Date with History: Black Hawk Down 30 Years Later

In response to increasing and deadly attacks on American and United Nations Operations in Somalia, a Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) was deployed with the mission of capturing General Muhammed Farah Aideed and his key leaders and turning them over to UNOSOM forces. Task Force Ranger, under the command of Major General William F. Garrison, was comprised of special operations ground forces, special operations helicopters, US Air Force Special Tactics personnel, and US Navy SEALS. It arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia, on August 29, 1993.

Today, 30 years later, some of the soldiers of Task Force Ranger share their experiences and lessons learned during this operation that foreshadowed later military operations by the United States and its Special Operations forces.