On 11September, 2011 four great Americans lost their lives in Benghazi, Libya including the first Ambassador since 1979. This paper will analyze the movement and maneuver techniques used by the Global Response Staff (GRS) who were the first line of defense for the Ambassador and his team. We will also look at the actions taken by outside forces, including both Libyan and US military, and see where those actions, or lack of, could have led to the death of four Americans.
To set the scene for the battle, there are two major American sanctuaries in Benghazi. The State Department Consulate; which housed Ambassador Stevens, and Sean Smith, his computer technician, and The CIA Annex; which was home to the GRS operators. The Consulate and the Annex are about a half mile away from each other as the crow flies.
Around 1900, a series of events occurs that allows the attackers to enter the Compound unscathed. The attackers …show more content…
Around 0030, the operators started to see cars congregating in a nearby parking lot. The operators kept sending up reports over the radio about what they were seeing evolve. After a short time, the first of three attacks happened. The operators were able to defend the Annex thanks to their tactical advantage over the attackers from the lights and their height advantage. The operators were always conscious about the ammo they used. During a 10 minute battle, they only fired somewhere between sixty and eighty rounds. As the Tripoli team arrived at the Annex, the third attack hits, killing the other two Americans in this battle. After the final attack, all Americans were removed by a convoy of around fifty Libyan militants and flown to multiple different