Black Hawk Down Read Free Page A

state-of-the-art military force. Already circling high above the
     target was the slickest intelligence support America had to offer, including satellites, a
     high-flying P3 Orion spy plane, and three OH-58 observation helicopters, which looked like
     the bubble-front Little Bird choppers with a five-foot bulbous polyp growing out of the
     top. The observation birds were equipped with video cameras and radio equipment that would
     relay the action live to General Garrison and the other senior officers in the Joint
     Operations Center (JOC) back at the beach. Moviemakers and popular authors might strain to
     imagine the peak capabilities of the U.S. military, but here was the real thing about to
     strike. It was a well-oiled, fully equipped, late-twentieth-century fighting machine.
     America's best were going to war, and Sergeant Matt Eversmann was among them.
    -2-
    It was only a three-minute flight to the target. With the earphones on, Eversmann could
     listen to most of the frequencies in use. There was the command net, which linked the
     commanders on the ground to Matthews and Harrell circling overhead in the Command and
     Control (or “C2”) Black Hawk, and with Garrison and the other brass back in the JOC. The
     pilots had their own link to air commander Matthews, and Delta and the Rangers each had
     their own internal radio links. For the duration of the mission all other broadcast
     frequencies in the city were being jammed. Inside the steady scratch of static, Eversmann
     heard a confusing overlap of calm voices, all the different elements preparing for the
     assault.
    By the time the Black Hawks had moved down low over the city for their final approach
     from the north, the advance Little Birds were already closing in on the target. There was
     still time to abort the mission.
    Burning tires on the street near the target triggered momentary alarm. Somalis often set
     fire to signal trouble and summon militia. Could they be flying into an ambush?
    “Those tires, have they been burning for a pretty good period of time or did they just
     light them, over?” asked a Little Bird pilot.
    “Those tires were burning this morning when we were up,” answered a pilot on one of the
     observation birds.
    “Two minutes,” the Super Six Seven pilot alerted Eversmann.
    The Little Birds moved into position for their “bump,” a sudden climb and then a dive
     that would sweep them over the target house with their rockets and guns pointing down. One
     by one, the various units would repeat “Lucy,” the code word for the assault to begin:
     Romeo Six Four, Colonel Harrell; Kilo Six Four, Captain Scott Miller, the Delta
     assault-force commander; Barber Five One, veteran pilot Chief Warrant Officer Randy Jones
     in the lead AH6 gunship; Juliet Six Four, Captain Mike Steele, the Ranger commander aboard
     Durant's bird; and Uniform Six Four, Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight, who was commanding
     the ground convoy poised to take them all out. The convoy had rolled up to a spot several
     blocks away.
    -This is Romeo Six Four to all elements. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy.
    -This is Kilo Six Four, roger Lucy.
    -This is Barber Five One, roger Lucy.
    -Juliet Six Four, roger Lucy.
    -This is Uniform Six Four, roger Lucy.
    -All elements, Lucy.
    It was 3:43 p.m. On the screen in the JOC, commanders saw a crowded Mogadishu
     neighborhood, in much better shape than most. The Olympic Hotel was the most obvious
     landmark, a five-story white building that looked like stacked rectangular blocks with
     square balconies at each level. There was another similar large building on the same side
     of the street one block south. Both cast long shadows over Hawlwadig Road, the wide paved
     street that ran before them. At the intersections where dirt alleys crossed Hawlwadig,
     sandy soil drifted across the pavement. The soil was a striking rust-orange in the late
     afternoon light. There were trees in the courtyards and