The CAR15 was carried by a small minority of Rangers, most notably platoon commanders, radio operators and the security element assigned to the CSAR aircraft. These CAR15s were actually mainly Colt Model 727 carbines but were referred to by both Delta and the Rangers by the Vietnam-era name, the CAR15, although, strictly speaking, the CAR15 was a specific Vietnam-era variant, the XM177E2. Mini-Maglite flashlights were affixed under the barrel of some of the M16A2s and CAR15s by Rangers in emulation of Delta practices and were modified with removable red filters for night operations (red light does not destroy night vision like white light).
Rangers assigned to the CSAR team modified their CAR15s with Aimpoint 2000 or 3000 model red dot sights. The Aimpoints displayed a red dot within the optic that was zeroed to the bore of the weapon and could be employed with both eyes open, improving both speed and accuracy. A later model, the M68, became standard issue with the Rangers during the late 1990s and later across the whole US Army.
Their carbines were also fitted with AIM-1D infrared lasers that could be employed at night to mark targets (the infrared beam only visible through night-vision devices) and sound suppressors to reduce the report of their weapons. Although many commentators have assumed that these came from Delta, they were actually from the Ranger Regiment, which held limited stocks at that time: “We had our own Aimpoints, they came from the Regiment. Delta had their own version. They may have had the 5000 model. We also had the IR lasers, the AIM-1s, they were Regiment stock too,” recalled John Belman.
“The rationale [on the suppressors] was that we might be coming into a situation that we would want to be stealthy in our approach in terms of shooting and so hence the suppressors – they also look cool!” explained Belman, laughing. “What we found though, and this is why I took mine off, was that with those kinds of suppressors the carbon build-up in the action of the weapon was just so bad that it would render it pretty much unfireable. The guys who kept them on, found that out, and ended up swapping out weapons with people who had been wounded. So suppressors [were] not a win there!”
Two to three Rangers in each chalk carried M16A2s mounting the 40mm single-shot M203 grenade launcher. The M203, looking like a stubby shotgun under the M16’s barrel, could deliver high-explosive grenades out to 400 meters. Each chalk also had two 5.56x45mm M249 squad automatic weapons or SAWs, light machine guns equipped with a folding bipod that fed from a 200-round plastic box. The SAWs, although bulky, provided a tremendous firepower advantage and were designed to suppress enemy targets at ranges out to 600 meters with a cyclic rate of fire of 850 rounds per minute.
Each chalk also had an M60 medium machine-gun team. The M60 was being replaced at the time by the M240, based on the Fabrique Nationale MAG58, and a number were shipped to Somalia, but the M60 was deployed on October 3. A Delta source noted that the MAG58 had been employed by the Rangers on at least one earlier mission. Delta had in fact purchased the MAG58 several years earlier to replace their HK21 medium machine guns and had deployed with it on Operation Desert Storm.
The M60 was belt fed and fired the heavy 7.62x51mm NATO round at a cyclic rate of around 550 rounds per minute. This rate of fire cannot be maintained without burning out the barrel and thus the weapon is fired in short controlled bursts. A spare barrel is typically carried by the assistant gunner to allow an over-heated barrel to be swapped out using a special asbestos glove. The M60 served as the primary suppressive fire weapon for the Ranger chalks.
Ranger sniper teams brought along the big semiautomatic .50 Barret M82A1 antimaterial rifle but none were deployed during the events of October 3. Some of the snipers carried scoped M16A2 carbines fitted with folding Harris bipods and at least one Ranger carried a Colt 727 carbine mounting the M3A ten-power telescopic scope from the Army’s M24 sniper-rifle system. Again none of these sniper rifles were used on October 3.
For the ballistic breaching of doors, the Rangers had available shortened 12-gauge Remington 870 pump-action shotguns fitted with top folding stocks or pistol grips. Ranger Sergeant Keni Thomas of Chalk 3 carried one such shotgun, attached by Velcro to his belt. The shotguns were issued at a rate of one per chalk and were only used for breaching purposes. At least two Rangers in each chalk also carried the M72 LAW or Light Antitank Weapon. A 66mm disposable single-use rocket, it was useful against fortified positions or technicals and was used a number of times during the foot movement to the first crash site.
