When Tactics and Strategy Collide

Abstract

On October 3, 1993, a task force of 100 U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force operators was dropped by helicopter into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their task was to find and capture two lieutenants of Mohamed Farrah Aidid, a Somali warlord. The mission, originally expected to take about one hour, lasted more than 24, with the task force pinned down overnight by thousands of heavily armed Somalis. When the battle was finally over, 18 Americans were dead, more than 70 were injured, and the targets had not been captured.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 31, 2003
Accession Number
ADA441655

Entities

People

  • Bryan D. Keifer

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Army Rangers
  • Delta Force
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Information Operations
  • Intervention
  • Logistics Support
  • Low Intensity Conflict
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Quick Reaction Force
  • Security
  • Task Forces
  • United Nations
  • United States
  • Universities
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Naval Engineering and Maritime Security
  • Trauma or Military Medicine