Just as Phase Two of Task Force Ranger's "Operation Gothic Serpent" was set to begin, at 10PM on August 29 the ground at the Mogadishu airport shook with a dull thud. A 30-minute Somali mortar attack consisting of nine rounds wounded five Task Force soldiers. Major General Garrison feared that if the Task Force did not respond, then his highly trained SOF units might lapse into the same bunker mentality that plagued UN forces. He vowed "to kick somebody's ass" and, chewing his cigar, walked into the Joint Operations Center (JOC). "McKnight, tell me where the last place was we saw this sombitch."
LTC Danny McKnight -- commander of the 3-75th Ranger battalion and Task Force Ranger's intelligence chief -- responded that it was at a house near the center of the city. "That's our target," Garrison said. "I don't care if Aideed's there or not. . . . [Get] the men ready."
A little over an hour later, Garrison stood before the assembled task force in front of the JOC. Arms crossed, cigar jutting from his mouth, he spoke with a distinctive Texas twang: "Now, some of you have never been mortared before," he said casually. "I just wanted to tell you that if one of them piddly-ass mortars lands in your pocket, it's probably going to hurt. If it doesn't land in your pocket, you don't have to worry about piddly-ass mortars."
The tension broken, Garrison declared: "Now we're gonna go in there tonight and let 'em know we're here. And I have confidence in every one of you. So let's get it on and go do it."
Muhammad Farah Aideed had drawn first blood, but Task Force Ranger was about to begin its hunt for the warlord.
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