In terms of ammunition, each Ranger initially carried the standard load of seven 30-round 5.56x45mm magazines and two fragmentation grenades. The M60 gunners carried 600 rounds in linked belts; additional belts of ammunition were distributed amongst the other members of the chalk and dropped off to the gun team once positioned. The SAW gunners had 800 rounds in their green plastic drums. Only officers and NCOs carried the issue sidearm, the 9x19mm M9 Beretta: “Back then it wasn’t the standard, some of the SAW and M60 gunners had sidearms, but it wasn’t a standard issue deal to have a sidearm in the Ranger Regiment,” noted Belman.
Others such as Combat Controller Staff Sergeant Dan Schilling carried only two spare GAU-5 magazines along with the magazine in his weapon on the infiltration on October 3, along with a .45ACP M1911A1 pistol with four seven-round magazines. The Combat Controller’s main role was not combat but to use magazines loaded with tracers to assist in marking targets for the AH-6s. Upon his return on the United Nations/10th Mountain convoy, however, he carried more than a dozen magazines for his GAU-5, an Air Force variant of the CAR15.
Along with their weapons, each Ranger carried whatever else he needed for his specific role. Medics carried their trauma kits, the RTOs carried multiple radios. Most carried a range of less-than-lethal munitions and demolition charges designed to blow holes in walls. John Belman recalled: “I had flashbangs, maybe a concussion grenade, some smoke, some demo [explosive breaching charges] with me and medical gear.” Ranger Sergeant Jeff Struecker said: “I had concussion grenades and flashbangs and in the open, concussion grenades work a lot better. Flashbangs do pretty well in a room, concussion grenades are way overkill inside a room so I carried a number of concussion grenades with me to throw in the open.”
The Rangers had also received a quantity of a new body armor type that was lighter and more flexible than the PASGT system worn by most US infantry at the time. The RBA or Ranger Body Armor was a brand new design in 1993 and the Rangers of 3rd Battalion deployed to Somalia were the first to use it in combat. Unlike later variants, the original model only featured a single trauma plate held in a pouch on the chest, protecting the heart and lungs. This trauma plate was rated to stop the Soviet 7.62x39mm round fired by the AK47 family of assault rifles. The remainder of the RBA was constructed of Kevlar that provided protection against fragmentation.
Along with the RBA, some Rangers wore Progressive Technologies (PT) body armor. The Progressive Technologies vests had been sourced by Delta from Army Special Forces Groups as it became evident during build-up training that there were simply not enough RBA vests to fully equip the Ranger contingent. Priority for the superior RBA went to those Rangers assigned to the blocking-position chalks. Most of the Rangers on the CSAR element by contrast wore the black PT vest, which had the advantage that it held trauma plates in both front and back. Belman explained:
When we first deployed to Fort Bragg to stage for the Somalia deployment, Rangers still had the old flak jackets. They were just making the RBA. From what I can recall, Delta secured additional body armor for us as well as a few armored HMMVs, which neither we nor the Unit had at the time. Now from pictures, the body armor appears to be the same as the Delta body armor but the Delta body armor was very different – the plates were a lot smaller and lighter. The ones [plates] we had were just so large and heavy … I took my plates out, both front and back. Some people on the CSAR bird took them out, some people didn’t. What people on the ground did I don’t know.
The reasoning for taking out the trauma plates was a question of speed for the CSAR team.
They knew that if they were required to attend the crash of a helicopter, they would likely be under fire immediately and needed to get clear of their own helicopter as quickly as possible. Thus whatever they could do to reduce weight and improve speed was considered a reasonable compromise. Other Rangers have noted that it was almost impossible to go prone wearing the PT vests as the front plate would strike the user under the chin.
Belman continued:
It ended up proving to be the right call, given that our helicopter did get hit while we were roping in. The bottom line was that I felt like I would not be able to get off the helicopter fast enough with that stuff on and as we weren’t anticipating a massive firefight, the feeling was that speed was more valuable than personal protection. Those vests were very, very heavy and those plates were gigantic – all the way down from your chin down to your belt buckle. It was like wearing a suit of armor! The RBA for example had a much smaller plate – these things were gigantic.
