Casper, Colonel Lawrence E., Falcon Brigade: Combat and Command in Somalia and Haiti (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001)
Chun, Clayton K. S., Gothic Serpent: Black Hawk Down Mogadishu 1993 (Oxford: Osprey, 2012)
DeKever, Andrew J. and Durant, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J., Here Rests in Honored Glory: Life Stories of Our Country’s Medal of Honor Recipients (Merriam Press Military, 2012)
DeLong, Kent and Tuckey, Steven, Mogadishu! Heroism and Tragedy (Westport: Praeger Publishers, 1994)
Durant, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J., and Hartov, Steven, In the Company of Heroes (New York: GP Putnam’s Sons, 2003)
Durant, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J, Hartov, Steven & Johnson, Lieutenant Colonel Robert L., The Night Stalkers: Top Secret Missions of the US Army’s Special Operations Aviation Regiment (New York: NAL Caliber, 2008)
Eversmann, Matt and Schilling, Dan, The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger (New York: Presidio Press, 2004)
Galdorisi, George and Phillips, Thomas, Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue (St Paul: Zenith Press, 2009)
Kassinger, Jack, Holding Hands with Heroes (Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing, 2010)
Kilcullen, David, Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)
McKnight, Lieutenant Colonel Danny, Streets of Mogadishu (Chester: Leading for Freedom, 2011)
Naylor, Sean, Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (New York: St Martins, 2015)
Peterson, Scott, Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda (New York: Routledge, 2000)
Pushies, Fred J., Night Stalkers: 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (St Paul: Zenith Press, 2005)
Ricks, Thomas E., The Gamble: General Petraeus and the Untold Story of the American Surge in Iraq (New York: Penguin, 2009)
Rottman, Gordon L., The Rocket Propelled Grenade (Oxford: Osprey, 2010)
Smith, Michael, Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America’s Most Secret Special Operations Team (London: Orion, 2006)
Struecker, Major Jeff, The Road to Unafraid: How the Army's Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage through Black Hawk Down and Beyond (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009,)
Thomas, Keni, Get It On! What it Means to Lead the Way (Brentwood: B&H Publishing Group, 2011)
Tucker, David and Lamb Christopher J., United States Special Operations Forces (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007)
Walker, Greg, At the Hurricane’s Eye: US Special Operations Forces from Vietnam to Desert Storm (New York: Ivy Books, 1994)
Wasdin, Howard E. and Templin, Stephen, SEAL Team Six (New York: St Martin’s, 2011)
Whetstone, Lieutenant Colonel Michael, Madness in Mogadishu: Commanding the 10th Mountain Division’s Quick Reaction Company during Black Hawk Down (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2015)
REPORTS
Department of Defense, Subject: After Action Report for TASK FORCE RANGER Operations in Support of UNOSOM II; 22 August–25 October 1993 (USSOCOM, 1994)
http://www.socom.smil.mil/socs-ho/aarll/somalia
DiTomasso, Captain Thomas, The Battle of the Black Sea: Bravo Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, 3–4 October 1993 (Fort Benning: Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course, 1994)
www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/.../DiTomassoThomas%20CPT.pdf
Duffield, Major Mark F., Into the Beehive: The Somali Habr Gidr Clan As An Adaptive Enemy
www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a374653.pdf
Ecklund, Marshall V. and McNerney, Michael A., Personnel Recovery Operations for Special Operations Forces in Urban Environments: Modeling Successful Overt and Clandestine Methods of Recovery (California: Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, 2004)
https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/1159
Faust, Colonel James T., Task Force Ranger in Somalia: Isaiah 6:8 (US Army War College, 1999)
http://www.lc-vans.lintcenter.org/wp.../08/TF-Ranger-Part-1-Paper-with-Prologue-pp-0-29.pdf
Karcher, Major Timothy M., Understanding the Victory Disease, from the Little Bighorn, to Mogadishu, to the Future
www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA416034
Kragh, John F. and others, Tragedy into Drama: An American History of Tourniquet Use in the Current War (Fort Sam Houston: United States Army Institute of Surgical Research, 2013)
www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA614535
Lechner, Captain James O., A Monograph of Combat Operations in Mogadishu, Somalia Conducted by Task Force Ranger (Fort Benning: Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course, 1994)
www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/.../LechnerJamesO%20%20CPT.pdf
Levin, C. and Warner, J., Subject: Review of Circumstances Surrounding the Ranger Raid on October 3-4 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia (Washington: Senate Committee on Armed Services, 1995)
https://fas.org/irp/congress/1995_rpt/mogadishu.pdf
Marion, Forrest L., Heroic Things: Air Force Special Tactics Personnel at Mogadishu, October 3–4, 1993 (Air Force Historical Foundation, 2013)
http://www.afhistory.org/air-power-history/2013-air-power-history-archive/
Perino, Captain Larry D., The Battle of the Black Sea: Mogadishu Somalia (Fort Benning: Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course, 1994)
