"Black Hawk Down". Battle of Mogadishu

[TRK]

"What began as a peacekeeping mission to provide relief to the starving people of Somalia essentially ended with a firefight during the Battle of Mogadishu."

Timeline

1969
Mohammed Siad Barre, through a military coup, became leader of Somalia.

January 1991
Overthrow of Dictator Mohammed Siad Barre by coalition of opposition forces, United Somalia Congress.

1991
Conflict between Somalia National Movement, Aidid's party, and other factions led to clan infighting.

March 3, 1992
Faction leaders signed ceasefire to allow United Nations monitoring mission into Somalia for humanitarian assistance.

April 14, 1992
U.N. military observers sent to Somalia after U.N. Security Council approval of U.N. operation in accordance with ceasefire.

July 1992
50 unarmed U.N. military observers deployed to Mogadishu to oversee ceasefire.

August 15, 1992
U.N. humanitarian relief effort in Somalia (UNOSOM I), named Operation Provide Relief, began.

December 4, 1992
Due to U.N. inability to deliver food and secure delivery routes into Somalia, President George Bush responded to U.N. request for assistance by proposing U.S. combat troops lead security force.

December 5, 1992
U.N. accepted U.S. offer, President Bush ordered 25,000 U.S. troops to Somalia.

December 9, 1992
First U.S. Marines landed on beach.
December 1992
U.S. named mission “Operation Restore Hope.”

January 1993
President Bill Clinton inaugurated.

March 15-28, 1993
Addis Ababa Accords – led to agreement to end violence in Somalia.

March, 1993
UNOSOM II began.

March 28, 1993
Various nations deployed troops to Somalia to support UNOSOM II.

May 9, 1993
U.S. officially turned over operation to U.N.

June 1993
Only 1200 U.S. troops remained in Somalia.

June 5, 1993
24 Pakistani soldiers ambushed and killed during inspection of Somalia arms weapons storage site.

June 12 – 16, 1993
U.S. and U.N. troops attacked targets in Mogadishu related to Aidid.
June 19, 1993
Admiral Howe ordered Aidid’s arrest and offered $2500 reward for information. Admiral Howe also requested counterterrorist hostage rescue force from Washington.

July 29, 1993
Last sighting of Aidid.

August 8, 1993
4 U.S. Military Police killed by remote-detonized land mine set off by Somalis.

August 29, 1993
U.S. Army Task Force Ranger flew into Mogadishu, led by Maj. Gen. William Garrison.

September 1993
Clinton administration began clandestine initiative to negotiate with Aidid.

September 1993
U.S. Defense Secretary Les Aspin denied request for armored reinforcements from Gen. Montgomery.

October 3 – 4, 1993
Task Force Ranger’s assault on Olympic Hotel to search for Aidid resulted in 17 hour battle in which 18 U.S. soldiers killed, 84 wounded. Later named the Battle of Mogadishu.

October 7, 1993
President Clinton’s response was to withdraw U.S. troops. Declared U.S. troops to be withdrawn by March 31, 1994.

October 14, 1993
Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, who was captured after his helicopter was shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu, released.

March 25, 1994
20,000 U.N. forces remained in Somalia, U.S. troops withdrawn.

Spring 1995
Final U.N. withdrawal from Somalia.

August 1, 1996
Aidid died from bullet wound.

January 12, 2001
U.N. Security Council called for new peacekeeping mission in Somalia, lacking military troops.

Read the following link for complete details:-

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/Events/Somalia93/Somalia93.html


I want your views on "The Battle of Mogadishu" guys.

Why did the U.S failed? Was it so difficult for the U.S./U.N. to catch Mohammed Farah Aidid ?

Please comment.

[ronny_and_ira]

They failed because intel was wrong or time lagged, and i also believe they were not expecting civilians to turn combatants. The U.S should have known what to expect, and have been prepared for the worst if thing went wrong.

[ajay_ijn]

Actually Soldiers could not differentiate between who is the Civilian and Who is the enemy Soldier.

First: reason would be they were Significantly outnumbered.Every enemy had AK-47's which could match the firepower of an M-16.

