Operation Mount Hope III Documents from the Army

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REPLYTO

ATTENTION OF:

DEPARTMENTOFTHEARMYHEADQUARTERS, UNITED STATES ARMY

SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

2929 DESERT STORM DRIVE

FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA 28310

A p r i l 7, 2011

Freedom o f In fo rmat ion Act

Office

Mr. John Greenewald

Dear Mr. Greenewald:

This i s in response to your Freedom of Information Act

(FOIA) reques t , U.S. Army Specia l Operat ions Command (USASOC)

Case #11-012(J) . You reques ted a l l documents per ta in ing to

Operat ion Mount Hope I I I . On March 21, 2011, i n an email , you

agreed to accep t a " re leasab le" (redacted) copy of the mater ia l .

A r e leasab le copy of the documents i s enclosed. Information

was withheld under FOIA Exemptions (b ) (1), as Nat iona l Secur i ty

In fo rmat ion ; and Exemptions (b) (3) & (b) (6) , fo r Privacy

reasons.

While you have agreed to accep t a " re leasab le" (redacted) .

copy of the informat ion, you re ta in th e r i g h t to reques t th e

records in t h e i r e n t i r e ty . At t ha t t ime you w i l l be given a

formal den ia l , and you w i l l be advised o f your r i g h t to appeal .

There i s no charge fo r process ing your reques t .

I f you have any ques t ions regard ing t h i s response, please

cont a c t Ms. Mary Bowl i ng, th e FOIA Off ice r , a t (910) 432-9233,

email : [email protected]; or Mr. Ronald Corrado, FOIA Analys t ,

a t (910) 432-2437, email : ronald . r [email protected] l .

Enclosure

S i n c e r : l ~ pbe l l P.

Colone +, U. S . Army

Deputy Ch ie f o f Sta f f , G- 6



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Operation Mount Hope III

Overview:

In June 1988, the 160th Special Operations Group sent two CH-47 Chinook helicopters to Northern Chad

to recover a Russian MI-25 Hind helicopter. An overwhelming success, the 1601h completing the entire

duration of the mission: within 67 hours, which included a 490 nautical mile (nm) night vision goggle (NV G)

flight to the extraction site, hooking up the sling load, and two refuel stops on the return to the forward supportbase (FSB). During the final leg back to the FSB, the pilots survived a massive 3,000-foot sand storm, lasting

22 minutes, reducing visibility to near zero at times, and containing winds up to 40 knots.

Background:

Particularly concerned with reducing Western influences, Libyan leader Muarnmar Al-Qadda:fi forcedthe 1970 U.S. abandonment ofWheelus Field, a U.S. Air Force base near Tripoli. Qaddafi's relationship with

the West significantly declined in 1981 when Libyan fighter planes attacked U.S. forces in the Gulfof Sidra.

As Libya began supporting international terrorist organizations, President Regan placed bans on Libyan oil

imports in 1982 and later ordered air attacks in 1986 in retaliation to a terrorist attack in Germany that killed

two American soldiers.In 1960, Libya's neighboring country, Chad, gained its independence from France and began having

military and political problems. Libya recognized this unrest and saw it as an opportunity to gain land with agreat amount of resources, thus beginning the dispute over the ownership ofAouzou Strip, a I I 4,000 square

mile area located in northern Chad, rich in uranium and oil. In 1987, after fighting for 15 years, the U.S. andFrance assisted Chad in ousting the Libyans, leading to a cease-fire agreement. .

During the 1980s, the U.S had limited access to actual threat systems and was unable to research anddevelop any method of counter measures, making the acquisition of threat systems a bigQ priority. The LibyanChadian war provided a key opportunity to seize these systems after the Libyans abandoned the majority of

their equipment in the Chadian desert at the onset of the cease-fire. One such piece ofequipment was theRussian MI-25 Hind helicopter, which is where operation Mount Hope III begins.

