Battle of Mogadishu (1993) - Engagement

Engagement

See Timeline of the Battle of Mogadishu for a detailed chronology from a U.S. Army perspective

On October 3, 1993, Task Force Ranger, U.S. Special Operations Forces composed mainly of Bravo Company 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (better known as "Delta Force") operators, and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) ("The Night Stalkers"), attempted to capture Aidid's foreign minister Omar Salad Elmi and his top political advisor, Mohamed Hassan Awale.

The plan was that Delta Force operators would assault the target building (using MH-6 Little Bird helicopters) and secure the targets inside the building while four Ranger chalks (under the command of CPT. Michael D. Steele) would fast rope down from hovering MH-60L Black Hawk helicopters. The Rangers would then create a four-corner defensive perimeter around the target building while a column of nine HMMWVs and three M939 five-ton trucks (under the command of LTC. Danny McKnight) would arrive at the target building to take the entire assault team and their prisoners back to base. The entire operation was estimated to take no longer than 30 minutes.

The ground-extraction convoy was supposed to reach the captive targets a few minutes after the beginning of the operation. However, it ran into delays. Somali citizens and local militia formed barricades along the streets of Mogadishu with rocks, wreckage, rubbish and burning tires, blocking the convoy from reaching the Rangers and their captives. Aidid militiamen with megaphones were shouting, "Kasoobaxa guryaha oo iska celsa cadowga!" ("Come out and defend your homes!").

At 3:42, the MH-6 assault Little Birds, carrying the Delta operators hit the target, the wave of dust becoming so bad that one of the birds was forced to go around and land out of position. Next, the two Black Hawks carrying the second Delta assault team came into position and dropped their teams as the four Ranger chalks prepared to rope onto the four corners surrounding the target building. In a mistake, Chalk four was accidentally put in a block north of their intended point, declining the pilots offer to move them back down due to the time it would take to do so, leaving the helicopter too exposed. He intended to move down to the planned position, but intense ground fire prevented them from doing so.

During the first moments of the operation, Ranger PFC Todd Blackburn, from Chalk four, fell while fast-roping from his Black Hawk while it was hovering 70 feet (21 m) above the streets. The Film Black Hawk Down shows that he slipped when the helicopter was forced to take evasive maneuvers to avoid an incoming RPG fired from a nearby rooftop, although, according to Bowden, video does not show the helicopter moving. Blackburn suffered an injury to his head and back of his neck and required evacuation by SGT. Jeff Struecker's column of three Humvees. While taking PFC Todd Blackburn back to base, Sgt. Dominick Pilla, assigned to SGT. Struecker's Humvee, was killed instantly when a bullet entered his head. Sgt. Struecker's Humvee column reached the base and safety, all three vehicles were riddled with bullet holes and smoking.

At about 4:20, one of the Black Hawk helicopters, callsign Super 6-1 piloted by CW3 Cliff "Elvis" Wolcott and CW3 Donovan Briley, was shot down by a rocket propelled grenade. Both pilots were killed in the resulting crash, the two of the crew chiefs were severely wounded. SSG. Daniel Busch (a Delta Force sniper) survived the crash and began defending the site.

An MH-6, callsign Star 4-1 piloted by CW3 Karl Maier and CW5 Keith Jones landed nearby and Jones left the helicopter and carried Busch to the safety of the Helo while Maier provided cover fire from the cockpit of the Little Bird, repeatedly and heroically denying order to lift off while his co-pilot was not in the bird. He nearly hit Lt. DiTomosso of Chalk one arriving with Rangers and Delta shooters to secure the site. Jones and Maier evacuated SSG Busch, though he later died of his injuries, being shot four times while defending the crash site.

A Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) team, led by TSgt Scott Fales of the Air Force PJs, were able to fast rope down to the crash site of Super 6-1 despite an RPG hit that crippled their helicopter, Super 6-8 piloted by CW3 Dan Jollota. This helicopter did make it back to base, despite the damage. Fales and his team found both the pilots dead and two wounded inside the crashed helicopter. Under intense fire, the team moved the wounded men to a nearby collection point, where they built a makeshift shelter using Kevlar armor plates salvaged from the wreckage of Super 6-1.