Delta operator Kurt Smith agreed:
One can achieve a high level of protection by wearing ballistic helmets, body armor, ballistic “chicken” plates, groin flaps, collars, etc. But, once a soldier is wearing all this, in addition to all the other kit an assaulter may be required to carry, his mobility drops significantly. The decrease in mobility by wearing all this kit is more dangerous. You are more likely to be hit by enemy fire for not moving fast enough.
The Rangers’ uniform itself was standard for US infantry operating in arid environments. Most of them wore the newer Desert Camouflage Utility (DCU) pattern fatigues then being issued, although a few still had the older Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU) or “chocolate chip” pattern uniforms. As stocks of helmet covers in the DCU pattern had yet to arrive, most Rangers used the “chocolate chip” PASGT helmet cover. Their webbing at the time was the standard ALICE (All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment) LBE (Load Bearing Equipment), a webbing set that included magazine pouches, canteens, and a small pack affixed to the belt.
Delta in contrast had a long tradition of carrying non-standard or heavily modified weapons and equipment. Delta tested everything that was available on the commercial market and used whatever worked for them, as they enjoyed their own discretionary budget to purchase what they required. Individual operators also had a wide degree of latitude in choosing their own loads based on the mission at hand, a fact that impacted on October 3 with many choosing to leave behind their night-vision devices.
The primary weapon carried by the operators was the Colt Model 723 carbine, known within the Unit as the CAR15. Their Colt 723s had a notched barrel allowing underslung attachments such as the M203 grenade launcher or 12-gauge Master Key breaching shotgun to be fitted. Unlike the later M4 that allowed the mounting of sights directly above the receiver via the Picatinny rail system, optics on the Somalia-era Delta carbines were mounted directly onto the top of the carrying handles.
Delta carbines featured a number of other unusual features. Most were fitted with the Aimpoint 2000, although the Aimpoint 5000 was also used. According to Norm Hooten, the 3000 model was felt to be less reliable and was largely shunned by Delta, although some were employed by the Rangers. The Unit had been experimenting with a range of such optics for many years, inspired by the Son Tay raiders who had mounted Single Point optics to their CAR15s for their prisoner-of-war rescue mission in North Vietnam in 1970.
A range of tactical lights including the first iteration of what would later become the Surefire 6P weapon light were affixed under the barrel of operators’ CAR15s. In Panama, operators used diving flashlights fitted to their weapons by clamps. Some carried two 30-round magazines taped together but separated by a device known as a Redi-mag, which allowed either magazine to be quickly fitted without the need to turn the magazine over – this also protected the lips of the magazine from damage when in the prone position. Some also affixed flashbang or smoke grenades to the magazines of their CAR15s for easy access when breaching as they could manipulate the grenade with their left hand whilst still pointing the carbine with their right.
Delta snipers used Ops Inc. suppressors affixed to their CAR15s. Some were also fitted with the Israeli-manufactured Elbit Systems AIM-1D infrared laser light. Delta’s SAWs also mounted the AIM-1D, as did some individual CAR15s used by the assaulters. One operator on an assault team noted: “I didn’t have one on my rifle at that time, I had another IR aiming device that went inside the charging handle, which is why our Aimpoints were attached differently than most. The AIM-1 was used on heavy weapons and some of the helo weapons, later on we all had those before we went to the PEQ.” The PEQ was a later design of infrared illuminators that have since found wide acceptance amongst both infantry and special operations forces.
Within each Delta team, one operator typically mounted a 40mm M203 grenade launcher on his CAR15. Gary Keeney explained:
My role on the team was M203 gunner and mechanical breacher. I didn’t carry any of those specific [breaching] tools or a shotgun on this mission. So on that day I was solely the 203 gunner. I think I had 8 to 12 HEDP [High-Explosive Dual-Purpose] rounds in a pouch on my left hand side. I can tell you when the lost convoy got back to the airfield, I didn’t have any left!
One operator on each chalk, the assigned breacher, would also carry a breaching shotgun. For ballistically breaching doors and locks, shortened pistol-grip Remington 870 shotguns were carried. Knight’s Armament Company’s Master Key shotguns were also used by some operators. The Master Key was a shortened 12-gauge Remington 870 that was mounted under the barrel of the CAR15 in a similar fashion to the M203 grenade launcher. It was designed to allow an operator serving as a breacher the use of the shotgun for breaching and a rapid transition to the CAR15 to engage any hostiles as he entered the room. At least one operator who carried the Master Key on October 3 used it during the Mogadishu Mile to engage targets as he ran low on 5.56mm ammunition.
