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Conflict
Rangers under fire in a Somali street near Irene's target building on October 3, 1993.
Chalk Four Ranger returns to base after a mission in Somalia, 1993.
Bravo Company, 3rd Batallion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Somalia, 1993.
On October 3, 1993 Operation Code
Irene of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) turned out to be the
most intensive close combat that US troops had engaged in since the
Vietnam War. The operation occurred in Somalia, Africa as part of Operation Gothic Serpent; with the primary
mission of capturing two lieutenants of the Somalian warlord General Mohamed Farrah Aidid.
The events were later dubbed the Battle of Mogadishu by the international media, although it is referred as the
Battle of the Black Sea by others.
The operation began with difficulties, as a U.S. Army Ranger
fell while rappelling from a helicopter hovering at 70 feet above the streets of the
Somali capital city of Mogadishu. Minutes later, with the prelude to the now
famous military phrase “Black Hawk Down”, two
MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by local militia. The
firefight resulted in the death of 18 American soldiers and more than 350 local Somali militia and citizens.
In 1999, writer Mark Bowden
published the book ‘Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War’ which chronicles the events that
surrounded the battle. The book was turned into a film by director Ridley Scott in 2000.
General information of the operation
U.S. Special Operations Forces
compromised mainly of Rangers and Delta Force (1st SFOD-D) operators, attempted to capture Aidid's foreign minister Omar Salad and top political advisor Mohamed Hassan Awale. The operation code to start the mission was
‘Irene’ — once the Joint
Task Force Command Center (JTFCC) of the operation passed the code to the officers, these shouted
“Irene!” to the soldiers waiting for orders inside the crafts and other vehicles.
The context of the battle was the armed intervention of the United
Nations (UN) to provide food aid, and to break the military siege and starvation of Aidid's opponents.
The operation lasted almost 15 hours, when the mission to capture the militia leaders was thrown off course. One of the
supporting Black Hawk helicopters was shot down during a long delay after the operation's mission was effectively completed.
A Humvee extraction convoy was supposed to reach the now captive targets, a few
minutes after the operation's beginning; while four Ranger chalks provided a secure
square perimeter on the four corners of the operation's target building. Somalian citizens and local militia formed barricades
along the streets of Mogadishu with rocks and burning tires, blocking the convoy from reaching the Rangers and the captive
targets.
Both sides of the U.S. forces, the assault team and the convoy, waited for twenty minutes just out of sight of the other,
ready to move, but each under the impression that they were to be first contacted by the other. At that time, a second Black Hawk
was also downed and two Delta Force snipers, Sgt. First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, landed to
protect the wounded pilot from the approaching mob. Both soldiers were later killed by the mob. Shughart and Gordon received the
posthumous Medal of Honor for their heroic action on the battle, as
they both unhesitatingly volunteered to be dropped on the ground, against the JTFCC advice to remain on their helicopters,
knowing the magnitude of the mob and the risk of the insertion.
Eventually reaching the first crash sites, about 90 Rangers found themselves under siege from heavy militia fire. Despite
limited air support, the Rangers were effectively trapped for the night, until reinforcements from the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division aided by
Malaysian and Pakistani UN forces
arrived in the early morning. No contingency planning or coordination with other UN forces had been done in anticipation of any
operational difficulties, which complicated the rapid recovery of U.S. military personnel, as unconventional contigency troops
had only a few hours to organize.
The battle was one of the most intense urban battles faced by the U.S. forces during
the Somalian UN mission and is often cited as the reason behind America's withdrawal from UN peacekeeping duties.
According to the soldiers interviewed and quoted in the book, as the battle progressed, Aidid's forces used civilians pushed
out in front of their fighters as a screen. However, these civilian screens reduced after the Americans soldiers showed
repeatedly that they were willing to fire and kill the screening civilians in order to reach their opponents.
The day after, on October 4 at 6:30 AM, American forces were finally evacuated
to the UN Pakistani Stadium. Eighteen US soldiers died and 73 were injured. Casualties on the Somali side where heavy with
estimates around from 300 to over 1000 people. The casulties were a mixture of militia and local civilians.
Military procedure for the operation
- 160th SOAR will provide air support for the operation:
- Infiltration:
- Task Force Ranger (TFR) will fast-rope rapel from Black Hawk helicopters, providing perimeter security on 4 corners of the
main target building.
- 1st SFOD-D will insert on main target building from Little Birds.
- Capture of live targets.
- Exfiltration:
- TFR Humvee convoy will extract all personnel.
- 160th SOAR will provide escort security from air.
Operation timeline
Main article: Timeline of
the Battle of Mogadishu.
The book and the movie
A film by Ridley Scott, based on the book ‘Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War’ by Mark Bowden,
describes the events surrounding the operation and some of the acts of bravery seen on that day. There are obvious differences
between the book and the subsequent movie, which left out central sections and themes of the book, such as the involvement of
civilians in the battle, and de-emphasized the key decision to stay in the area after the initial operation was completed, among
others.
Links with al-Qaida
There have been allegations that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida movement was involved in training Aidid's men. According to CNN, al-Qaida claimed to supply a large number of rocket propelled grenades to Aidid's fighters. Bin Laden himself denied giving military aid and
training to Aidid's men but openly praised the attack and killing of the 18 Soldiers.
External links
Former combatants' websites
References
- Bowden, Mark (March 1999). Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War . Atlantic Monthly Press. Berkeley,
California (USA).
- Day, Clifford (March 1997). Critical analysis on the defeat of Task Force
Ranger
(research paper). Air Command and Staff College Research Department. US Department of Defense. United States of
America.
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