tip of the spear (pdf) - The Air Commando Association

security for the camps, and Psychological Operations
units produced thousands of leaflets providing
instructions on how to get help within the camps. SOF
were credited with saving thousands of lives by
providing skilled personnel to rebuild the civil
infrastructure, to establish supply networks and to
provide medical assistance.
Operation Gothic Serpent - Somalia
160th SOAR (A) helicopters carrying special operators
from Task Force Ranger at Mogadishu airport were given
the mission to capture Somalia’s Gen. Muhammad Farah
Aideed and his lieutenants in October 1993. During the
mission, two MH-60 Blackhawks were shot down forcing a
rescue operation. The task force faced an overwhelming
Somali mob that overran the crashed helicopter sites,
creating a dire situation. Task Force Ranger experienced a
total of 17 killed in action and 106 wounded. Task force
members had to operate in an extremely difficult
environment that required constant innovation, flexibility
and sound judgment. The task force had more than held its
own against a vastly superior enemy that was battlehardened
from years of civil war and urban fighting. Master
Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart were
posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions
in trying to save a downed helicopter crew.
Tip of the Spear
8
Operation Uphold Democracy - Haiti
Haiti had endured unrelenting political oppression
for hundreds of years. In Operation Support
Democracy and its predecessor Operation Uphold
Democracy, SOF played a strategic role in securing
peace within Haiti. On Oct. 15, 1993, Operation
Support Democracy began with a naval blockade.
Patrol craft with SEALs aboard were used to board
ships smuggling contraband into Haiti. By June 1994,
the SEALs had boarded hundreds of ships. President
Bill Clinton was still dissatisfied with the political
oppression in Haiti in July 1994 and authorized an
invasion plan. SOF were assigned to take down key
government sites followed by a link-up with
conventional forces similar to the invasion of Panama
in 1989. After the main takedown, SOF were to secure
the countryside. The invasion was called off because
former President Jimmy Carter, Sen. Sam Nunn and
retired Gen. Colin Powell brokered a peace deal.
Operation Uphold Democracy began and 3rd Special
Forces Group set up three forward operating bases with
Operational Detachment-Alpha teams keeping law and
order in the countryside. A psychological operations
campaign using leaflets, radio broadcasts and airborne
loudspeaker platforms encouraged cooperation with
U.S. forces and
avoided bloody
conflicts with the
former regime. With
the assistance of nongovernmental
organizations, Civil
Affairs units rebuilt
infrastructure and
restored electricity.
The peace and order
found in the Haitian countryside during Operation
Uphold Democracy were a remarkable tribute to SOF.
Operation Allied Force - Balkans
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization initiated
Operation Allied Force March 24, 1999, to put an end
to Serbia’s violent repression of ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo. A 78-day bombing campaign eventually
forced Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to
withdraw his forces from Kosovo. The bombing
strategy did not prevent Serbia from forcing an