The Battle of Mogadishu
A Heroic SEAL Mission That Never Made it in the Movie
In August, 1993, four SEAL snipers from SEAL Team Six and their commanding officer, Captain Eric Olson, supported Task Force Ranger; an operation in Somalia, Africa that was focused on capturing the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who had been attacking UN supply convoys and food distribution centers.
The Battle of Mogadishu has been well documented, but most conspicuously in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down. This movie depicted U.S. Army Rangers, Delta Force operators, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment crews, and Air Force Pararescuemen that made up Task Force Ranger. The Army’s 10th Mountain Division and Pakistani UN Peacekeepers were also mentioned and portrayed respectively. The movie, however, does not describe or ever acknowledge that Navy SEALs also supported the operation, which happened on 3-4 October 1993. One SEAL was severely wounded during the battle, and each was awarded a Silver Star Medal for their heroic actions and activities during the operation.
Actual Photo of SEAL TEAM SIX in Mogadishu, 1993
During the period leading up to the capture-raid, the four-man SEAL task element conducted a number of missions in and around Mogadishu. On the day of the raid, they had just secured from setting up CIA repeaters in the town and found the TF getting ready. Intelligence information driving the raid had developed earlier in the day and a capture plan was developed: the TF would capture two of Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s Lieutenants. As Delta’s operators assaulted the building, the SEALs would serve as a part of a blocking force, then take control of the prisoners and exfil them from the target zone.
During the assault, armed militants shot down two of the 160th’s MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as they flew assault teams to the target. Hundreds of heavily armed militia members immediately swarmed the crash sites, leading to an 18-hour fight between the soldiers stuck on the ground and the forces sent to retrieve them.
At the end, 18 Americans were killed and a 160th pilot was held prisoner for 11 days.
In spite of 180 soldiers fighting against nearly 3,000 of Aidid’s militia and civilian fighters, Omar Salad, Mohamed Hassan Awale, Abdi Yusef Herse, and others were captured. Thousands of Aidid’s clan members were killed, with thousands more wounded. A number of the chieftains evacuated in fear of America’s inevitable counterattack. Some were ready to turn in Aidid to save themselves.
The men comprising the small task element of U.S. Navy SEALs that fought heroically in the Battle of Mogadishu and recipients of the Silver Star Medal were:
Captain (SEAL) Eric Olson, USN (Retired)
Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate (SEAL) Richard Kaiser, USN (Retired)
Chief Signalman (SEAL) John Gay, USN (Retired)
Quartermaster 1st Class (SEAL) Homer Nearpass, USN
Hull Technician 1st Class (SEAL) Howard Wasdin, USN (Retired)