‘Raid on Entebbe’ brought to life for US Army Soldiers - Natural Fire 10 - US Army Africa - 091024 : 無料・フリー素材/写真
‘Raid on Entebbe’ brought to life for US Army Soldiers - Natural Fire 10 - US Army Africa - 091024 / SETAF-Africa
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示 2.1 |
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| 説明 | www.usaraf.army.mil‘Raid on Entebbe’ brought to life for US Army Soldiers.Story and Photos by Lt. Col. David KonopU.S. Army AfricaEntebbe, Uganda – Throughout Exercise Natural Fire 10, many of staff for Task Force Lion, the combined, joint exercise headquarters located at the Entebbe airfield, would point at the tower of the old airport terminal building and say “you know the Raid on Entebbe occurred over there; there are still bullet holes in the building.”Despite being co-located at the site of the famous raid, most of the staff were more familiar with the movie “War on Entebbe”, staring Peter Finch, Charles Bronson and James Woods, than with the actual historical events.Fortunately, Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, Task Force Lion and U.S. Army Africa commanding general, directed his headquarters to organize a staff ride to learn about the raid. The Israeli military launched the “raid”, actually a counter-terrorism, hostage-rescue mission, after German and Palestinian terrorists hijacked an Air France flight June 26, 1976, and kept only passengers believed to be Jewish for ransom at the Entebbe Airport. While those participating in the staff ride knew about the old terminal, where the hostages were located, only Lt. Col. Buddy B. Brook, a history major assigned to U.S. Joint Forces Command, knew the sequence of events that occurred July 3-4, 1976, at Entebbe airport. Before the staff ride began, Garrett asked his staff to think about the mission from a terrorist perspective. “Make this relevant” he added. He brought up how important this raid is to our history and the global fight on terrorism. Garrett also reminded the participants that the hijacking occurred only four years after the murder of Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympic, which set the state of mind for Israel, who had vowed after Munich, “never again”. According to Brook, the terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139 traveling from Tel Aviv to Paris via Athens June 26. The plane carried 248 passengers and 12 crew members. After a refueling stop in Benghazi, Libya, the terrorists ordered the aircraft to fly to Entebbe where the President of Uganda, Idi Amin, was sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Initially, there were four hijackers. Once in Uganda, they were joined by three more. The terrorists demanded the release of 40 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, as well as 13 others held in France, Switzerland and Kenya. Throughout the ordeal, some passengers were released; at the time of the raid, 85 Israeli or Jewish and 20 other passengers remained. The Sayeret Matkal commandos, an Israeli special forces unit under the command of Lt. Col. Yonoton Netanyahu, conducted the well-planned air and ground operation, named “Operation Thunderbolt”, the evening of July 3, 1976.During the operation, which lasted approximately 53 minutes, all seven terrorists, approximately 46 Ugandan soldiers, and, unfortunately, three hostages were killed. Additionally, 11 Soviet Migs were destroyed to reduce the threat of pursuit. A video reenactment of the raid can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1ct-meb6U0).The Israeli commandos rescued 102 hostages, and suffered only one casualty, Netanyahu, the raid’s commander. In honor of Netanyahu, the mission was later named “Operation Yonoton.”Overall, the staff ride participants enjoyed the opportunity to learn about an important military event.“I thought it was very educational,” said Sgt. 1st Class John Stick, Task Force Lion operations noncommissioned officer in charge. “Most people were looking at it strategically, but I looked at it tactically. I’m very interested in successful operations.“The best thing about it,” he added, “is that I’ve seen a lot of staff rides, but this is the first time it was offered to both officers and enlisted Soldiers.”“I saw the movie, so I knew that the raid happened,” said Capt. Jessica M. Farrell, Task Force Lion legal advisor, “but the class gave me a greater appreciation of the historical figures who were involved, like Lt. Col. Yonoton Netanyahu.“I thought it capitalized on the unique opportunity here at the airfield in Entebbe,” she said. “It was a great way to actually get an up-close view of sites that are historically important. |
| 撮影日 | 2009-10-24 09:01:00 |
| 撮影者 | SETAF-Africa , Vicenza, Italy |
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| カメラ | Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS , Canon |
| 露出 | 0.017 sec (1/60) |
| 開放F値 | f/4.0 |
| 焦点距離 | 23 mm |