| Posts: Khartoum,
Sudan |
Author: Joe Statz
(Former Khartoum, Sudan MSG - 1986 |
Source:
emails- Joe
Statz to Jack McGarry
April / 2006
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First let me give my first impressions arriving in
Khartoum. MSGs leaving Quantico were sent out to their posts, shiny and
new, wearing whatever cheap suit was purchased at the mall in.... was
it Fairfax? Well, after some 28 hours of traveling via Washington
National (Reagan National), JFK in New York, both Zurich and Geneva in
Switzerland, I think a stop in Athens as well, Kartoum was "end
station". I arrived approximatly 2200, and my first impressions were
the vast darkness in all directions as the A310 desended towards the
airport, then some lights of the city, and finally, dust. And sand. And
heat, why on earth was it still so hot at this hour? Oh my god the dust
and sand. Wow. I was wide eyed, tired, overwhelmed, and culture
shocked, whisked through customs by the FSN whose specialty was just
that, and the Detachment commander,
SSGT Perez. I recall seeing SSGT Perez's weapon under his LL
Bean type jacket, and thought huh? Out in public? They didn't mention
that at MSG school! Next to the white, armored Chevy van, doors opening
as we approached. I don't recall who all was there, but there were
several, including Johnny F. Josey
sitting towards the back holding an 870P, to whom I attribute the
following quote. I was offered a beer, cold Heineken. I was sure it was
a test of my composure, you know, did they teach him in MSG school to
always maintain composure, 3 piece suit and all, in public? I politely
declined and Johnny piped up. "Boy! You're in Khartooooooooouuuummm
Sudan now, you better start drinkin! " I thought, wow, what
have I gotten myself into. Of course seconds later my thirst was
quenched by the suds from Holland. I also noted that the dress was
considerably relaxed consisting mostly of LL Bean, International Male,
Lands End type clothing. You know, cutting edge 80's
fashion. I arrived on March 15th, 1986.
On April 15th, 1986, US forces
performed a retalitory strike against Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya,
orderded by President Ronald Reagan after the bombing of the Labelle
discotheque in Berlin, if memory serves on the name. There were other
reasons, but are not relevant to the ensuing account of the following
days. On that evening, SSGT Perez gathered the Marines not on duty at
the time on the roof of the Marine house at about 11pm if I recall, and
informed us that the Tripoli and Benghazi attacks were happening at
that moment, and that we could expect things to get exciting starting
the next morning. Libya and Sudan were rather close at the time due to
a long standing friendship between Sudanese President Sadiq el Mahdi,
and Moammar Quadaffi of Libya.
The following day was all hands on deck, with very large demonstrations
at the Embassy. Ambassador Hume A.
Horan gathered the Marines and told us that whatever force we deemed necessary was
authorized, and that they "will not enter this Embassy". Good
pep talk! Sudanese police and military were the first line of defense
out front, but none of the MSG's put a lot of faith that their services
would not be needed. The crowds chanted "down down USA" among other
things, burning home-made US flags, most of which did not even closely
resemble Old Glory.
At one point, with Ralph Drew and Jim Sparks on the roof of the Embassy
with 870P's, one of the demonstrators spotted them. He seperated
himself from the crowd coming to the front, making chopping motions at
his neck and pointing to the MSG's on the roof. Jim says he and Ralph
didn't take too kindly to this, and Jim "racked a round" , leaned over
the edge and drew a bead on the miscreant. Showing his true dedication,
he turned and ran. The demonstration waned as the heat of the day
reached the normal near 100, and we knew that we were not done.
That evening, I was working as a roving post at the
Ambassador's residence, a long with the Diplomatic Security
Service agent, and local military and police staff. While roaming
the grounds my radio sel-call activated and I recall hearing quite
a bit of radio chatter, but did not catch what was going on.
I did hear the Det commander and RSO go secure , and thought
something big had happened. One of the Embassy officers, Bill Calkins,
had been shot somewhere in Khartoum. This information came to light
first to the 2 MSG's on duty at the Embassy. SGT Charles P. Harvey was Post 1, Cpl Jim Sparks was Post 2, the
rover. A known Foreign National came up to the closed doors I guess
around 2100. He was trying to communicate with the MSG's, and what they
observed was that he was bloody, and carrying Bill Calkins' wallet. Jim "popped
the hatch, as he related it to me, and pulled the local in. Jim
searched him while Sgt Harvey covered.
Once it was communicated that this Embassy officer had been shot and
was at a Khartoum hospital, the 2 MSG's on post activated all radio
sel-calls, notifying all Americans to return to their residence and
await further instructions. They then called the Ambassador Horan, DCM David Shinn I think was his
name, the RSO and Det Commander to advise. The RSO, Pete Gallant, and
SSGT Perez went to the hospital and retrieved Mr. Calkins, returning
him to the Embassy where the Nurse Practitioner was going to meet them.
