Mogadishu Battle Analysis

Critical Reasoning and Battle Analysis of the Battle of Mogadishu

This paper will critically analyze Task Force Ranger (TFR) in Mogadishu, Somalia while supporting the United Nations Operations in Somalia. The lack of combined nations shared intelligence and proper course of action analysis lead to the military defeat of Task Force Ranger in Somalia. Battle analysis of the Battle of Mogadishu reveals that inaccurate intelligence played a decisive role in the battle and could of lead to alternative ending.

The Battle of the Mogadishu

The Settings of the Battle

Study the area of operations.The city of Mogadishu, where the battle of Mogadishu took place in 1993 is hot year round. The average temperatures throughout the entire year stay in the mid-80s. On the day of the battle it was a hot sunny day in the desert. Sand driven by hot wind routinely clogged rifles, inflamed eyes, and permeated cracks in light military vehicles and helicopters. Visibility was reduced to a few meters in these sand storms.

Urban warfare was the primary tactic for Task Force Ranger due to the dense

Acting on what they had learned from studying previous American tactics, Somali militiamen fired RPG-7 rockets at the three Black Hawks in the air. One rocket struck the tail rotor of one of the Black Hawks and sent the aircraft spinning towards the ground and into one of the houses below. The fuselage then rolled over into an adjacent alleyway and came to rest. As the other Black Hawk came to the scene, it began disembarking soldiers from its open cabin by rope. As it was hovering, it too came under fire and was also struck by an enemy RPG. The helicopter was damaged but managed to limp back to the safety of the American base.(Baxter,