There was confusion between the ground convoy and the assault team. The assault team and the ground convoy waited for twenty minutes to receive their orders to move out. Both units were under the mistaken impression that they were to be first contacted by the other. During the wait, a second Black Hawk helicopter, callsign Super 6-4 and piloted by CW3 Michael Durant, was shot down by an RPG.

Most of the assault team went to the first crash site for a rescue operation. Upon reaching the site, about 90 Rangers and Delta Force operators found themselves under heavy militia fire. Despite air support, the assault team was effectively trapped for the night. With a growing number of wounded needing shelter, they occupied several nearby houses and confined the occupants for the duration of the battle. Outside, a stiff breeze stirred up blinding, brown clouds of dust.

At the second crash site, two Delta Force snipers, SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon, were inserted by Black Hawk Super 6-2 - piloted by CW3 Mike Goffena. Their first two requests to be inserted were turned down, but they were finally granted permission upon their third request. They inflicted heavy casualties on the approaching Somali mob. When Gordon was eventually killed, Shughart picked up Gordon's CAR-15 and gave it to Super 6-4 pilot CW3 Michael Durant. Shugart went back around the nose of the chopper and held off the mob for about ten more minutes, before he was killed. The Somalis then overran the crash site and killed all but Durant. He was nearly beaten to death, but was saved when members of Aidid's militia came to take him prisoner. For their actions, SFC Shughart and MSG Gordon were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the first awarded since the Vietnam War.

Repeated attempts by the Somalis to mass forces and overrun the American positions in a series of firefights near the first crash site were neutralized by aggressive small arms fire and by strafing runs and rocket attacks from AH-6J Little Bird helicopter gunships of the Nightstalkers, the only air unit equipped for and trained for night fighting.

A relief convoy with elements from the Task Force 2–14 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, accompanied by Malaysian and Pakistani UN forces, arrived at the first crash site at around 02:00. No contingency planning or coordination with UN forces had been arranged prior to the operation; consequently, the recovery of the surrounded U.S. soldiers was significantly complicated and delayed. Determined to protect all members of the rescue convoy, Gen. Garrison made sure that the convoy would roll out in force. When the convoy finally pushed into the city, it consisted of more than 100 U.N. vehicles including Malaysian forces' German made Condor APCs, four Pakistani tanks (M48s), American Humvees and several M939 five-ton flatbed trucks. This two-mile-long column was supported by several other Black Hawks and Cobra assault helicopters stationed with the 10th Mountain Division. Meanwhile, the "Little Birds" of Task Force Ranger continued their defense of the downed crew and rescuers of Super 6-1. The American assault force sustained heavy casualties, including several killed, and a Malaysian soldier died when an RPG hit his Condor vehicle. Seven Malaysians and two Pakistanis were wounded.

The battle was over by 6:30 am on Monday, October 4. American forces were finally evacuated to the UN base by the armored convoy. While leaving the crash site, a group of Rangers and Delta Force operators realized that there was no room left in the vehicles for them and were forced to run out of the city on foot to a rendezvous point on National Street. This has been commonly referred to as the "Mogadishu Mile". U.S. forces suffered one casualty during the mile, Sergeant Randal J. Ramaglia, after he was hit by a bullet in the back, and successfully evacuated.

In all, 18 U.S. soldiers were killed in action during the battle and another 73 were wounded in action. After the battle, the bodies of several U.S. casualties of the conflict (crewmembers of the Black Hawk Super 6-4 and their protectors, Delta Force soldiers SFC Shughart and MSG Gordon) were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by crowds of local civilians and SNA forces. The Malaysian forces lost one soldier and had seven injured, while the Pakistanis suffered two injured. Casualties on the Somali side were heavy, with estimates on fatalities ranging from 315 to over 2,000 combatants. The Somali casualties were a mixture of militiamen and local civilians. Somali civilians suffered heavy casualties due to the dense urban character of that portion of Mogadishu. Two days later, a mortar round fell on the U.S. compound, killing one U.S. soldier, SFC Matt Rierson, and injuring another twelve. A team on special mission to Durant's Super 6-4 helicopter had 2 wounded, Boxerman and James on October 6.

Two weeks after the Battle of Mogadishu, General Garrison officially accepted responsibility. In a handwritten letter to President Clinton, Garrison took full responsibility for the outcome of the battle. He wrote that Task Force Ranger had adequate intelligence for the mission and that their objective (capturing targets from the Olympic Hotel) was met.