"Black Hawk Down"
Mission
Masters and Three Rivers Paintball of Freedom, PA, teamed up
to put on a Mission Paintball Game with action and storylines
based upon actual historic events in Mogadishu 1993… Black
Hawk Down. The result was one of the greatest mission paintball
games to date, which by the way, was Saturday, June 3, 2006.
It was the eighth engagement between Mission Masters and Three
Rivers Paintball and their success is proven by a growing base
of paintball players of all ages and skill levels including
scenario teams, woodsballers, tourney paintballers, and first-timers
- a testament that mission paintball games are for everyone.
Squads turning up for the event and filling out ranks included
A Band of Brothers, The Killer Beez, and many smaller teams.
The Three
Rivers Paintball staff transformed their recreational woods
fields into "Mogadishu" complete with vehicle convoy,
Olympic Hotel, and the newest permanent prop, a twenty-six foot
long Black Hawk helicopter. Three Rivers Paintball opened and
combined all of their recreational woods fields to accommodate
the event. A new access path was bulldozed through the woodland
for service and construction of bunkers and barricades. A sound
system on the roof of mid-field tower (a Mogadishu Radio Station
for this game) boomed out tunes from the Black Hawk Down soundtrack.
The Black Hawk Down movie played on two television monitors
in the pro shop.
The US Army
sponsored the event and sent four recruiters and a Humvee to
attend. Even two of the recruiters played in the game. In recognition
of US Military Forces, a BT-4 Assault marker was added to the
list of giveaways following the games. Hooah!
The Theme
Here's a brief synopsis of the actual events: Somalians suffer
from widespread famine as a warlord stops international aid
from his own people causing starvation and civil war. U.S. Army
Rangers were sent to remove this warlord from power. It was
a near-disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993 where
nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers were dropped by helicopter deep
into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants
of a Somali warlord. The result is a large and drawn-out firefight
between the Rangers and hundreds of Somali gunmen which led
to the destruction of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters and the
heroic efforts by the Rangers to get to them.
The Teams
Team Blue:
Task Force Ranger: The 450-man force deployed to Mogadishu in
late August 1993, was made up primarily of Bravo Company of
the 75th Ranger Regiment from Fort Benning, Georgia, Delta Force
Squadron C from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the helicopter
unit called ''Nightstalkers,'' the 160th Special Operations
Aviation Regiment from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Team Red:
Habr Gedir Clan: A powerful Somalia subclan, part of the Hawaye,
one of the five principle clans in that desert nation. During
the "Black Hawk Down" period, this clan was led by
Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Militia men were clan supporters; unpaid
volunteers who fight not on orders, but out of desire to defend
their communities.
The Battle
The
first mission brought both teams into conflict over a broken
down convoy vehicle. The Habr Gedir Clan concentrated their
efforts on stealing U.N. supplies and food from the vehicles,
while Task Force Ranger attempted to defend and repair the "disabled"
vehicle where curls of smoke puffed out from under the hood.
Combat Engineers were equipped with a tool kit to make the necessary
repairs. The convoy zone was very hot for the duration of the
mission and only a lucky few made it to and from the convoy
escaping elimination. Despite the odds, the Clan was successful
in stealing all of the U.N. supplies and food. In the last two
minutes of Mission 1, Task Force Ranger surged forward getting
one of their remaining Combat Engineers and his escorts to the
disabled vehicle. Moments after the hood was up, he was eliminated.
The Habr Gedir earned the their lead for Mission 1.
More battles
raged over the next three missions as Task Force Ranger and
the Habr Gedir Clan clashed over tensions that led up to the
Black Hawk Down situation. Some mission objectives included
the Clan team outfitting vehicles on the field with "heavy
weaponry" while Rangers and Delta attempted to destroy
them; capture and transport of weapons caches; construction
of a convoy roadblock; rescue U.N. personnel; and destroy a
Clan radio station used to communicate propaganda and support.
Often completed objectives triggered the release of smoke bombs
adding the "fog of war" element to the game. Task
Force Ranger managed to achieve and maintain their points lead
up to the mid-game break.
Missions
five through eight characterized the events of Black Hawk Down.
Mission five was code named "Irene!" Anyone who knows
the smallest shred about Black Hawk Down should know what this
means. If you don't know, then shame on you - go watch the movie
or read the book already! Task Force Ranger was successful in
securing the Olympic Hotel and capturing two Habr Gedir Lieutenants
as well as extracting the injured Private Blackburn. Meanwhile,
the Habr Gedir Clan was just as successful in "igniting"
tires around the Olympic Hotel with molotiv cocktail props and
their special operation to shoot down Super-Six One with an
RPG. The shootout around the Olympic Hotel during this mission
was one of the best I've ever witnessed, as well as one I'll
always remember. I'm sure you'll get no argument from anyone
who was there to experience it - and both teams pulled out full
mission scores to prove it!
Subsequent
missions and objectives paralleled the real Black Hawk Down
saga. The helicopter crew of Super-Six One was rescued, while
the crew of Super Six-Four was captured. The Habr Gedir Clan
installed and defended weapon emplacements to cutoff the Americans'
retreat while Task Force Ranger placed beacons at strategic
air targets. Task Force Ranger held only a 10-point lead before
the final mission. Typical to Mission Paintball Games, close
scores before the final mission meant it was anybody's game,
and promised an all-out battle for a climactic win.
Mission
Masters held a couple surprises for the final mission. First,
it would be a game of elimination without a time limit - the
remaining team would receive additional points for completely
eliminating their opponents. Next, there would be no re-insertions
for eliminated players. In addition to mission objectives, Task
Force Ranger was withdrawing from the area and would transport
and defend the good ol' stars-n-stripes to make a last stand
at a designated field location. In this case, the location was
at the well-known and highly defensible "Tank." The
Habr Gedir, in addition to their objectives, would of course,
be trying to capture that flag - but did not know where the
Americans would be making their last stand. And just to make
things even more interesting, a smoke screen was cast across
the middle of the playing field when the starting horn sounded.
Another
"hopper-drainer" ensued. Team Blue arrived at the
Tank, raised the flag, and dug in its forces, confident they
would endure this battle. Team Red was more determined than
ever to win this one, only having the lead since Mission 1.
Conservative efforts by both teams soon turned aggressive. The
Habr Gedir team rallied and made no less than three charges
to the American Flag. Once the flag was taken from its bracket
and returned as the Clanner was eliminated. At one point Team
Blue had one third more players on the field than Team Red.
After twenty minutes passed and droves of eliminated players
made their way off the field, Task Force Ranger was on its heels.
Many eliminations weakened their defensive shield around the
flag, and finally it was taken by the Clan. Several minutes
after that, the Clanners were on a manhunt - eliminating every
remaining member of Team Blue. As unbelievable as it was, Team
Red, the Habr Gedir Clan, overran and ousted Task Force Ranger
and won the game with a final score of 175 to 160! In effect
history repeated itself for this Black Hawk Down game as Task
Force Ranger completed enough objectives to stay ahead, but
were ultimately driven out by the enemy forces.
Mission
Masters wishes many thanks to the men and women who serve this
country providing us the freedom we enjoy every day, and to
Three Rivers Paintball and their outstanding referee and pro
shop staff. Further thanks to Joseph Lada for the fine work
on the new Black Hawk helicopter and to National Sign for the
custom armbands. And as always, thanks to those who participated
in the Black Hawk Down Mission Paintball Games.
Three Rivers
Paintball will be hosting more Mission Masters Paintball Games
in the near future.
Please visit MissionMasters.com
for more information.
~ Dean "CUDA"
Allen
