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Below are brief descriptions of major events only.

Operation Restore Hope

December 9, 1992 - May 4, 1993

US Force Recon Marines and Navy SEAL's, followed by Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment arrive in Mogadishu, launching America's intervention in Somalia.

First US combat action, 2 Marine Cobra gunships destroy an armed Somali vehicle. 2 Somalis KIA.

Marines secure village of Kismaayo in the first US combined amphibious assualt since the Vietnam War.

An American federal/civilian employee is killed by a land mine.

US Marines fire on a vehicle, killing 3 Somalis.

Marines on a recon patrol in village of Afgoy kill a Somali gunman.

Largest military confrontation of Restore Hope. 500 Marines engage in a shoot-out with Warlord Aidid's forces in Mogadishu. 15 Somalis are taken POW, no US casualties.

Marines kill 3 Somali gunmen.

Operation Nutcracker. 900 Marines sweep through the Bakara bazaar. No casualties on either side.

First US KIA. Marine killed while on patrol in Mogadishu.

A US Navy corpsman is WIA by a Somali sniper.

Operation Condor Ratchet. 6 UH-60 Blackhawks from the 10th Mountain Division, carrying Alpha Co. 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, Air-Assaults in and surrounds Abu Airfield next to village of Afgoy.

20 men from 10th Mountain Divisions Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry kill 6 Somalis in Bale Dogle. No US casualties.

Peak US troop strength 25,800.

Cobras from 10th Mountain Divisions 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment destroy 6 armed vehicles, killing 8 Somalis in Kismaayo.

A Marine is KIA by sniper fire in Mogadishu.

Kismaayo Ablaze. 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry engages Somali militias in dozens of firefights: at least 23 Somalis are killed. No US casualties.

3 Marines are WIA while clearing Kilometer-4 traffic circle in Mogadishu.

Members of 10th Mountain Divisions Bravo Company 2/87 Infantry fight their way out of a crossfire in Kismaayo. 4 grunts, while pinned down, kill 9 Somalis. No US casualties.

A Special Forces member is KIA by a land mine.

A Marine is WIA during a shoot-out with gunmen in the Bakara Market. 1 Somali killed.

Last Marine patrol in Somalia conducted in Mogadishu.

Operation Continue Hope

May 5, 1993 - March 31, 1994

Phase II, dubbed Operation Continue Hope, of the US intervention in Somalia begins.

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is approved for Somalia veterans by the Joints Chief of Staff.

2 US soldiers (trucker and engineer) are wounded in the bloodiest day in 3 months during running battles across Mogadishu. An 85 man company from 1/22 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, is air assaulted in to repel further attacks.

US troops participate in a retalitory strike against Aidid's forces for the June 5 ambush. The UN strikes a second heavy follow-up blow against Aidid. US Special Operations AC-130 Spectre gunships attack six targets in capital city of Mogadishu.

Six hours of fierce street battles are fought by UN troops backed by US helicopters, to capture Aidid's headquarters. One American GI is slightly injured. 130 GIs of the 1/22 Infantry are rushed in to back the UN forces.

Two GIs are WIA while clearing debris from 21 October Road.

US helicopters attack Somali positions killing 2 gunmen.

13 US helicopters attack a Somali compound.

Two US soldiers are WIA when a Rocket Propelled grenade hits their guard post.

17 US helicopters conduct an attack on Aidid compound-at least 13 Somalis are killed.

Two US MP's are hit by sniper fire. US soldier WIA during RPG attack on compound.

a GI is WIA in a rocket attack. Return fire from a Cobra kills one Somali gunman.

Amry Chief of Staff authorizes 10th Mountain Division soldiers to wear the combat patch, shoulder sleeve insignia-former wartime service and overseas service bar.

Two Green Berets are WIA when their HUMVEEs are ambushed.

Two GIs are WIA in a convoy ambush near Bale Dogle.

Three GIs are WIA in mortar/RPG attacks in Mogadishu.

US convoy is attacked and 5 Somalis are killed in an hour-long battle near village of Afgoy. US helicopters assist.

Four US GIs are KIA. A land mine blows up their HUMVEE in the suburb of Medina causing the worst US death toll to date.

Four US soldiers are WIA by an explosive under their vehicle.

Six US soldiers are WIA when their truck is blown up.

Manhunt begins. 3rd Battalion. 75th Ranger Regiment and 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment (DELTA) deploy to Somalia to capture Aidid.

Operation "Eyes Over Mogadishu" steps up helicopter flights over the capitol.

50 Rangers stage a raid in search of Aidid, leader of Somalia.

Two Rangers are WIA during a two-hour assault against an Aidid compound.

Two GIs are WIA on the October 21 Road as Cobras kill numerous Somalis.