www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/.../PerinoLarryD%20%20CPT.pdf
Rysewyk, Captain Lee, Experiences of Executive Officer from Bravo Company, 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and Task Force Ranger during the Battle of the Black Sea on 3–4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia (Fort Benning: Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course, 1994)
www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/.../RysewykLee%20A.%20CPT.pdf
Sangvic, Major Roger N., Battle of Mogadishu: Anatomy of a Failure (Fort Leavenworth: School of Advanced Military Studies United States Army Command and General Staff College, 1999)
www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA366316
Smith, Captain Kurt, Task Force Ranger in Somalia: 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, 3–4 October 1993 (Fort Benning: Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course, 1994)
www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/.../other/.../SmithKurt%20CPT.pdf
ARTICLES
Atkinson, Rick, “Night of a Thousand Casualties” (The Washington Post, January 31, 1994)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/01/31/night-of-a-thousand-casualties/1f0c97b1-1605-46e5-9466-ba3599120c25/?utm_term=.69a7c2b217aa
Butler Jr., Captain Frank, Hagmann, Lieutenant Colonel John H. and Richards, David T., “Tactical Management of Urban Warfare Casualties in Special Operations” (Military Medicine, 165, Supplement 1, 2000)
www.valorproject.org/uploads/Tact_Mgmt_Urban_Warfare.pdf
Ferry, Captain Charles P., “Mogadishu, October 1993: A Company XO’s Notes on Lessons Learned” (Infantry Magazine, November-December 1994)
https://www.benning.army.mil/magazine/1994/1994_6/fa02.pdf
Grau, Lester W., “A Weapon For All Seasons: The Old But Effective RPG-7 Promises to Haunt the Battlefields of Tomorrow” (Infantry Magazine, May–August 1998)
http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/weapon.htm
Hollis, Captain Mark A. B., “Platoon Under Fire: Mogadishu, October 1993” (Infantry Magazine, January-April 1998)
battleofmogadishu.com/Cms_Data/Contents/mog/Media/.../JAN_APR_98.pdf
Loeb, Vernon, “After Action Report” (The Washington Post, February 27, 2000) https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/2000/02/27/after-action-report/3c474a43-ea21-4bf5-afc5-02820b8579e5/?utm_term=.9f97f4dbc593
FILMS
Frontline: Ambush in Mogadishu (Public Broadcasting Service, September 1998) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ambush
Return to Mogadishu: Remembering Black Hawk Down
http://returntomogadishu.com
(This is a film produced with Jeff Struecker a
nd Keni Thomas who returned to Mogadishu in 2013. They travel to the Bakara Market area including the location of the target building and the first crash site. It is particularly worthwhile as the viewer gets a glimpse of what the actual streets and buildings in the area look like, albeit 20 years after the battle.)
About the Author
Leigh Neville is an Australian national who has written a number of books on both modern conventional military units and special operations forces serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, their weapons and their vehicles, including 13 titles for Osprey with more in development. He has also consulted on military topics for several wargame companies and television documentary makers. He lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and two dogs. He can be contacted via his website at www.leighneville.com.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not exist without the pioneering efforts of journalist and author Mark Bowden. His account of the October 3–4 mission, Black Hawk Down, later filmed as a successful motion picture, was an invaluable resource and even greater inspiration. Later works by participants including Nightstalker pilot Mike Durant and co-author Steven Hartov’s In the Company of Heroes, and The Battle of Mogadishu edited by former Ranger Matt Eversmann and Pararescueman Dan Schilling, were equally important. All three books are highly recommended to all readers.
The aim of this book is to complement Bowden’s work. I have had the opportunity thanks to documents that have come to light over the past two decades and access to participants who are now more comfortable talking about the events of October 3, 1993, to provide new detail on the battle through the lens of military history. I have also tried to interview participants who didn’t, for whatever reason, feature heavily in Bowden’s book to hopefully provide a more rounded account and fill in some gaps, including a significant contribution from former members of Delta Force.
My greatest appreciation must go, in no particular order, to Mike Durant, Gerry Izzo, and Karl Maier, formerly of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment; John Belman, Tom DiTomasso, Matt Eversmann, and Jeff Struecker, formerly of the 75th Ranger Regiment; and Norman Hooten, Gary Keeney, Paul Leonard, Michael Moser, Jim Smith, and Kelly Venden, formerly of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. All of these gentlemen endured hours of personal interviews and rounds of no doubt annoying follow-up questions with both charm and good grace. Without them, this book simply could not have been written. A very special thanks must go to Matt Eversmann who kindly provided the Foreword to this book.
