Operation Gothic Serpent Case Study

Operation Gothic Serpent (OGS), the manhunt for Mohamed Farrah Aidid (MFA), leader of the Somali National Alliance (SNA), commenced on 3 October 1993 and ended on 4 October 1993. Task Force Ranger’s (TFR) mission targeted the so-called Black Sea slum district, near the Bakara Market, to capture two of MFA’s key lieutenants near the Olympic Hotel. On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, Helicopters carrying assault and blocking forces launched around 1530 from the task force compound at the western end of Mogadishu airport, with a ground convoy moving out three minutes later. The mission would later be called the Battle for Mogadishu.
The assault team captured 22 Somalis in the raid. With the downing of 2 MH-60 helicopters due to RPG-fire, the mission transformed from manhunting to rescue and recovery. However, casualties were heavy and TFR lost 16 soldiers on between 3 and 4 October, and had another 57 wounded, with 1 other killed and 12 wounded on 6 October by a mortar attack on their hangar complex at the airport. The 2–14th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, suffered 2 Americans killed and 22 wounded, while the Malaysian coalition partners had 2 killed and 7 wounded and the Pakistanis suffered 2 wounded. Various estimates placed Somali
forces would happen not later than 31 March 1994. The address came days after news footage from Mogadishu showed dead American service members bodies being dragged through the streets. The POTUS decision to redeploy U.S. military forces from Somalia after heavy casualties during the Battle of Mogadishu would send a message to enemies of the U.S. that the U.S. had no stomach for fighting. This would be a lesson drawn by future Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) that actively opposed the U.S. to include but not limited to Al