Some former operators have since remarked that they found the Master Key to be overly heavy and awkward to use, and Delta appears to have shelved the Master Key soon after Mogadishu. Kelly Venden from A-Squadron, which replaced C-Squadron in Mogadishu, explained: “They were more cumbersome. I used to carry a really shorty 870 [sawn-off pistol-grip shotgun] for breaching doors and stuff. It all comes down to preference but when you have a tool that you use perhaps 1 percent of the time, I’d rather have it out of the way and not interfering with my main armament.”
Exactly what weapons a particular operator carried was largely down to the individual and his team. Another operator recounted: “I carried a Remington 870 sawed-off shotgun for breaching and a CAR15 with Aimpoint. I did not carry a 1911 since I had the shotgun, many guys did though. I did not carry any less-lethal munitions, but some did for their shotguns.” Kelly Venden agreed: “That was the one thing I always valued, everybody can do whatever they want as long as they’re efficient and able to accomplish the mission.”
Others, including operator Kurt Smith on F-Team and Paul Leonard on C-Team, carried the SAW before transitioning to the CAR15 during the initial infiltration: “After the Lig Legato hit, I now carried a CAR15 slung across my chest, and I kept my SAW in my hands. It was tethered to the aircraft. I would use it on infil and exfil only and assault with my CAR15.” The idea was to enable the operators to fire from the Little Bird to suppress anyone threatening their landing zone before leaving the bulky SAW with the aircraft. Leonard noted that the version employed by Delta had been customized by Unit armorers with a shortened barrel and collapsible stock; some were also fitted with vertical forward grips.
Mike Moser, a tactical breacher on B-Team, explained that decisions on weapons were largely governed by whichever mission template would be employed:
Throughout the deployment I had essentially two configurations of kit and primary weapon, depending on which mission “template” we were to execute. These two templates were: a) Vehicular Convoy Intercept and b) Building Assault. The intelligence apparatus that would t
rigger a stand up of the TF [task force] would include some information as to whether our HVTs [High-Value Targets] were likely to be in transit (vehicle intercept) or static (building assault). After the team leaders were assembled in the TOC [tactical operations centre] and collectively worked out the particulars of the hit, I would reach for one or the other sets of equipment kept at the foot of my cot.
My primary weapon in the “Convoy Intercept” template was to carry an M249 SAW with the purpose of stopping the lead vehicle by engaging its engine compartment and trying not to damage the people inside. The SAW was a clumsy tool to accomplish this, and horrible for room clearing – I threw out my back badly during an earlier hit – but its high volume of fire made it the choice for persuading a car driver to stop.
My primary weapon in the “Building Assault” template was my CAR15. Regardless of which primary weapon and harness I carried, I would also have my M1911 .45 pistol. Typically there were carried by most guys in “drop holsters” on the primary leg; however, my thighs’ real estate was dedicated to breaching charges and firing systems. I therefore kept my pistol in a Velcro holster affixed to my chest/body armor.
In terms of specialist breaching kit, Moser carried:
a modified Claymore mine bag slung on my right thigh filled with a variety of breaching charges and firing systems. I had a small axe as well, but no larger mechanical forced-entry tools. My team leader chose to carry a shorty 12-gauge shotgun slung under a shoulder as a backup breaching device. He preferred to have it [although] generally the breachers will carry them. In the event of an explosive misfire, I would be occupied with retrieving and safeing the charge and he could instantly employ the shotgun to gain entry.
Delta’s pistols were customized .45ACP Caspian M1911A1s. In fact the Unit issued two .45s to each operator – one a 5-inch-barreled Government Model and the other featuring a compensator more commonly seen on high-end competition pistols. The compensated model, which reduced barrel rise and recoil, was used principally for counter-terrorist missions, whilst the Government Model was carried on general combat operations. The Unit had traditionally chosen the .45ACP pistol in favor of the issue 9mm Beretta as in the early days of Delta’s formation few reliable hollowpoint designs were available in the 9mm caliber. It was felt that the .45ACP was a safer option as with its lower velocity it carried less of a risk of overpenetration that could wound or kill hostages.
Day of the Rangers: The Battle of Mogadishu 25 Years On Page 35