The Battle of Mogadishu—Thirty Years On

Modern War Institute

John Amble

Government, News

4.7 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2023

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thirty years ago this week—on October 3, 1993—US special operations forces launched a mission in Mogadishu. It was part of Operation Gothic Serpent, which was aimed at capturing Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The mission was intended to be of a short duration. But things changed when, shortly after members of Task Force Ranger launched from their base, fighters on the ground began firing on US aircraft. The battle that ensued—which would later become the subject of journalist Mark Bowden’s book, Black Hawk Down, and subsequently a film of the same name—lasted well into the next day. In this episode, you'll hear three people who took part in that battle. Listen as they share their firsthand perspectives of the action over those two days, describing the challenges they faced, reflecting on what was required to overcome those challenges, and exploring the lessons the battle holds for future Army leaders.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I felt like we were pretty comfortable when we headed out on the 3rd of October.
0:09.0	The radio call comes in that, okay, we got a mission.
0:12.0	The mission that day was to capture two of ID's key lie lieutenants.
0:16.0	When they took the lead and we started going north, that's when all hell broke loose. We started getting heavy, heavy fire.
0:22.8	It was a race because you have all the Somalis, the S&A, the militia, racing to get to the helicopter.
0:29.6	And you had us racing to get to the helicopter.
0:33.7	Hey, welcome back to the Modern War Institute podcast.
0:36.7	I'm John Ambo, editorial director at MWI,
0:39.1	and this is a special episode. Exactly 30 years ago this week, U.S. Special Operations Forces
0:45.2	launched a mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. The targets were senior associates of a Somali
0:50.2	warlord, Mohamed Farah Idid. Besides the operators who had assault the target building,
0:55.4	there were also rangers tasked with securing a perimeter and a number of U.S. helicopters
0:59.8	flying above in support of the mission. The plan was straightforward. But when two of those
1:05.0	helicopters, both U.S. Army Blackhawks, were hit with rocket-propelled grenades and crashed in the
1:09.8	city, everything changed. You've possibly read the book Blackhawkks were hit with rocket-propelled grenades and crashed in the city, everything changed.
1:11.6	You've possibly read the book Blackhawk Down, which tells the story of the Battle of Mogadishu that took place over two days in early October 1993,
1:19.6	or you might have seen the subsequent movie that was based on the book.
1:22.6	But five years ago, on the 25th anniversary of the battle, we invited three people who had taken part in it to West Point to share their stories with cadets and faculty.
1:32.0	Their conversation was moderated by our former director, Colonel Liam Collins, and for the first time, we're releasing the audio of it as an episode of the MWI podcast.
1:40.8	Before we get to it, a couple notes.
1:43.1	First, if you're not yet subscribed to the MWI podcast, you can find it at your favorite podcast app.
1:47.9	And second, as always, what you hear in this episode are the views of the participants and don't represent those of West Point, the Army, or any other agency of the U.S. government.
	...

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