BLACK HAWK DOWN BOOK IS TRAINING MANUAL (troops cram for possible raids)

The Mirror (UK) ^ | 1/24/02 | Andy Lines, US Editor in Washington

[Egg]

BLACK HAWK DOWN BOOK IS TRAINING MANUAL

AMERICAN troops have been ordered to read the book Black Hawk Down to prepare for snatch raids on al-Qaeda targets in Somalia.

US forces are on high alert to go into the war-torn country and capture senior leaders of the terror network.

Military chiefs have told their men to read Mark Bowden's account of the bungled attempt to capture a Somali warlord in the capital Mogadishu in 1993. The mission was aborted after 18 American soldiers and hundreds of Somalis had died.

A senior defence official said: "Everyone must be aware of exactly what the dangers are. "So much can be learned from what went wrong in 93." He added military action would be taken "in a matter of weeks not months" if al-Qaeda suspects were not handed over.

US defence chiefs have repeatedly named Somalia when discussing the next target in the war against terror.

Intelligence officials say al-Qaeda has been a major presence there since 1993. They believe several training camps have been active in the country and that it was used as a base to prepare the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Meanwhile in Mogadishu, young Somali men have been cheering at the sight of a US helicopter being shot down in the film of Black Hawk Down.

Bootleg copies of the movie, released last week, have been shown in makeshift cinemas.

[Egg]

You know what they say about paybacks...

[eclectic]

You know what they say about paybacks...

Payback is one tough, mean, ugly, vicious momma

[RightOnline]

Just saw it a couple of days ago.

Makes one want to go to Mogadishu and engage in target practice.

[South Dakota]

Perhaps we can catch them in a showhall viewing Blackhawk Down. The Rangers can bust in just when they begin to cheer

[July 4th]

You know what they say about paybacks...

and paperbacks, evidently. :)

[agincourt1415]

Read the Book and just saw the movie. I've also have read Col. Hackworth's books. The only troops that should see that place should be at 40,000 feet in a B-52.

It's a Stalingrad (without snow) waiting to happen. Let Al Queda go there and stay, I'm sure the skinny's will get pissed at them and fight them with AK's and RPGs. The only thing US that should hit the ground there is the cold hard steel of GBU's 2000 pounders.

By the way how can someone be that lucky and hit a tail rotor TWICE with an RPG? Talk about unlucky flying that day.

[Ben Hecks]

"By the way how can someone be that lucky and hit a tail rotor TWICE with an RPG? Talk about unlucky flying that day."

It is my understanding that the RPG rounds used that day had been re-fused so that they detonated in mid-air rather than on contact. This was a new tactic which proved to be deadly. In my opinion, the re-fusing was done by someone with much more expertise than the regular Somali donkey cart repairman.

[Adrastus]

Not be arguementative, but "Daisy Cutters" have a wonderful curative effect on fanatics. We need to start gearing up for a healthy dose of those. They'll clear the consience and the sinus all at one time.

[Travis McGee]

Bowden talks about the time fused RPGs in BHD, but I have not heard anything definitive one way or the other. This is touted as a possible Al Qaida link.

OTOH, if you have very experienced RPG grenadiers shoot dozens of RPG rounds at low flying helos making predictable orbits, you might score a few hits the old fashioned contact fuse way.

[Squantos]

The PG-7M and G versions of RPG ammunition will self destruct at 913 meters thus it's percieved as timed air burst. A good gunner can learn his range if he's in his own neighborhood fighting all the time. The RPG's have a piezo contact fuze that isn't timed except by a powder train time fuze that activates the self destruct when fired.............most of the time it will function as designed upon contact if target is "less" that the aforementioned 913 meters....... Remember the small protective cap on the end that is left on for firing through heavy rain or underbrush also, don't know why you should remember it I'm just reminding ya anyway :o)..........

Tomorrows lesson will be on the RPG-18.........Stay Safe !

[SLB]

Looking forward to the lesson.

[Travis McGee]

Do you believe as Bowden says that the RPGs were or could have been modifed to detonate in the air after, say, 100M or 200M instead of 900M to make them more useful as AAM for low slow helos? Could the fuses on certain RPGs have been replaced with another type? Or is that just a SWAG by the people Bowden interviewed? What's your hunch?

[Matthew James]

No idea - I duck for all of them!

[ChadGore]

SEE THIS MOVIE !

[Egg]

BTTT!

[agincourt1415]

OTOH, if you have very experienced RPG grenadiers shoot dozens of RPG rounds at low flying helos making predictable orbits, you might score a few hits the old fashioned contact fuse way.

I have to agree. If the movie is accurate on the 2nd Black Hawk that was shot down - The RPG did not explode on contact with the Tail rotor - but it did knock it out of balance so that it eventually failed, it appeared that the enemy had enough numbers of RPGs to fire, that after 30 or 40 attempts they hit something.

It should have been an M-1 and Bradley operation instead of helicopter insertion - the General in charge had to be out of his mind, but then again before that we were invincible in IRAQ.

Helicopters in a Urban Area below 3,000 feet, thats asking for trouble.

Excuse the after the fact strategy (but I can't help it) I've read all of Hackworth's books and he's the king of small unit tactics.

[Travis McGee]

Bad tactics didn't help either. Their "textbook" loop way around the city to come in from the other side for the initial insertion only gave the militias more time to stand-to and assemble, since they were "made" as soon as they took off from the airfield.

For this big raid, a take off and direct flight (3 miles or under 5 minutes lift off to rope down) would hve been a nice surprise.

Relying on humvees and unarmored trucks to extract the forces was just stupid too, it was too easy to block roads with rapid roadblocks in this city of all combat veterans. This should have been anticipated.

Going in daylight on the same type of operation several times also gave the bad guys a great idea of how we operate, and was done (against better judgement) because of the pressure from DC to "get results NOW!!"

None of the above IN ANY WAY is meant to disparage the heroism and professionalism of the troops. I am sure Garrison has relived this hell every day since 93, and the Army has benefited greatly from the hard lessons learned about helo and truckborne ops in a MOUT environment, lessons which may save lives and win battles in the future.