Somalia . . . from the Sea

NAVAL WAR COLLEGE NEWPORT PAPERS 34 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE WAR NAVAL Somalia . From the Sea NEWPORT PAPERS NEWPORT S NA N E ES V AV T T A A A A L L T T W W S S A A D D R R E E C C T T I O I O L N L N L L U U E E E E G G H H E E T T R IA I VI IBU VIRIBOUR OR A S CT S CT MARI VI MARI VI 34 Gary J. Ohls Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Cover The Naval War College complex on Coasters Harbor Island, in a photograph taken about 2000, looking roughly northeast. In the center foreground is Luce Hall, with Pringle Hall to its left and Mahan Hall hidden behind it; behind them, to the left, are Spruance, Conolly, and Hewitt halls. In the center, partly obscured by Conolly Hall, is McCarty Little Hall. On the extreme right in the foreground is Founders Hall, in which the College was established. In recent years the College has expanded into parts of several buildings of the Sur- face Warfare Officers School Command, on the northern part of the island. In the middle distance are facilities of Naval Station Newport (the decommissioned aircraft carriers ex-Forrestal and ex- Saratoga are visible at Pier 1) and, be- yond that, of the Naval Undersea War- fare Center. In the far distance can be seen parts of the towns of Portsmouth and Tiverton, Rhode Island. Photograph © 2008 by Onne van der Wal Photography, Inc. NP_34_Ohls-IFC.ps C:\_WIP\_NP34-Ohls\_Ventura\NP_34_Ohls.vp Friday, July 17, 2009 11:50:31 AM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Somalia...FromtheSea Gary J. Ohls N ES AV T A A L T W S A D R NAVAL WAR COLLEGE PRESS E C T I O N L L U E E G Newport, Rhode Island H E T R I VI IBU OR A S CT MARI VI NP_34_Ohls.ps C:\_WIP\_NP34-Ohls\_Ventura\NP_34_Ohls.vp Friday, July 17, 2009 3:12:15 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Naval War College The Newport Papers are extended research projects that the Newport, Rhode Island Director, the Dean of Naval Warfare Studies, and the Center for Naval Warfare Studies President of the Naval War College consider of particular Newport Paper Thirty-four interest to policy makers, scholars, and analysts. July 2009 The views expressed in the Newport Papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the President, Naval War College Naval War College or the Department of the Navy. Rear Adm. James P. Wisecup, USN Correspondence concerning the Newport Papers may be Provost addressed to the Director of the Naval War College Press. Amb. Mary Ann Peters To request additional copies, back copies, or subscriptions Dean of Naval Warfare Studies to the series, please either write the President (Code 32S), Robert C. Rubel Naval War College, 686 Cushing Road, Newport, RI 02841-1207, or contact the Press staff at the telephone, fax, Naval War College Press or e-mail addresses given. Director: Dr. Carnes Lord Reproduction and printing are subject to the Copyright Act Managing Editor: Pelham G. Boyer of 1976 and applicable treaties of the United States. This document may be freely reproduced for academic or other Telephone: 401.841.2236 noncommercial use; however, it is requested that Fax: 401.841.1071 reproductions credit the author and Newport Papers series DSN exchange: 948 and that the Press editorial office be informed. To obtain E-mail: [email protected] permission to reproduce this publication for commercial Web: www.usnwc.edu/press purposes, contact the Press editorial office. Printed in the United States of America ISSN 1544-6824 ISBN 978-1-884733-59-8 NP_34_Ohls.ps C:\_WIP\_NP34-Ohls\_Ventura\NP_34_Ohls.vp Friday, July 17, 2009 3:12:15 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Contents Foreword, by John B. Hattendorf v Introduction 1 Acknowledgments 7 CHAPTER ONE Operational and Strategic Context 11 CHAPTER TWO Operation EASTERN EXIT 25 CHAPTER THREE Operation PROVIDE RELIEF 47 CHAPTER FOUR Operation RESTORE HOPE: Prelude and Lodgment 73 CHAPTER FIVE Operation RESTORE HOPE: Operations and Transition 97 CHAPTER SIX Operation CONTINUE HOPE: Operations and Conflict 129 CHAPTER SEVEN Operation CONTINUE HOPE: Reinforcement and Withdrawal 151 CHAPTER EIGHT Operation UNITED SHIELD 173 CHAPTER NINE Operational and Strategic Observations 195 APPENDIX A The Weinberger Doctrine 205 APPENDIX B The Powell Doctrine 207 APPENDIX C UNITAF Component Commanders 209 NP_34_Ohls.ps C:\_WIP\_NP34-Ohls\_Ventura\NP_34_Ohls.vp Friday, July 17, 2009 3:12:15 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen iv THE NEWPORT PAPERS APPENDIX D UN Security Council Resolutions 211 APPENDIX E Seven-Point Agreement 215 APPENDIX F Somali Clans and Political Factions 217 APPENDIX G Participating Nations 219 APPENDIX H General Zinni’s Considerations for Humanitarian and Peace Operations 221 APPENDIX I Major Events Chronology 223 APPENDIX J Acronyms and Abbreviations 225 Bibliography 233 About the Author 245 The Newport Papers 247 NP_34_Ohls.ps