Second: would that they were given an order "Do not fire untill being fired upon".
That order would be very frustrating becoz the Soldiers have to wait till anybody fires and then he must Sucessfully defend and then fire on the enemy which sounds very risky.
September 1993

U.S. Defense Secretary Les Aspin denied request for armored reinforcements from Gen. Montgomery.
Third: Pentagon denied Supporting fire power ,No Tanks,No Apaches,No Cobras,No AC-130.
I am surprised why did US deny Fire Support assets.
The pressure on 17 Little Birds and Black Hawks was Huge,They had to carry the soldiers,Monitor the battle,Supply reinforcements,Carry Injured, prisoners and provide Fire Support to soldiers where ever needed.
Even Humvees would not be enough.
This was the most Decisive reason becoz US Soldiers more depend on Heavy Air-Support which they did not get.

Thank God Mogadishu guyz did not have expert snipers or the US Caualities would have been easily doubled.
Sinpers in Urban Combat can create one HELL.

Fourth: Mogadishu streets were very narrow and Black Hawks Could not Land.
They had to extract the soldiers from air itself using ropes Which means Black Hawks had to be in stationary for sometime in low level Which again means Perfect Target for RPG's.
One Rule Helicopter Assault Missions is ,The Landing Zones had to be covered by soldiers which in this case was not.

There was no one to cover the Black Hawks when they were extacting soldiers.Naturally Mogadishu guyz will have the acttractive target.

Fifth:When the Black Hawk gets the hit and Crashes.A squad of soldiers and two snipers were to rescue the pilots Who were under heavy fire from Enemy.

On doubt Why didn't any other helicopter Provided the cover fire to the Crashed Helicopter.
Instead they send is two Sinpers who have to face hundreds of Mogadishu's.


At last I think Fighting in an Urban Area with limited amout of Fire Support and Soldiers though the Mission was Small is very difficult.
I watched this movie many times in HBO.
I like these kind of movies also the movie "We Were Soldiers" (Helicopter Assault in Vietnam).
These movies show how difficult are Helicopter Assualt Missions.
And Commanders must take great care and Caution while executing them.

[highsea]

There were a lot of factors that created the catastrophe in Somalia, however, the original mission to snatch the members of Aidid's clan was still carried out that day. If it was a victory for the Somalis, it was a pyrrhic one, with over 500 Somalis killed and a thousand wounded, to the US's 18 killed and 73 wounded.

They soldiers sent in were unprepared for a long battle. It was meant to be a quick in-and-out operation. They had no night vision equipment, water, or food. It was a daytime operation, which meant they gave up the advantage of night training and technical superiority in night time operations. The Somalis in Aidid's clan were tipped off in advance by one of their own who worked for the UN. This allowed them to have roadblocks and defences prepared, which hampered the rescue attempts and the convoys movements.

They did not believe that the Somalis could shoot down a helo with RPG's. This proved wrong, and there were not enough rescue teams on standby to handle two downed helos at the same time.

There were communication problems between the convoy drivers and their commanders. Information had to be relayed from the helos overhead, to the base, and then back to the convoys. This caused delays and missed turns, etc.

There is a very good recount of the battle here:

http://inquirer.philly.com/packages/somalia/nov16/default16.asp

[mysterious]

I'd say the movie Black Hawk Down is very much close to what really happened and if one sees that, much of it becomes quite clear as to what happened that fateful day. The US forces were overconfident as well (in addition to other factors mentioned above). Thats why they say, never underestimate your enemy no matter how weak or poorly armed he is.

[ajay_ijn]

I'd say the movie Black Hawk Down is very much close to what really happened and if one sees that, much of it becomes quite clear as to what happened that fateful day. The US forces were overconfident as well (in addition to other factors mentioned above). Thats why they say, never underestimate your enemy no matter how weak or poorly armed he is.

History says Heli Assault Missions are very difficult than Land Based Assault.
ofCourse Heli Assault Missions have other major advantages.

I saw the interview of Black Hawk Pilot in history Channel,He said that "We knew the Mission was Risky but had enough Confidence in our ability"

[Awang se]

most of the somalis fighters involved in the battle is just an ordinary civilian who have little idea of what's going on. all they know is there's and attack and they scrambled out to defend their home.

[ajay_ijn]

most of the somalis fighters involved in the battle is just an ordinary civilian who have little idea of what's going on. all they know is there's and attack and they scrambled out to defend their home.

From the movie,It looks like only some Mogadishu fighters were experienced in fighting war,others as u said were civilians who just could not fight well.
That could be reason for Heavy Casualities.
Most of the times,RPG's were inaccurately fired against US soldiers.

