HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

Humanitarian and Other Contingencies
Operation MOUNT HOPE III illustrated SOF’s capabilities to do quick turnaround, low visibility operations. In
June 1988, MH-47s from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Group (now Regiment) airlifted a Soviet MI-25 Hind
helicopter from an isolated desert location to an airfield at night under extremely adverse weather conditions.
Operation FUERTE APOYO
In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch brought
near 180-mph winds and about 18 inches of rain
to Central America. The storm was the worst
natural disaster to strike Central America,
claiming nearly 10,000 lives and another 13,000
missing in Honduras, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, and Guatemala. Mitch destroyed
about 60 percent of the affected area’s infrastructure,
destroying more than 300 bridges
and 70 percent of crops in the region, leaving
2,000,000 people homeless. U.S. SOF
responded to the call for aid before the rains
had ended.
Phase I of the relief effort focused on the
rescue of flood victims and lasted until the
end of November. Navy SEALs and Army
SOF, working together, used Zodiacs and
MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to rescue
about 1,500 victims, including Carlos Flores
Facusse, the President of Honduras.
85
Members of the 15th SOS were in the area for a
JCET exercise when the hurricane struck. They
immediately refocused their mission to emergency
assistance, delivering some 80 tons of oil,
rice, beans, and sugar to villages cut off by the
hurricane.
MH-60G Blackhawk crew members provide emergency evacuation
to stranded villagers in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch.