Operation United Shield
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Operation United Shield was the name given to the US military operation of evacuating all remaining 6,200 UN peacekeeping troops from Somalia from January to March of 1995, the troops were made up of Americans, Pakistanis and Egyptians. (Indian, Zimbabwean, and Malaysian units had already disengaged in late 1994).
General Peay of the United States Army and Lieutenant Gen. Anthony C. Zinni (Commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force) were given command of the operation which saw the last troops brought to Mogadishu, and then entirely disengaged. They arranged to use 4,000 troops to cover the withdrawal and prevent further casualties, and a sea-borne coalition was made up of American, Italian, Pakistani, French, British, and Malaysian naval vessels through the Indian Ocean.
A success, the operation saw the safe withdrawal of all 6,200 troops to be evacuated, as well as over a hundred combat vehicles, without a single casualty.
Naval Ships Involved in the Sea-Borne Patrol
American
- USS Belleau Wood (Command Platform)
- USS Essex