Reports say,Highly experienced Guerilla forces can fire RPG accurately from a range of 500 Meters.

Just Imagine What could have experienced Snipers hiding inside the buildings could have done to US Soldiers on the land.
It would be a perfect position for a Sniper.They can create one Hell.

Fortunately Somalis fighters did not have any snipers.
I did not see any Sniper in the movie.

Infact I do not see snipers with most of the guerilla forces in the world fighting with US.
What could be the reason??
One reason would Snipers mostly need Stationary position for firing but Guerilla forces hardly stay at stationary position.
But Sniper is a Cheap and reliable weapon,if gets into right hands,Can be too Lethal for the enemy.

[gf0012-aust]

From the movie,It looks like only some Mogadishu fighters were experienced in fighting war,others as u said were civilians who just could not fight well.
That could be reason for Heavy Casualities.
Most of the times,RPG's were inaccurately fired against US soldiers.

Reports say,Highly experienced Guerilla forces can fire RPG accurately from a range of 500 Meters.

Just Imagine What could have experienced Snipers hiding inside the buildings could have done to US Soldiers on the land.
It would be a perfect position for a Sniper.They can create one Hell.

Fortunately Somalis fighters did not have any snipers.
I did not see any Sniper in the movie.

Infact I do not see snipers with most of the guerilla forces in the world fighting with US.
What could be the reason??
One reason would Snipers mostly need Stationary position for firing but Guerilla forces hardly stay at stationary position.
But Sniper is a Cheap and reliable weapon,if gets into right hands,Can be too Lethal for the enemy.

There are a number of reasons why a snipers life can be limited, one is counter doctrine through aggressive patrolling, the other are sniper detection systems which are used by the US, UK, France and Australia.

Basically they've been used successfully since 1999 in Bosnia. The Australian system has been sold to the US Secret Service and is in use by a number of foreign countries.

In evaluations, the Australian system has been tested against 6 concurrent shooters in a full test with fully qualified snipers.

[Pathfinder-X]

One more thing people seemed to have forgotten is that the Pentagon rejected the task force commander's request for some C-130 gunships. It could have avoided many unneccessary casualties down on the ground. The Rangers also failed to take advantage of their superior night battle capability, and went in while Aideed's men are all trigger happy during the day. Fortunately the gunmen were lousy shooters, or else there would have been more than 18 U.S deaths.

Oh and many of the Rangers only inserted the front plate into their vest to cut down the weight they carried. Some were shot in the back and the bullet bounced off the front plate causing more damage to the wounded soliders.

But despite the large of amount of dead and wounded, the task force completed the mission they were assigned to do which is to arrest Aideed's lieutanents. Although the extraction is a bit of a disaster.

[VICTORA1]

Hello guys,

One of the reasons for the failure was that the U S had no armoured vehicles in the theatre. Let me rephrase it---the powers to be, had denied the U S forces armoured vehicles in somalia. The U S forces could have taken the pakistani forces into confidence and asked for armour support but that was not done. Politics.

You guys must understand---this was typical corporate america at work. A job needs to be done---a question is put to the commanding officer---'can you do this job'. He knows that there are not enough resources. Damned if he says yes---damned if he says no. He is doomed if he said yes and the mission was a flop----he is doomed if he said no----because someone else would get the job and he would be out----there are twenty in waiting for the same job. Case in point being Iraq----nobody had the balls to stand up and say that there were not enough troops, similiarly nobody stood up to the congress and said we need tanks and other armour in somalia.

Well, guess what, there are not enough armoured vehicles in iraq either, fifteen years later.

It is also understood that the pakistani contingent was a little pissed off at not being given advanced knowledge of the assault, so it took them a little longer to commit their armour.

[Pendekar]

i would really like to know, if anyone know, what really happen to Malaysian unit commited to rescue operations? i read the book about it written by Malaysian writer but, it seem's to be exagerated in a way to serve some political motives. i also read an article writen by some foreign journalist but sometimes i found it quite bias. you know like, when u can't accepted that an army of major world powers have to be rescued by an army of some petty state.

[Salman78]

I'd say the movie Black Hawk Down is very much close to what really happened and if one sees that, much of it becomes quite clear as to what happened that fateful day. The US forces were overconfident as well (in addition to other factors mentioned above). Thats why they say, never underestimate your enemy no matter how weak or poorly armed he is.

The movie was pretty close to the facts but showed their arrogance while requesting help and thanking the Pakistani's who saved the day...

