Battle of Mogadishu: 23 Years Ago Today

Categories: News

Source: DoD

The operation which inspired the film “Black Hawk Down” took place on October 3rd, 1993.  The Operation, code-named Gothic Serpent, involved U.S. Army Rangers, Special Operation Detachment-Delta and choppers from the elite 160th Special Operations Air Regiment inserted into Mogadishu, Somalia, to find and capture top aides to warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid.

The operation would go down in military history because of both the heroism of the soldiers on the ground and the high number of casualties.  After Task Force Ranger lost two Black Hawk helicopters and 18 U.S. soldiers (plus an additional Malaysian troop in the rescue convoy), the Clinton Administration decided to withdraw forces from Mogadishu and greater Somalia as well.

The event was written about in the book Black Hawk Down, which later became a feature film starring Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor and others.  It is one of the most-quoted movies in the military, influencing popular culture even today with lines like “This is my safety, sir.”

Units Involved

Task Force Ranger was the name given to the 160 troops assigned to help find Mohammed Farrah Aidid in Mogadishu after the deaths of 300,000 Somali citizens due to his hoarding of United Nations food aid.

On 22 August, the force was deployed to Somalia under the command of Major General William F. Garrison, JSOC’s commander at the time.

The force consisted of:

• B Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
• C Squadron, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D)
• A deployment package of 16 helicopters and personnel from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR), which included MH-60 Black Hawksand AH/MH-6 Little Birds.
• Navy SEALs from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU)
• Air Force Pararescuemen and Combat Controllers from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron.

Operation Gothic Serpent: Irene, Irene, Irene

Members of Delta and 3-75 were attempting to capture Aidid’s foreign minister Omar Salad Elmi and one of his top advisors.  The plan was to assault the target building using MH-6 Little Bird helicopters and secure the targets inside the building.

Meanwhile, the Rangers were to create a defensive perimeter around the building while a convoy of HMMWV’s and Five-Ton trucks would arrive to take the assault team and the prisoners back to base.

At first, the operation went as planned, with the exception of one member of 3-75 falling while fastroping.

Over the course of the battle, however, two Blackhawk helicopters would be shot down.  The Rangers and Delta operators would be forced to stay overnight and secure the downed helicopters.  Gunfights lasted all evening and night.

Eventually, relief convoy with the 10^th Mountain Division and Malaysian and Pakistani U.N. forces arrived at the first crash site, and most of the task force was extracted.

During the extraction, however, some of the Rangers and Delta operators realized there was no more room in the vehicles and had to leave the city on foot.  This became known as the “Mogadishu Mile.”

Shugart and Gordon

Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon, both Delta snipers, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in Mogadishu.  After both Blackhawk helicopters were shot down, both snipers repeatedly requested to be inserted into the battlefield to assist the downed pilot and crew of the second helicopter, Super-Six Four.  They successfully extracted Michael Durant, a crew chief on the helicopter, who was later taken captive after Shugart and Gordon were killed by overwhelming numbers of enemy fighters. Here is part of Shugart’s Medal of Honor citation:

…Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site…Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded.

Tim Kennedy Reflects

Special Forces sniper, UFC fighter and Ranger-qualified soldier Tim Kennedy reflected today on what Shugart and Gordon meant to him as a sniper:

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Today I remember the brave men of Operation Gothic Serpent in Somalia on October 3, 1993. Two men in particular inspired me to enlist and specifically motivated me to become a sniper. Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon were graduates of the same sniper school I attended. They were the best of us, and exceptionally talented. That talent was earned through blood, sweat, and hard work. Because of this, they did what I live my life for…. they saved life. I wake up every day with a mission. Some days I’m preparing for a fight—either in the cage or a potential threat, lurking out there. But more often it’s making the most out of the world around me because men like this gave everything so I could. I strive every day to tackle these things with the passion I have for this country—the love I have for the place I have fought and bled for carries over into how I run my own life. A life full of personal responsibility. When I see the great achievements in the history of our country, that’s what stands out the most—people charging forward, in spite of adversity, to make a difference. Whether it’s Henry Ford, a Ranger scaling the cliffs during the D-Day invasion, or Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon saying no. Not today. We won't let one more American die. America was made great by individuals who took responsibility for their own lives—and fought tooth and nail to make them better. This is what inspires me—what drives me every day to make the choices that I do—in the gym or on the range. Americans who understand that their actions have consequences and who make the most of what they have. That’s what I’ve fought for my entire life.

A post shared by Tim Kennedy (@timkennedymma) on Oct 3, 2016 at 12:36pm PDT