HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

missions into Mogadishu, all of which were tactical
successes. They ran these missions both by
day and at night, and used both helicopters and
vehicles to reach their targets. Although Aideed
remained free, the cumulative effect of these
missions limited his movements.
On 3 October, TF RANGER launched its seventh
mission, this time into Aideed’s stronghold
to capture two of his key lieutenants.
Helicopters carrying assault and blocking forces
launched at 1532 from the TF RANGER compound
at Mogadishu airport, with a ground convoy
moving out three minutes later. By 1542,
the ground forces had arrived at the target location,
as the blocking force was setting up perimeter
positions and the assault force was searching
the compound for Aideed’s supporters.
These forces came under increasingly heavy
enemy fire, more intense than during previous
raids. The assault team had captured 24
Somalis and was about to load them onto the
convoy trucks when a MH-60 Blackhawk was hit
by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and
crashed about three blocks from the target location.
Almost immediately, one six-man element
of the blocking force, as well as an MH-6 assault
helicopter and an MH-60 carrying a 15-man
CSAR team, began rushing to the scene. The
MH-6 crew got there first and, amid a firefight,
evacuated two wounded soldiers to a military
field hospital. Next, the six-man blocking element
arrived, followed by the CSAR helicopter.
As the last two members of the CSAR team were
sliding down the fast ropes, their helicopter was
also hit by an RPG, but somehow the pilot kept
the helicopter steady while the two reached the
ground safely and then nursed the helicopter
back to the airport.
The situation only worsened. Ground fire
struck two more MH-60s, with one crashing less
than a mile to the south of the first downed helicopter.
A Somali mob overran this second site
and, despite a heroic defense, killed everyone
except the pilot, whom they took prisoner. Two
defenders of this crash site, MSG Gary Gordon
and SFC Randall Shughart, were posthumously
awarded the Medal of Honor. The other MH-60
was hit broadside by an RPG, but the crew somehow
coaxed it to the new port area where they
did a controlled crash landing.
Meanwhile, after loading the detainees on
the ground convoy trucks, the assault and blocking
forces moved on foot to the first crash area,
passing through heavy fire that wounded a number
of soldiers, and occupied buildings south and
southwest of the downed helicopter. They established
defensive positions, laid down suppressive
fire to hold the Somalis at bay, treated their
wounded, and worked to free the pilot’s body
from the wreckage.
MSG Gary Gordon
SFC Randall Shughart
These soldiers died defending a crashed MH-60 crew and were awarded the Medal of Honor.
62