BLACK HAWK DOWN

Black Hawk Down: Lessons Learned from Army's 5 Logistical Characteristics

Black Hawk Down: Lessons Learned from Army's 5 Logistical Characteristics

Introduction

Black Hawk Down is a book written by Mark Bowden in year 1999. This book derived its title from the event of Mogadishu fight between U.S., its alliance forces and Somali militants. It tells the true story happened at a U.S. mission of pacification, mandated by the UN in Somalia in 1993 (Bowden, 2010). The book title refers to an Army helicopter shot down by the forces of Somali warlord Mohammed Farrah Aidid during the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993 (Bowden, 2010). This paper presents an analysis of Black Hawk Down and lessons learned from this failed mission using the army's 5 logistical characteristics as presented in FM 100-5 Operations.

United Nations peacekeeping forces arrived in Somalia in December 1992, after a severe famine sparked a power struggle between factions in the country (Schilling, 2004). Somalia descended into anarchy as clan leaders and their followers fought to control the capital and the country. U.S. forces initially performed a peacekeeping role, assisting the international aid organizations that provided relief for the civilian population. Continued violence in the capital, along with frequent ambushes of relief convoys, led the United States to escalate its involvement in Mogadishu.

In July 1993, U.S. forces began to undertake offensive operations against local warlords in conjunction with the peacekeeping efforts. The U.S. force, known as Task Force Ranger, comprised men from the elite U.S. Army Rangers and Special Forces Detachment-Delta (Delta Force) (Bowden, 2010). The task force's primary mission was to locate and capture leadership elements of the warring factions in Mogadishu. It also provided security for UN peacekeepers, but the force remained under U.S. command.

Operation Background

During October 1993, U.S. soldiers from elite Rangers and Delta Force, commanded by then Colonel Carlos, were sent to Mogadishu, Somalia as part of a peacekeeping operation the United Nations. Food shipments sent by UN were systematically stolen by the militias of the warlords, notably Mohamed Farrah Aidid who did not hesitate to shoot innocent civilians to achieve his aims. This led the foundation basis of Black Hawk Down Mission, carried out by the Rangers and Delta Forces of the United States. The goal was to capture a group of guerrillas led by Aidid to promote the state of anarchy as a coupon exchange, and negotiate the terms of de facto civil war (Larson, 2004). The mission was expected to last not more than 30 minutes.

There is no such thing as military leadership. As a rule, it is a poor strategy for authors to deny the existence of the very subject matter they intend to examine. The truth is that the military leadership does not exist along the lines of military leader stereotypes popularized for entertainment in television or film—most people's primary source of information about military leadership.

Characteristic Elements of Anticipation

Military leadership qualities are formed in a progressive and sequential series of carefully planned training, educational, and experiential ...