PROLOGUE: On the afternoon of October 3, 1993, information was received that two leaders of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's clan were at a residence in central Mogadishu. Task Force Ranger, under command of Maj. General William F. Garrison, commander of JSOC, initiated Operation Gothic Serpent, sending in 19 aircraft, 12 vehicles, and 160 men to arrest them.

During the mission, Private Todd Blackburn missed the rope while fast-roping from an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and fell 70 feet to the street below, badly injuring himself. The two Somali militia leaders were quickly arrested and the prisoners and the injured Ranger were loaded on a convoy of ground vehicles. However, armed Somalis converged on the target area from all over the city.

The battle turned out to be the most intensive close combat that US troops had engaged in since the Vietnam War. In the end, two MH-60 Black Hawks were destroyed (as well as one seriously damaged) and 19 US soldiers were killed along with 1 Malaysian soldier on the rescue convoy. Estimates of Somali dead are around 1000 Somali Militiamen killed during the battle. The Delta Force Snipers SFC Randall Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon were posthumously awarded with the Medal of Honor for their efforts protecting their brothers in arms.

We will be re-enacting this operation made famous by the movie "Black Hawk Down", with Task Force Ranger consisting of a hand-picked team of highly experienced paintballers, hunkered down on the field of play for 24 hours straight. The OPFORCE will consist of up to 5 independent clans, surrounding the Task Force throughout the event.

To start things off, Task Force Ranger will have to fight for, secure and setup their Base-of-Operations. They will then be called upon to execute missions radioed in every 30-60 minutes, and remain on the field of play until mid Sunday morning (eat, sleep, rest, recover and fight), before trying to break through each clans lines to reach freedom. They will have to hump in all of their supplies in the opening mission of the game, and keep them secure until they break out on Sunday morning.

Note: There "may" be a re-supply option for the Task Force; meaning if needed, I might create an on-the-fly re-supply mission with my staff. This could involve event staff or an event vehicle dropping off their supplies at a remote location.

The Clans will also have missions to perform, as well as standing orders to harass and confront the Task Force and neighboring clans. They will have the luxury to go off field and eat, sleep, rest and recover. Each clan Warlord will be given specific night missions to execute against the Task Force.

WHERE: Ontario Paintball Challenge, Ontario Oregon.
WHEN: Friday, Saturday & Sunday, September TBD, Check-in starts at noon Friday.
COST: $TBD/player, $TBD for families of 1 adult and 1 or more children under 15.
Save $TBD when you register online...
AIR (CO2 and HPA) is included in registration.
FIELD PAINT ONLY EVENT -- Support the field owners by purchasing their paint.