Three US soldiers are WIA in a 2-hour clash in Mogadishu. About 200 GIs are ambushed by 200 Somali gunmen. Two US helicopters lay down heavy fire, killing 15 and wounding 40 Somalis.

Rangers capture a key Aidid aide in a helicopter borne raid.

Three GIs are KIA. Their Blackhawk helicopter is shot down by an RPG. During a gun battle to reach the crash site, 3 Americans from the QRF are WIA.

US troop strength in Somalia 5,675 (4,228 under UN command and 1,447 in the Quick Reaction Force).

Battle at Bakhara Market. Bravo Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion.,75th Regiment, Delta Force members, pilots of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Companies A and C 2nd Bn. 14th Infantry 10th Mountain Division, and Company C, 41st Engineer Battalion, battle 1,000 Somalis in Mogadishu. 18 US KIA, 78 WIA. Somali loss is estimated at 300 killed and 600 wounded.

Last US KIA. A Green Beret is killed during a mortar attack at the Mogadishu Airport. 12 GIs are WIA. Three Marines are WIA elsewhere. Mortaring of the Ranger hangar compound

Army policy directive authorizes wartime awards (only for actions since June 5th, 1993) and Combat Infantryman Badges and Medical Badges for participants in Somalia fighting. AC130 spectre gunships come back to Mogadishu and shell the city.

Cease-Fire. Aidid unilaterally declares a "total cease fire." Clinton bars retaliation against Aidid.

5,370 US reinforcements deploy to Somalia. 1,700 in Somalia and 3,670 Marines offshore.

Two US Blackhawk helicopters are fired upon by RPG's over Mogadishu.

Withdrawal of 750 Rangers from Somalia is complete.

Somali gunmen fire on US infantry unit. Two trucks in the convoy are hit. Fire returned but no casualties.

US soldiers wound two Somalis near K-4 traffic circle. GIs are fired on by small arms and RPG's.

GIs kill a Somali armed with a grenade launcher near the Embassy Compound.

Manhunt Ends. UN Security Council officially calls off the search for Aidid.

Navy SEAL's kill a Somali gunman in Mogadishu. In another incident, 2 Somali gunmen are killed.

USS America battle group with 5,500 sailors, departs coast, reducing offshore strength from 9,195 to 3,833. USS Independence takes up station.

Two US MP's are WIA by Somali gunman in Mogadishu. Navy SEAL's kill a Somali gunman.

2/14 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, departs Somalia.

US troops kill 2 Somali gunmen in Mogadishu.

Glossary

A Sikorsky-made utility helicopter used primarily as a troop transport. It has a crew of 4; a Pilot, Co-Pilot, Crew-Chief and a Doorgunner. The blackhawk is capable of carrying up to 11 passengers.

The Army's elite counterterrorism unit, made up of three 150-man squadrons of specially trained professional soldiers, most of them in their late 20s or early 30s, products of a tortuously rigid selection process. *The Army does not officially acknowledge that the unit exists.

Wide-bodied Army vehicles that replaced the jeep. There are cargo humvees with sloping hatch-backs, and attack humvees outfitted with either a .50-caliber machine gun or an automatic grenade launcher (Mark 19). "Humvee" comes from HMMWV, the military acronym for high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle.

Kilometer 4 - One of the major traffic roundabouts in southern Mogadishu.

A propeller-driven spy plane that flew high over Mogadishu for 10 hours during the October 3/4 battle. It is outfitted with extraordinarily high-powered surveillance cameras and electronic-jamming devices.

The 450-man force deployed to Mogadishu in late August 1993, and made up primarily of Delta Force Squadron C from Fort Bragg, N.C., Bravo Company of the 75th Ranger Regiment from Fort Benning, GA., and the helicopter unit called, "Night Stalkers," the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment from Fort Campbell,KY.

Rocket-propelled grenade used by Somalis. It is fired from a tube as if a small missile.

A building located one block south of the target building on Hawlwadig Road.

Armored Personnel Carrier, tanklike vehicle that carries troops.

Who's Who

Leader of the Habr Gidr, a powerful Somalian subclan. He was the revolutionary general most repsonsible for the overthrow of Somalian dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Aidid saw himself as the rightful ruler of Somalia and resisted United Nations efforts to force him into sharing power in a coalition government. He died at age 62 of gunshot wounds on August 1, 1996.

Two-star commander of Task Force Ranger. He is a major figure in U.S. Army special operations. During the Vietnam War, he helped direct the now-infamous Phoenix program, which targeted Viet-Cong informers in South Vietnam.

*Note-- Major General Garrison retired from service on August 1, 1996...the same day Somali leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid died...sources say he winks at the coincedence.