Any Somalia vets around here?

[313 Mike]

I just stumbled upon this part of the forum, I didn't know it existed until now. Pretty cool idea.

Are there any veterans here who served in Somalia in '92 -'93? I served with USMC 7th Motor Transport Batallion, 1'st FSSG, stationed in Mogadishu at "the golf course" from Dec '92 - March '93. I mainly drove LVS's and 5 tons.
We made runs up to Baledogle and Baidoa regularly as well. Hauling troops, water, fuel, food, vehicles, equipment, ammo, weapons etc..
I know there aren't that many of us around, I think Operation Restore Hope maxed out at around 25,000 troops in country between the branches, Marine Corps numbers only a portion of that. I am always keeping my eyes open for other Somalia vets and it is quite rare to run into one. The older I get the less people I find that even remember or have heard of the conflict/intervention. It is slowly being absorbed by history....

[jerryd6818]

Ah, I see you found your cover. (yes, I know it's your helmet but just about anything will suffice as long as your knuckle head is covered)

[fergusontd]

Wasn't that where the idea for the movie Blackhawk Down came from? ftd

[jerryd6818]

Some info gleaned online................

The story of Black Hawk Down began when Delta Force arrested 20 Somalis. During the assault, a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down and the rescuers were ambushed. Eighteen Americans were killed.

The film takes place in 1993 when the U.S. sent special forces into Somalia to destabilize the government and bring food and humanitarian aid to the starving population. Using Black Hawk helicopters to lower the soldiers onto the ground, an unexpected attack by Somalian forces brings two of the helicopters down immediately. From there, the U.S. soldiers must struggle to regain their balance while enduring heavy gunfire.

The film depicts the Battle of Mogadishu as being fought largely by Army Rangers and Delta Force. While not inaccurate, the 10th Mountain Division played a significant role in the October 3 – 4 battle, as well as the larger UN intervention, one not as well-appreciated.

[313 Mike]

Some info gleaned online................

The story of Black Hawk Down began when Delta Force arrested 20 Somalis. During the assault, a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down and the rescuers were ambushed. Eighteen Americans were killed.

The film takes place in 1993 when the U.S. sent special forces into Somalia to destabilize the government and bring food and humanitarian aid to the starving population. Using Black Hawk helicopters to lower the soldiers onto the ground, an unexpected attack by Somalian forces brings two of the helicopters down immediately. From there, the U.S. soldiers must struggle to regain their balance while enduring heavy gunfire.

The film depicts the Battle of Mogadishu as being fought largely by Army Rangers and Delta Force. While not inaccurate, the 10th Mountain Division played a significant role in the October 3 – 4 battle, as well as the larger UN intervention, one not as well-appreciated.

