This weekend marks the 22nd anniversary of the battle of Mogadishu, Somali – more commonly known as “Mogadishu Mile” or “Mog Mile” (as told in the movie Black Hawk Down). The battle saw sustained combat by US Army Rangers, Delta Force, Navy Seals, and other US forces against Somali’s loyal to local warlord Farrah Aidid. The battle started at roughly 16:00 10/03/93 and concluded 06:30 10/04/93 when all troops were exfiltrated from the combat site (some of which had to run without cover or support fire for the last mile). During the battle, 18 American soldier’s were lost, 73 total injured, 1 Black Hawk Pilot taken hostage and held for 11 days; there were two Medal of Honors awarded posthumous to MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randall Shughart for their valor in volunteering to provide defensive cover to one of the two downed Black Hawks.
Personal Note: I recall this conflict in particular because I was mid-way through Army Basic Training at the time. Overall, it was a time of general stability in terms of military actions, and no major political hot spots, so it was a shock to hear of the extent of the battle so many killed and wounded in a conflict that few were familiar with. While not impacted dirtily, as an infantryman it still hit home. Also, in my company at basic there was a platoon of enlisted men assigned to the 10th Mountain Division (Infantry) after basic, and 10th Mtn was one of the non-Special Ops units deployed to Somalia; for them the news of the battle hit home in a serious way as they knew that they would likely deploy to Somalia in the near future.
The Workout: Despite the threat of Hurricane Joaquin (Wa-Queen), a PAX of 8 showed up on 10/03/15 to show some respect through some hard work. Wa-Queen decided not to mess with these bad-asses and stayed out to sea.
The Mission: At 06:15 the PAX were given their Operations Order that they were to conduct a prisoner snatch of Farrah Aidid (Somali Warlord) and move the prisoner (large log) to an extraction site .75 miles away. Their time hack was 15 minutes.
The PAX quickly formed two teams of 4, with 4 persons carrying the “prisoner” (log). The PAX quickly got into a routine of frequent rotations largely by group to keep everyone fresh. The prisoner made it to the evac site (DHL building on Globe Road) with 3 minutes to spare.
The PAX were then quizzed on aspects of the actual Mog Mile. To show respect for MSG Gordon and SFG Shughart, the PAX performed 10 burpees for each MoH recipient. The PAX then did 18 ruck-elevated LBCs for the 18 Americans lost total.
Mission 2: The PAX were informed that their mission had now changed to perform a medical evac of CWO Durrant (Black Hawk pilot who was actually taken captive by Somalis) to a field .75 miles away. The PAX formed a ruck litter carry to move the wounded. The litter carry consisted of placing the wounded man (log) across 4 rucks; the wounded was then carried on top of the rucks with each man holding a strap on either side of the litter. The time hack was 15 minutes plus the 3 minutes ‘extra’ not used on mission 1. PAX made it back to the field with time to spare.
After getting CWO Durrant to the medical evac site, the PAX then continued to exercise their bodies.
- 18 Squats (1 per American lost)
- 73 Flutter kicks (1 for each American wounded) – rounded up to 80 total
The PAX were then told that Quickhatch would be combined with the Crick for a continuous double down, and that they needed to bear crawl across the soccer field to meet up with the men of the Crick
The Crick workout:
Warm-ups conducted by Amtrak
- Good mornings x 15
- Imperial Walker x 10
- SFAC x 10 each direction
- Hillbilly x 10
- Merkin x 10
- Crab walk and bear crawl to the opposite end of the soccer field
- Bear crawl hold (stationary bear crawl position) for 30 seconds
- Squats x 18
PAX then turned over to Rouge for a real beat-down. Several elected to keep their rucks on. Pax for The Crick: Amtrak, Rouge, Candlestick, O-Flex, The Situation, Gopher, Dial Tone, Bartman
Mosey out to Bruckhaus St. and down to the corner of Vogel & Brier Creek Parkway for the start of a quasi-Route 66, sub-in Elevens of Merkins & Squats instead of Burpees, finishing at the steps of the community center entrance.
Mosey to the rock pile, grab rocks, & pair up. Partner Relays with one partner doing rock exercises while the other runs from the bottom of parking lot to the brick wall at the beginning of the service entrance to the school & back. Flapjack & repeato until the following completed:
- 200x Curls
- 100x OH Press
- 200x Rows
- 100x Tricep Extensions
After returning the rocks, back to the parking lot. Run the long loop around the parking lot stopping half-way for 10x of CDDs & 10x of WWIIs at the end of the loop.
Mosey over to the basketball court for the following:
- 15x Dips
- 10x Irkins
- 10x Nippler
- 20x LBCs
- 10 count per Pax – 6-inch leg hold
- 20x Homer-to-Marge
Announcements
- 2 weeks to go to Triable GRC – keep training
- Krispy Kreme challenge registration is open
- Congrats to Gopher for completing the Go Ruck Challenge in Fayetteville NC the prior weekend
Prayers
- Prayers for F3 brother Ramone
- Oregon shooting victims & families
- Those impacted by Joaquin
- Officer Greg Alia’s family
Rouge led the team in prayer