[knightrider4]

Having read the book more than once it appears that poor planning was the culprit a fast rope descent into the Bakara market in broad daylight by the gucci brigade. The rangers and delta boys bought a cap gun to a bad ass gunfight and got hosed with 23mm and an enemy who didnt read the book. if it wasnt for the Pak armour it would have required two books instead of one.

[Stryker001]

This is not a problem strictly limited to the US SF, Delta are highly capable.
The Spetnaz in Checnia had drama in the way they had been applied in such urban combat.
Political concerns should have no relevance in relation to what capability is required to get the job done and protect the personnel on the ground.
If people are going to be worried about world opinion, then its simple stay home and drink tea.
I hope OZ don't fall into the mistake of using our SAS for purposes that would be better suited to regular forces, because of concerns of public opinion re: casualties.
The movie is nothing compared to the book, should be studied by all who have an interest in combat it is a good case study on what not to do and things that could be done better. Its a shame that those men had to die to produce such a case study. If the powers that be allow similar things to occur in op's, then those men died for nothing.

[Dark Wind]

The movie was pretty close to the facts but showed their arrogance while requesting help and thanking the Pakistani's who saved the day...

Actually the movie wasn't really accurate. It shown the "main" line but exagerated a bit. Not only US and Pakistan forces were involved.

I've read a military report (French army) about "what have been used and the lesson learned". So about armoured support: without proper cover armoured are useless. An RPG can disable an Abrams, think about sending LAVs without protection...
The only way US forces could have limited more their losses is that they should have asked support from the other forces in the area instead of "going in raising a fire and then asking for help". They underestimated the situation, they didn't think the population would be that hostile. This is main reason why shots were not accurate, a great part of the people fighting were only civilians and had absolutely no military experience nor regarding tactics or weapons.

Also a thing not mentionned in the movie the US "insertion" started a fire and it took several men and time to try calming the situation.
I'd have liked US forces stopped trying to play the lonely cowboys and know when to ask for help BEFORE it turns into a blood bath.

About "who came" there was several "minor" forces involved like Morocco for example (bloody losses too).

By the way: I'm abosuletly not anti-US, I just don't like to see people dying because of mistakes from the "higher" who don't pay for them when it happens.

[Candu Hill]

From what i herd...MAlAYSIAN who really go to to the city and rescued The American and not the Pakistanis....after the realeased of "Black Hawk Down" there is an uproar by Malaysia MOD and Malaysian overall...

if anybody know any american veteren who was in that mission...can he confirm izit the Malaysian APC's who rescued them or The Pakistanis?

[vintec]

hello i'm Vincent from Malaysia currently studying in Australia. i watched the movie 'N' times and read the online book written by Mark Bowden himself. I'd like to say that the movie covered the real event in details but it is not 100% accurate. So don't believe everything u saw from the movie.

Was the mission a failure? no, their primary objective of capturing Gen. Aidid's top lieutenants was a success, even though it took them a bit longer then expected. Many people asked why didn't they launch the operation during the night time, it's because their targets are having a meeting during the day time. Some says the mission went wrong the moment it started, Blackburn fell from the chopper. Bear in mind, it is very seldom that an assault will follow 100% according to plan. The US army DID prepare for worst case scenario, they had a QRF (quick reaction force) deployed and secured Wolcott's (first) crash site. No one on earth would thought that two black hawk would be shot down on the same afternoon, no QRF for Durant's crash site.

Somali snipers? forget it, they can't shoot. Not that i'm a better shooter than them; most of the fighters on that day are mobs, not well trained militias. Somalis outside of the city welcomed the UN/ Americans but those in the city hated them because the American choppers always fly low above the city launching assaults Gen. Aidid's stronghold, that pissed them off. To them, it's an insult to have foreigners to fly their chopper over their homes all the time.

yes, Malaysian sent in their APC and the Malaysians insist on having their own drivers to drive the APC, which I really don't understand why. The American troops has night vision capabilities and that would have speed up the process. On top of my head, 2 Malaysians were killed that night.

In my opinion (my very 2 cents), the cause of this catastrophe was the lack of fire power from aerial support and/or APC. In other words, it was Defense Secretary Les Aspin's fault to deny the request. With C-130 gunships, black hawks and the little birds wouldn't be needed to provide fire support, which in turns wouldn't have the both black hawks shot down.