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Regarding the AC-130s, I also had the impression that the Military brass did NOT want these heavy gunships in the mix. Even with hindsight, it was concluded that the 'Little Birds' they actually used were best suited for air support in the kind of close-in street fighting that developed, and that the air support they provided prevented the casualty list from being much longer than it was.

The movie makes it clear how close the targets that air support was supposed to hit were to our own boys. An AC-130 could not have hit those targets without unacceptable risk to the Rangers and D-boys.

No doubt about it. The Little Birds kept our guys from being slaughtered by the Somalis that night. As far as getting CPL Smith out of there...not a whole lot could've been done, no matter how you cut it. Chalk that failure up to the U.N. for dragging their feet on getting the armor support out there just so they could prove a point to the Task Force Ranger commanders. Had a medevac been sent in, it most likely would have been shot down, or at least several more Rangers and D-boys would've been hit in the process of loading him onto it.