There is some mis information here. Yes, the movie Blackhawk Down was based on events that happened in Oct of '93 in Mogadishu Somalia. However US Forces were not sent into Somalia to destabilize the government. There was basically no government in existence when we were sent in. The country was enmeshed in an ongoing civil war, with multiple clans fighting for control and dominance. There was no electricity, no running water, no sanitation, no police and no organized functioning military or government. The city of Mogadishu itself, was reduced to a shot up, blown up shell of what it had once been. The windows of all the buildings were blown out and every building was riddled with bullet holes and half knocked down from the years of warfare. The roads were wrecked, there was garbage and human waste everywhere, rotting carcasses of camels blocking roads, tire fires burning at night, and lawlessness amongst the people, who massed the streets in huge numbers, milling about through the garbage and filth wearing nothing but flip flops and a loose fitting wraparound sarong. When they had to s..., they would simply squat down wherever they were, and wipe themselves with some of the garbage lying nearby. Many of them carried weapons, usually AK47''s, which were old and ill maintained, but deadly nonetheless. The entire place stank of death and filth, made worse by the ever present heat of Africa.
The country was in the midst of a severe drought, and the warring clans were ambushing and stealing all of the humanitarian aid that was being sent into the country intended for the starving citizens in the countryside. The UN was then sent in to provide security for the food and supply convoys so they could make it to the people in need, but they failed miserably and the clans continued to assault and capture whatever they wanted. They roamed the countryside in old stripped down old Toyota off road vehicles mounted with Russian automatic weapons, and RPG's fighting with each other and taking whatever they wanted from whomever they wanted. They wore no uniforms and blended in with everyone else, and operated with ruthlessness and reckless abandadon, and zero respect for human life of any sort.
We were sent in not to destabilize the government, but rather to attempt to bring some sort of stability to the country, provide security for the food and supply convoys, and allow those supplies to get to the starving people in the countryside who were dying by the thousands. Those clans, however, who have been warring within the country since seemingly the beginning of time, were not intimidated by the US military or any military for that matter. They did not hold life dear, as we do, and had no fear of death, as they were surrounded by it since birth. They took ridiculous risks, continually assaulted our convoys, rained down sniper fire on us from the blown up buildings, and laughed at us for thinking we could make any kind of difference. They knew we would be leaving before long, and things would go back to as they have always been. One of our vehicles would come under sniper fire in the city, we would light it up with a 50 cal on full auto and basically bring down the shell of a building, go in and examine the rubble and find one or two dead Somalis with broke down old AK's with no front sights.What the hell were they thinking taking on an armed US Marine Corps convoy with two untrained kids and a couple of half ass third hand rifles? They had no chance, and really didn't care. Yet they continued to pester us wherever we went. Our rules of engagement were such that we were not to actively engage any of the locals unless we were fired upon first, and they knew this, and took full advantage of the fact that our hands were tied.
Our government had termed this a "humanitarian mission", even naming it Operation Restore Hope. They flooded the media back home with pictures of starving kids with bloated stomachs dying in the sand so as to garner support for the mission back home. For those of us on the ground, the reality of what was going on went far beyond what was being portrayed to the people back home. We provide that security which enabled the food to reach those in need, but it was a band-aid on a gushing wound, and those local fighters that weren't out sniping at us just faded back into the sea of natives to wait us out. President Bush visited and posed for some pictures, everyone back home was made to feel good about the fact that some starving kids got fed, but the reality of it was that nothing was going to change in that hell hole. There were, of course, going to be more droughts, more dying, more fighting, and continued lawlessness and civil war. It has always been that way in that part of the world and likely always will be. It is a way of life and not something that is going to be changed by a short lived intervention by the US or anybody else. We were pulled out before we were pulled down too far into the s..., but the troops that ended up being a part of the Blackhawk Down fiasco got engaged in an ill advised and poorly planned attempt to kill a clan leader who was hunkered down in the city, and they got hung out to dry. After that the rest of our troops were pulled out, while the Somalis cheered in the streets shooting their AK's off into the sky and whooping in delight that they had chased the Americans away. The country immediately descended back into the hellhole it had always been, and became a training grounds of sorts for the terrorism that would continue to spread through the world in the decades to come.
Anyways, that's kind of a brief picture of what went on there from the point of view of a 20 year old enlisted Marine. It opened my eyes up real quick to the reality of the world, and how good we have it here at home. I could go on and on, but I have to go to work, hopefully this sheds a little light on an overlooked part of our military history.

[jerryd6818]

Thank you Mike and please forgive me for going off half-cocked, trying to act like I know what was going on by using half-axxed information from the internet. I appreciate you taking the time to set the record straight with first hand information. Semper Fi my brother.

[ea42]

Mike that was an excellent post, thanks for putting it out there. Definitely an eye opener. You were sure right about nothing changing out there.

Eric

[313 Mike]

Thanks for the replies Jerry and Eric. Hard to believe it's coming up on 30 years since I shipped over there. Where does the time go...

[Ripster]

Thanks for the replies Jerry and Eric. Hard to believe it's coming up on 30 years since I shipped over there. Where does the time go...

The time does go by .
Thanks for your Service Brother
That mess flared up about a year after my discharge . Knew some buddies who went for over watch and RDF duty and they say the same thing as you stated above .

[313 Mike]

First pic is the de-salination system that pumped in water from the Indian Ocean, worked its magic on it, then filled up the giant water bladders. We would fill up our LVS tanks with that water and transport it to the camps set up in the countryside, and fill up the smaller water bladders located there. This water was not potable so it was mainly used for field showers, washing, etc.
After our arrival in country it took about a month or so before this got set up, which was a long time to go without a shower in sandy sweaty Africa. Even then it was a 2 minute "shower" of standing under a perforated pipe with cold/tepid water dribbling out of it. Felt fantastic though.

[eveled]

Thanks for your excellent posts Mike. Its insane what we ask of our service members.

Thanks for your service. Glad you came home safe.