The Battle of Mogadishu

By: Sean Godfrey

Background At the time Somalia was crumbling due to civil

war, mainly between the drug lords, and widespread famine

Operation Restore Hope was put into place by George H.W. Bush to help reestablish order in Somali (Dec. 1992- May 1993)

Operation Continue Hope was put into place May 4th 1993 by Bill Clinton

Somali people were already angry at U.S. forces for a failed attempt at killing Mohamed Farrah Aidid which resulted in 60 dead Somalis

What? When? Where

Part of Operation Gothic Serpent

Mission changed aster 2 Black Hawk helicopters got shot down

October 3rd & 4th, 1993

Mogadishu, Somalia

Forces Involved

Somali civilians and militia Pakistan forces Malaysia forces United States:

Delta Force Army Rangers Navy Seals 160th Special Operations Aviation

Regiment

Operation Gothic Serpent Plan to capture the Somali warlord

Mohamed Farrah Aidid and other high profile targets

Plan was to assault a building by planting Delta force operators on the roof to secure the building while four platoons of Army Rangers surrounded the building

Commanded by Gen. William F. Garrison

Vehicles Used

A/MH-6 Little Bird helicopters MH-60L Black Hawk helicopters Condor armored personnel carriers Humvees M48 Tanks

Mission Change

The mission was beginning to become delayed when humvees to extract captives from the building arrived late

The mission ultimately changed to a rescue mission once two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down (Super 61 and Super 64)

Michael Durant, pilot of Super 6-4 was taken captive and released after 11 days

Mission End

Super 64 was over run by Somali forces

Trapped pilots in Super 61 were saved after an rescue teams arrived late that night and into the early morning hours

Constant raids by Little Bird helicopters protected them through the night

Casualties

American 18 killed 73 wounded

Somali Estimates range from 100-300 killed Estimates range from 1,000-3,000

wounded

Impact

United Stated would completely withdraw from Somalia by March 31st, 1994

Many citizens were frightened and scared by the images they had seen of soldiers bodies being dragged through the streets

Causes

This mission failed because of the two helicopters being shot down by RPG’s

Another possible reason was that during the time of the mission, Somali men would chew Khat, which was believed to make them more willing to fight

Pre-21st Century Relations Hostage Crisis in Iran (1979-1981)

Hostage Crisis in Iran

November 4th, 1979 – January 20th, 1981

Mob of students (called Imam’s disciples) took over U.S. embassy in Iran

Held 66 original hostages for then released 14

Held the remaining 52 hostage for 444 days

Operation Eagle Claw (Jimmy Carter) was a failed attempt at rescuing the hostages

Was the battle a success?

Yes an No It did capture the people in the

original building It took longer than expected and

turned into a dangerous rescue mission that cause several casualties and deaths

Overall successful but with exceptions

What was this battle preventable? Yes and No Somali resistance was expected but

not in such large number Could have always planned ahead

for possible blockades

What caused the mission to fail? Todd Blackburn falling 70 feet from a

helicopter an being severely injured The delay of the humvees due to

Somali blockades The helicopters being shot down

(this is the most probable cause but the others could have also led to this)

Was it tactically smart to attempt to rescue the downed pilots?

No it wasn’t, U.S. forces were severely outnumbered and were basically fighting an entire city to saved a couple

pilots It was necessary to attempt because you never leave a fellow soldier behind

Primary Source

My primary source was an article covering the U.S. involvement in Somalia and Operation Restore Hope

I believe that this gives insight to my topic because it includes quotes from that period of time about my topic

BibliographyInformation  http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:MHWRfb-92nAJ:www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awc

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Pictures http://www.knowledgerush.com/wiki_image/c/c4/

Black_Hawk_Down_Super64_over_Mogadishu_coast.jpg http://www.celebritysentry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/1304606713-37.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2784/4464020860_3bd03d5c0e.jpg http://www.the-reel-mccoy.com/movies/2002/images/BlackHawkDown3.jpg http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2007/03/21/mog372.jpg http://cdn-english.alshahid.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/dead-somalis.jpeg http://moblog.net/media/c/r/i/crickson/military-graveyard.jpg http://www.nato.int/kfor/media/photos/2002/big/b020311b.jpg