HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

Rangers captured a .50 caliber machine-gun guarding the
stone entryway to Rio Hato.
on 21 December. Company B’s success freed
Company C to assault Noriega’s beach house
area two hours after H-hour, and the Rangers
cleared the house by morning.
Company B finished clearing the 6th
Company barracks area that morning as well
and, with all of its initial assault objectives
secured, continued to advance west into the
small village inhabited by the families of the
PDF troops. The Rangers detained all the adult
males found there for questioning, assuming the
vast majority were PDF troops in hiding.
The 3rd BN Rangers, who were loaded first
in each of the 13 C-130s, jumped after the 2nd
BN. By the time they jumped into the warm,
humid night, the PDF knew they were coming.
The 3rd BN’s airborne assault included heavy
“drops” of four jeeps and six motorcycles.
Company A’s motorcycles were to race north
along the runway and screen the Americans
from possible counterattacks, while the
Company B jeep teams were to establish blocking
positions and watch for possible PDF activities.
When the Company A Rangers jumped, they
scattered from south of Pan American Highway
to well north of it. This company’s primary mission
was to neutralize the .50 caliber machinegun
positioned on the concrete and stone entryway
leading to Rio Hato airfield. By happenstance,
the company’s executive officer and a few
other Rangers landed within 30 feet of the entryway;
they killed the PDF gunner as he was firing
at the other Rangers parachuting to the
ground and took possession of the fortified position.
Other Company A elements had begun to
clear the NCO academy headquarters and classroom
areas. The Rangers encountered more
PDF soldiers than expected, and in the words of
LTC Joseph Hunt, 3rd BN Commander, these
PDF soldiers “gave them a good run for their
money for about 30 minutes.” As the Rangers
aggressively cleared the NCO academy buildings,
the Panamanian soldiers abandoned their
resistance and fled from the advancing Rangers.
Company A Rangers did capture about 167
cadets. Without their superior fire discipline
and training, the Rangers could have easily
attacked these cadets before learning that they
were unarmed, frightened, and eager to surrender.
Within an hour of H-hour, Company A had
secured its objectives.
Company B, 3rd BN severed Pan American
Highway on the east side of the airfield. There
was more traffic on Pan American Highway than
expected, and the blocking element fired warning
shots at a few vehicles to force them to turn
around. The largest Company B element concentrated
on clearing the runway south of the
highway so that aircraft could begin landing,
and this proved more time consuming than
anticipated. The Rangers quickly removed such
obstacles as barrels, barbed wire, and trucks,
but needed extra time to pick up the hundreds of
parachutes left behind by the airborne assault.
Company B Rangers also took control of the air
traffic control tower. Approximately one and a
half hours into the operation, the Rangers finished
clearing the runway, and C-130s began
landing with more people and additional supplies.
The Rangers who were assigned to end PDF
resistance north of the Pan American Highway
encountered a surprising amount of PDF opposition.
Here, as night turned to dawn, some PDF
soldiers conducted a deliberate withdrawal,
fighting from building to building through a
small built-up area. A Ranger element engaged
the PDF and called for fire support from two AH-
6 helicopter gunships. The gunships fired on the
buildings, but unbeknownst to the pilots, an element
of Rangers moved into a tree line to flank
the PDF. As the gunships came around for a
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