somalia (UNOSOM II).
The next day, General Joseph P Hoar, Commander in Chief,
U.S. Central Command, asked the Joint Staff to send
four AC-130 gunships to carry out air strikes against
the Somalis. Four AFSOC gunships deployed on 7 June
and remained until 14 July, flying a total of 32 interdiction,
reconnaissance, and PSYOP missions in support of UNOSOM
II.
Eight of those missions were combat sorties flown
over the streets of Mogadishu between 11-17 June. As
part of the initial strike against Aideed, three gunships
flew over Mogadishu on 11 June and used their 105 mm
and 4Omm cannons to demolish two weapons storage facilities,
an armored tank compound, and Aideed’s “Radio Mogadishu”
propaganda station. The next day, two AC-130s obliterated
a second radio station and a weapons factory.
On 13, 14, and 17 June, AFSOC crews flew single
AC-130 missions that concentrated on destroying weapons
storage areas and vehicle compounds belonging to Aideed
and his key supporters. During these missions, Air Force
special tactics operators provided target guidance.
The AC-130 missions and related ground operations together
drove Aideed into hiding. The AC-130s redeployed in
mid-July, and other SOF later took up the hunt for Aideed.
TASK
FORCE RANGER
Photo taken during the October 3 firefight.
On
22 August 1993, Secretary of Defense Les Aspin directed
the deployment of a Joint Special Operations Task
Force (JSOTF) to Somalia in response to attacks made
by Aldeed supporters upon U.S. and UNOSOM forces and
installations. The JSOTF named Task Force (TF) RANGER,
was directed to capture Aideed and his key lieutenants
and turn them over to UNOSOM II forces. This was a
challenging mission, for Aideed had gone underground
in June, after several AC-130 air raids and UNOSOM
II ground assaults on his strongholds.
The
command and control structure of TF RANGER still remains
of interest. Per the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization
Act, the unified commander (in this case, General
Hoar, Commander in Chief, U.S.
Central Command) was entitled to organize his
forces as he saw fit. General Hoar had the TF RANGER
commander, Major General William Garrison, report
to him directly.
Thus, TF RANGER did not fall under the UNOSOM
II commander, and at all times TF RANGER remained
under U.S. operational
command and control. Major General Garrison did, however,
coordinate TF RANGER operations with Major General
Thomas M. Montgomery, the commander of U.S. Forces
Somalia.
By
28 August, the task force had arrived in country,
was conducting training exercises, and was setting
up the necessary liaison and communications networks.
TF RANGER was made up of special operations ground
forces, special operations helicopters, Air Force
special tactics personnel, and SEALs. During August
and September 1993, the task force conducted six missions
into Mogadishu, all of which were tactical successes.
They ran these missions both by day and at night,
and used both helicopters and vehicles to reach their
targets. Although Aideed remained free, the cumulative
effect of these missions limited his movements.
On
3 October, TF RANGER launched its seventh mission,
this time into Aideed’s stronghold to capture two
of his key lieutenants. Helicopters carrying assault
and blocking forces launched at 1532 from the TF RANGER
compound at Mogadishu airport, with a ground convoy
moving out three minutes later. By 1542, the ground
forces had arrived at the target location, as the
blocking force was setting up perimeter positions
and the assault force was searching the compound for
Aideed’s supporters.
These
forces came under increasingly heavy enemy fire, more
intense than during previous raids. The assault team
had captured 24 Somalis and was about to load them
onto the convoy trucks when a MH-60 Blackhawk was
hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and crashed
about three blocks from the target location. Almost
immediately, one six-man element of the blocking force,
as well as an MH-6 assault helicopter and an MH-60
carrying a 15-man combat search and rescue (CSAR)
team, began rushing to the scene. The MH-6 crew got
there first and, amid a firefight, evacuated two wounded
soldiers to a military field hospital. Next, the six-man
blocking element arrived, followed by the CSAR helicopter.
As the last two members of the CSAR team were sliding
down the fast ropes, their helicopter was also hit
by an RPG, but somehow the pilot kept the helicopter
steady while the two reached the ground safely and
then nursed the helicopter back to the airport.
The
situation only worsened. Ground fire struck two more
MH-60s, with one crashing less than a mile to the
south of the first downed helicopter. A Somali mob
overran this second site and, despite a heroic defense,
killed everyone except the pilot, whom they took prisoner.
Two defenders of this crash site, Master Sergeant
Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart,
were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
The
other MH-60 was hit broadside by an RPG,
but the crew somehow coaxed it to the new port area
where they did a controlled crash landing.
Meanwhile,
after loading the detainees on the ground convoy trucks,
the assault and blocking forces moved on foot to the
first crash area, passing through heavy fire that
wounded a number of soldiers, and occupied buildings
south and southwest of the downed helicopter.
They established defensive positions, laid
down suppressive fire to hold the Somalis at bay,
treated their wounded, and worked to free the pilot’s
body from the wreckage.
With
the detainees loaded on trucks, the ground convoy
force attempted to reach the first crash site from
the north. Unable to find it amongst the narrow, winding
alleyways, the convoy came under withering small arms
and RPG fire. The convoy had to return to base after
suffering numerous casualties, losing two 5-ton trucks,
and sustaining substantial damage to the other vehicles.
On the way back to base, this convoy encountered a
second convoy that had left the airport in hopes of
reaching the second crash site.
The
second group loaded casualties into its vehicles and
escorted the first convoy back to base. About this
time, the mission quick reaction force (a company
of the 10th Mountain Division in support
of UNOSOM II) also tried to reach the second crash
site. This force too was pinned by Somali fire and
required the fire support of two AH-6 helicopters
before it could break contact and
make
its way back to the base.
The
TF RANGER soldiers at the first crash site were resupplied
from a helicopter that evening. Reinforcements, consisting
of Rangers, 10th Mountain Division soldiers,
SEALs, and Malaysian armored personnel carriers, finally
arrived at 0155 on 4 October.
The combined force worked until dawn to free
the pilot’s body, receiving RPG and small arms fire
throughout the night.
All
the casualties were loaded onto the armored personnel
carriers, and the remainder of the force moved out
on foot. With the armored personnel carriers providing
rolling cover, the run-and-gun movement, known as
the “Mogadishu mile,” began at 0542. Somalis continued
firing at the convoy, but the Rangers only sustained
minor wounds. AH-6 gunships raked the cross streets
with fire to support the movement. The main force
of the convoy arrived at the Pakistani Stadium at
0630. Medical
personnel gave emergency treatment to the wounded,
and all personnel were prepared for movement to the
hospital or the airfield.
Thus
ended one of the bloodiest and fiercest urban firefights
since the Vietnam War. A
total of 16 members of TF RANGER were
killed
on 3-4 October and 83 wounded (the
10th
Mountain Division suffered numerous
wounded
and one killed). Various estimates placed Somali casualties
above 1,000. All told during their time in Somalia,
TF RANGER experienced a total of 17 killed in action
and 106 wounded. Task force members had to operate
in an extremely difficult environment which required
constant innovation, flexibility, and sound judgment.
The task force had more than held its own against
a vastly superior enemy that was battle-hardened from
years of civil
war and urban fighting.
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