A number of other members of the Task Force Ranger units have requested anonymity, often due to their continued work in the field of special operations. To these gentlemen I give my profound thanks for their trust in agreeing to speak with me; I hope I have accurately portrayed their views and recollections. I am also deeply indebted to Tom Faust, James Lechner, Larry Perino, Lee Rysewyk, and Kurt Smith for the detailed first-person after-action reviews they wrote soon after the battle, which have proven an important historical resource.
As always, my thanks must also go to my wife, Jodi Fraser-Neville, and my editor, Kate Moore, for their support, patience, and encouragement. Others I must thank include Pete Panzeri and Mike Vining, both US Army veterans; author and journalist Sean Naylor; Bob Mitchell and the US Army Aviation Museum in Alabama; and Dr Nicole Suarez and the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in North Carolina. Both of the latter institutions include some incredible artifacts from the battle and the author strongly encourages readers to visit should they be in the area.
A note on naming conventions. In the case of personnel assigned to Delta I have made the decision upon consultation with a number of former members of the unit to only mention an operator’s full name if I have received explicit permission from that operator. In all other cases, including for personnel attached to the Delta squadron, I have chosen to use their first name and the first initial of their surname only, in the interests of personal security.
Former Nightstalker Gerry Izzo sagely told me as I began this book that no matter how accurate I attempted to be, the story of the battle was like a jigsaw puzzle and that at the end there would still be some pieces missing. He was right. As with any historical narrative there are people and information I would have liked to have had access to but for various reasons did not.
All such missing parts, and the inevitable inaccuracies that have crept into the text, are my fault alone. Likewise there are many, many stories still to be told of this important battle. I have tried to tell some which are less well known and provide new perspectives on better-known events but ultimately this book still only provides a snapshot of that horrific 18-hour battle and its aftermath.
The book may also be viewed as slightly skewed toward the Nightstalker, Ranger, and Delta perspectives of the battle. This is purely a result of my contacts within those units and is no slight toward the Navy SEAL or Air Force Special Tactics personnel who performed so admirably and honorably on October 3 and 4. There is also, unfortunately, little depiction of the Somali perspective apart from a number of historical interview transcripts. Somalia remains an active warzone and access to participants, many of whom may have by now passed away, was impossible.
A final word about the Black Hawk Down film. There are several instances where the depiction of events in the movie was either fabricated or consolidated for dramatic effect. This is an understandable process and is common in Hollywood representations of historical events – it must be remembered that it was a blockbuster movie, not a ten-part documentary. Where such divergences from the historical record are identified, I’ve pointed them out in the hope of providing further insight for readers who have seen the film and wondered about particular scenes.
This should not be seen as a criticism of the film itself, which offered the public a surprisingly accurate account of most aspects of the battle and is well worth viewing if the reader has not done so. The extended version including commentary by Tom Matthews, Lee Van Arsdale, Danny McKnight, and Matt Eversmann is particularly recommended.
OSPREY PUBLISHING
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OSPREY is a trademark of Osprey Publishing Ltd
First published in Great Britain in 2018
© Leigh Neville, 2018
Leigh Neville has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgements constitute an extension of this copyright page.
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DiTomasso map by Bounford.com.
Bird’s-eye-view by Alan Gilliland, © Osprey Publishing. Reproduced from
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Foreword
Dramatis Personae
CHAPTER 1: Gothic Serpent
CHAPTER 2: The First Six
CHAPTER 3: Lucy
CHAPTER 4: Big Sky, Small Bullet
CHAPTER 5: “We Are Their Only Hope”
CHAPTER 6: “Ranger, Ranger. You Die Somalia”
CHAPTER 7: The Long Night
CHAPTER 8: The Mogadishu Mile
CHAPTER 9: Maalintii Rangers
Illustrations
Appendices
Glossary
Notes
References
About the Author
Acknowledgments
eCopyright
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Foreword
Dramatis Personae
CHAPTER 1: Gothic Serpent
CHAPTER 2: The First Six
CHAPTER 3: Lucy
CHAPTER 4: Big Sky, Small Bullet
CHAPTER 5: “We Are Their Only Hope”
CHAPTER 6: “Ranger, Ranger. You Die Somalia”
CHAPTER 7: The Long Night
CHAPTER 8: The Mogadishu Mile
CHAPTER 9: Maalintii Rangers
Illustrations
Appendices
Glossary
Notes
References
About the Author
Acknowledgments
eCopyright
Day of the Rangers: The Battle of Mogadishu 25 Years On Page 39