Major General William F. Garrison

The commander of Task Force Ranger, Major General Garrison, was a slender, grey haired man who often had a cigar jutting out of his mouth. Garrison was a career soldier who began as a private and served two tours in Vietnam, including time helping to run the infamously brutal Phoenix program that helped root out and kill Viet Cong village leaders. Garrison was a blunt, brutal man who believed it was a necessary evil to take respect and superiority by force.

Garrison and his Ranger force had been dubbed Keystone Kops in the press because of several tactical errors while serving in Somalia. Mistakes had been made that were portrayed in the press to be more serious than they truly were. For this reason, Garrison was conscious of pressure from Washington to quickly and silently remove Aidid as a player in Somalia. Garrison became...