Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War - Net Assessment - Book Review

Air & Space Power Journal, Fall, 2002 by Jon Campbell

The principal issues here lie not at the tactical level but at the strategic. In spite of the tremendous success of "effects based" warfare in Operation Desert Storm, people continue to misunderstand it and debate whether it has the advantage over "attrition based" warfare. Had we used effects-based strategies to move us towards our desired end state in Somalia, it is unlikely that Task Force Ranger would have found itself in such an extremely highrisk endeavor that offered only minimal return. Clearly, removing Aidid or his lieutenants was not well linked to establishing democracy in Somalia. Rather, we would have recognized that nation building would be a long-term process, perhaps initiated by creating an interim government supported by a national police force defended by our forces operating in the background.

Both the book and movie do an extraordinary job of conveying the events that occurred in Somalia. As with most movies, trying to capture a complex battle with multiple characters in two hours is a major challenge. For that reason, the viewer should read the book first in order to understand some of the detailed interactions that the movie simply has no time to explain. But the movie more effectively conveys a sense of the carnage witnessed by our forces that day.

Everyone in the Air Force should either read Black Hawk Down or watch the movie version--preferably do both. Each attests to the spirit, professionalism, valor, skill, and nobility of the American fighting forces involved in this conflict. The Somali warlords intended this incident to become a modern-day version of Custer's last stand or the Alamo. But they were denied.