TASK FORCE RED

Task Force Red was by far the largest element of the JSOTF. The order of battle was as follows: 75th Ranger Regiment, contingents from the 4th Psychological Operations Group (PSYOP), and 96th Civil Affairs (CA) Battalion, as well as Air Force Special Tactics teams and Marine Corps/Naval Gunfire liaison troops (ANGLICO). Close air support aircraft included AH-6 attack helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, AC-130H gunships from the 1st Special Operations Wing, and from the conventional forces, AH-64 Apaches and F-117A fighter-bombers. “The JSOTF’s principal H-Hour missions were the capture of Noriega and the destruction of the Panamanian Defense Forces’ (PDF) ability to fight. As it turned out, the U. S. forces did not know Noriega’s location at H-Hour; accordingly, the JSOTF focused on the H-Hour missions against the PDF.”52

Task Force Red was divided into two sub groups. The first element comprised the 2nd Ranger Battalion with two companies of the 3rd Ranger Battalion (Alpha and Bravo) would conduct a nighttime combat parachute assault at H-Hour (0100 on December 20, 1989) onto the military airfield at Rio Hato while simultaneously the 1st Ranger Battalion plus Charlie Company 3/75 would conduct a nighttime combat parachute assault onto the Omar Torrijos International Airport/Tocumen military airport complex. Conventional follow-on forces would then free up the Rangers for additional missions.

Three Rangers several hours after successfully assaulting Rio Hato. (Rodney LeMay)