Preparing for the Operation

After months of negotiating with the c o u n ~ ofChad, the U.S. and Chad agreed to the MI-25 Hindextraction. During this negotiating period, the 160

1 Special Operations Aviation Group (SOAG)at Fort

Campbell, Kentucky, began planning for this mission and when the execution order came, the Night Stalkerswere ready.

In March of 1988, the 160 111 SOAG received a written exercise researching the Chinooks' ability to liftand transport the MI-25 Hind through the hot arid environment. Planners for the 160

111SOAG determined that

the Hind could weigh between 17,000 and 18,000 pounds and still allow for the required fuel loads.They validated these findings by performing a dress rehearsal of the deployment. In April of1988, two

CH-47 Chinooks were loaded on an Air Force C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft at Fort Campbe11. The aircraft,

maintenance personnel, and crews flew to New Mexico, and prepared the Chinooks for the mission. Unlike theactual mission, the rehearsal was conducted under the hours ofdarkness, departing at approximately 6 p.m. andflying a 490 nm route to the target site. The first Chinook lifted the simulated target, six blivets filled withwater, and then both Chinooks returned to the simulated Forward Support Base (FSB), requiring two re-fueling

stops. After successfully completing this test, the 1601h SOAG conducted load testing with a similar airframe,equal in weight to the Hind, and rigged exactly as it would be fitted to the Hind. Again, the pilots accomplishedtheir mission as they lifted the tandem load. An overwhelming success, Mount Hope II demonstrated the CH-47 Chinook's awesome capability of executing long-range, heavy-lift missions.

Mount Hope III.



Following the May 21, 1988 execution order issuance, several events occurred in rapid succession.

After traveling to Gennany until country clearances could be resolved, an advanced art surve team departed

for the Ndjamena airfield in southern Chad. This team, lead by (b)(3Jt(bl(6)

arrived in Chad almost two weeks prior to the mission. The main body and aircraft then moved via an Arr

Force C ~ 5 Galaxy directly from the United States into Ndjamena where they prepared the Chinooks for the

mission.

Based on the threat analysis, they determined that the movement to the target area would have to occur

tmder darkness and arrive at daybreak. Thus, the flight departed from the airfield at midnight on June 11, 1988.

Without a refuel stop, they flew nearly 500 nm to the target location, the Ouadi Doum airfield in the northern

territories ofChad, where Libyan forces remained situated just north in the Aouzou Strip.

The flight arrived at Ouadi Doum at approximately 5:00a.m. The first chalk landed close to the target

and configured the Hind, while the second chalk hovered over the Hind and sling loaded it. Once the crew

determined the load was stable, the flight departed Ouadi Doum to return to Ndjamena.

This flight differed from the rehearsal in that it was performed during daylight hours, but still proved to

be successful en route to the planned refueling points at Faya Largeau and Mousorro, Chad. Departing from the

latter location, a French foreign legion airfield, they began the most difficult leg of he entire mission.

Approximately 45 minutes outside ofNdjamena, the flight encountered a 3 , 0 0 0 ~ f o o t sand storm. At

times, the flight had to slow to 40 knots to maintain visibility with the ground and each other. Fortunately, just

before reaching the aidield, the pilots cleared the sand storm and raced to Ndjamena. They set the Hind downjust seconds before the sand storm overtook the airfield. After 22 minutes ofbeing sand blasted at Ndjamena,

the storm passed and the crews were able to exit their aircraft, immediately preparing the Chinooks and the

Hind for transport back to the U.S. Within days, both the MI-25 Hind and the CH-47 Chinooks were safely in

the United States, marking it as one of the 1601h Special Operations Aviation Regiment's earliest successes and

the first major operation utilizing the mighty Chinooks.

Author:! . (bJ(3Jt(b)(s). · lis t h ~ (b )(3Jt(b)(6) lofthe Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 160111

Special

Operations Aviation R e g i ~ e n t (Airborne), located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Operation Mount Hope III Documents from the Army

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