C:\_WIP\_NP34-Ohls\_Ventura\NP_34_Ohls.vp Friday, July 17, 2009 3:12:15 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Foreword At the end of the decades-long Cold War, the United States displayed its military capability in a positive manner by responding to a severe humanitarian crisis in Somalia. The goal of providing assistance amid starvation and chaos appealed to the better natures of the American people and their leaders. Highly influenced by media coverage of starvation and privation, most Americans happily embraced a series of operations conducted by their government to alleviate the suffering that appeared pervasive throughout that African nation. Regrettably, the best of intentions could not prevent a continuing drift toward disorder, and the American relief effort devolved into conflict and bloodshed. Although the operations were not entirely without success, the violence and casualties incurred during these actions left a bitter impression that influenced American foreign policy and military thinking for some time thereafter. In Somalia...FromtheSea,Professor Gary J. Ohls has written an account of those experiences and their subsequent impact on the policies of the United States. Despite the fact that American incursions into Somalia entailed the joint effort of all U.S. services, naval expeditionary forces provided the preponderance of force during much of the involvement. Professor Ohls illustrates this, while analyzing the operational and strategic aspects of these events. Professor Ohls undertook this research and writing project in naval operational history while serving as a faculty member in the Maritime History Department of the Naval War College between August 2007 and December 2008. The tradition of studying both recent and long-past historical events was firmly established at the foundation of the Naval War College in 1884 with the contributions of the College’s founder, Stephen B. Luce, and his immediate successor, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan. Historical research and analysis has continued as a recognized element of the academic life of the institu- tion for the past 125 years. Nowhere is there a more logical requirement for a corpus of relevant source material and for an academic research department devoted to new research on naval history. Building on a tradition of publishing timely analyses, the Naval War College initiated the book-length series of works known as the Newport Papers. In his study of American involvement in Somalia during the immediate post– Cold War period, Professor Ohls has participated in the Newport Papers tradition by making an original contribution to naval operational history that provides insight NP_34_Ohls.ps C:\_WIP\_NP34-Ohls\_Ventura\NP_34_Ohls.vp Friday, July 17, 2009 3:12:15 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen vi THE NEWPORT PAPERS and understanding that can inform future decisions and actions in the uncertain world that lies ahead. JOHN B. HATTENDORF, D.PHIL. Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History Chairman, Maritime History Department NP_34_Ohls.ps C:\_WIP\_NP34-Ohls\_Ventura\NP_34_Ohls.vp Friday, July 17, 2009 3:12:15 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Introduction From January 1991 through March 1995, the United States conducted numerous incursions into Somalia, undertaking a variety of missions and objectives. All of the actions had humanitarian elements, yet the operations that made up this mosaic of American involvement ranged from benign to aggressive—from purely humanitarian to clearly combative. Somalia...FromtheSeais an account that attempts to explain and analyze these actions and place them within the overarching strategic and operational concepts developing in the first years following the end of the Cold War. During this period, the sea services sought to redefine their roles in a rapidly changing defense environment, as well as the new world order of President George H. W. Bush and the assertive multi- lateralism of President William J. Clinton. In the minds of many leaders, these were times of both relief and uncertainty. The world had gotten through the Cold War without a nuclear exchange or a major conventional confrontation between the world’s great superpowers, and that was a good thing. But the lack of clarity about this new world order created angst in the minds of many military leaders. Political leaders and many American citizens saw this as a time of great opportunity. It would be possible to reduce defense costs and reallocate those expenditures to every- thing from social programs to tax reductions. Even the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent war to reestablish Kuwaiti independence did not dampen the enthusiasm of the times, since most leaders viewed Saddam Hussein and his aggression as an anomaly in the new world order.

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