HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

In Phase II, the relief phase, CA soldiers
helped to rebuild some of the infrastructures
destroyed by the category five storm. SOF personnel
cleaned wells, built roads and bridges,
and ferried food, water and medical supplies to
the hardest hit regions. Phase III of the operation
began in early March with the exercise
NEW HORIZONS 99, which focused on restoring
the beleaguered region.
Ecuador, May 1999
A test of SOF’s warrior skills occurred on the
evening of 2 May 1999 in northern Ecuador. A
convoy, transporting 37 SOF personnel and
Ecuadorian soldiers to a joint CD training exercise,
was attacked by local bandits. The sixvehicle
convoy was negotiating a hairpin turn on
a muddy jungle road when it came upon a roadblock
set up by a dozen masked and armed robbers.
The bandits had already stopped two passenger
buses and several cars, and were holding
about 50 civilians along the side of the road.
Two bandits opened fire on the convoy, hitting
the lead vehicle. The four Special Forces soldiers
in that vehicle and a CA soldier in the second
vehicle engaged the bandits with their
sidearms. Ecuadorian soldiers opened fire as
well. After a firefight that lasted several minutes,
eight of the bandits fled, leaving behind
two dead and two prisoners, one of whom was
wounded. One U.S. and one Ecuadorian soldier
suffered minor wounds, but there were no civilian
casualties.
When the Ecuadorian soldiers interrogated
the prisoners, the crowd turned ugly, shouting
for the prisoners’ execution. The SOF soldiers
took control and protected the prisoners from
the angry crowd while a Special Forces medic
treated the wounded. The dead and captured
attackers were then taken to the training site
and turned over to local police. The government
of Ecuador subsequently praised the action as
professional and appropriate. This incident
reaffirmed SOF’s mature judgment, readiness to
react to ambiguous situations, and commitment
to human rights.
Colombia, July 1999
SOF’s ability to support far-flung contingencies
was again demonstrated in July 1999, during
the recovery of a U.S. Army reconnaissance
aircraft that had crashed in the Colombian
mountains. The crash killed five U.S. Army and
two Colombian soldiers who had been engaged
in an airborne CD reconnaissance mission.
A search plane found the wrecked aircraft
the day after the crash, but poor weather and
rugged terrain inhibited recovery efforts. At the
direction of General Charles Wilhelm,
Commander in Chief, Special Operations
Command, South (USCINCSOUTH) deployed
two MH-60L helicopters and support from
Company D, 160th SOAR (A), and a liaison ele-
MH-60L helicopters from D Company, 160th SOAR (A) transported SOF personnel to the crash site in Colombia.
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