Cpl Sparks and Sgt Harvey administered first aid while waiting for the
nurse to arrive. About 6 hours later they transported him to the
airport, driving right out onto the flight line, providing armed escort
to his medivac flight, which took him to Saudi Arabia. Later on I
believe he was send up to Germany after being stabilized. Mr.
Calkins survived a very serious head wound.
Following Bill Calkins being shot, and the
anti-American demonstrations at the Embassy, it was decided that all
non-essential personnel would be evacuated from Khartoum. Plans were
laid on pretty quickly, and planes chartered from Lufthansa and
Swissair.
On the night of the 17th, overnight to early morning on the 18th is
when the 1st evacuation flight took place. Marines who were not on duty
at the Embassy were split into teams, some paired up with each other,
some paired with Department of State or Diplomatic Security Service
personnel. I was paired with a DSS agent. Persons to be evacuated were
adivsed to be ready, and to pack lightly. Speed was of the essence in
all of this. In the late evening the teams set out to retrieve the
evacuees and bring them to a gathering point where paperwork such as
exit visa's would be accomplished.
The Sudanese government wasn't willing to waive some of the exit
criterea. Off we went, my teams' account was this.
We had a van with four evacuees and we followed in a pick up
truck.
When getting close to a location we would call on the radio to advise
them we were close and to be ready to go.
We would roll up on the house with lights out, I had one of the
detatchment Uzi's and would take a position with a good overall view of
the path between the house where the evacuees would come from, and the
vehicle to which they were going. If there were any cover nearby,
that was a plus.
At one location, I recall coming upon 2 locals walking on the dark,
dusty street. It's not altogether unheard of for one to be armed in
public in that part of the world, but still, I think it gave them a bit
of shock to see me walking towards them carrying and Uzi at the ready.
After picking up the evacuees we would take them to the muster point,
which was the residence of Colonel Robert Peck, USAF. Head back out and
make more pick-ups, bring them back in.
Once all of the evacuees were at the residence, the Marines continued i
n a defensive posture, roaming from the roof of the 3 story structure,
and inside the walls of the compound. The compund was very similar to
the Marine house on Street 15.
After all paperwork was completed we set out in convoy for the airport,
and the waiting aircraft. The Marines were spread throughout the convoy
in different vehicles, and there was also a large Sudanese Police and
Army presence.
Arriving at Khartoum International
Airport, we were stopped briefly at a gate leading directly onto the
tarmac. After a quick stop we were waved onto the ramp, parking a mere
100 yards from the Lufthansa DC10-30. Passengers and bags were loaded
up while the Marines took defensive positions around the aircraft at
wingtips, nose, and tail. I had the nose, still with my Uzi, I don't
recall who else was on what position, except Jim Sparks was on the tail.
I remember this because at one point after the passengers were
boarded, a car came racing across the ramp towards the aircraft. Jim
leveled the 870P and was on the radio shouting to see if he could open
fire. The car stopped and was met by some of our Dept of State folks,
and deemed safe. They were very lucky to not wind up with 1 oz slug
sized holes in their car and themselves.
When the stairs pulled away and the anti-collision beacons turned on we
should have taken the hint, and gotten out of the way. However, I doubt
any of us had any experience with commercial airliners, and so we stood
our ground. The engines started up and on came the nose light, blinding
me. When the engines spooled up to taxi out, I finally got out of the
way.
This had taken most of the night and the encroaching day could be seen
in the Eastern sky, and we were anxious for the aircraft before
daylight made it an easier target. It seemed like a long time that it
sat down towards the takeoff end of the runway, when suddenly it began
taxiing towards the ramp. They got about halfway back to us, then
turned back around and took off, much to our relief.
Our biggest worry was an RPG or some other type of SAM attack. What was
told to us as to the delay in takeoff was that the Sudanese Government
was denying permission, as they were under immense pressure from other
governments in the region who were not very friendly with the
U.S. Apparantly this contigency had been anticipated, as a voice
came on the radio stating something to the effect of, "Lufthansa flight
xxx, this is the U.S. 6th fleet, you are cleared for takeoff and our
F14's will pick you up on climbout." The Navy up in the Med was in on
what was going on so it seems. That's what we were told anyhow.
That was the end of that night, some of us had to go to duty, and it
was time to leave. We did it all again 2 nights later with a Swissair
flight, either an A310 or A300 if I remember, could have even been
another DC10. On that night I was paired up with Jim Sparks as we
picked evacuees up from their homes. I don't think we used the same
residence to get everyones departure paperwork in order, but I can't
recall whose residence we did use. 2 Marines were also declared
non-essential, so Jim Sparks and Kyle Keller went to Nairobi to work as
watchstanders at Company F headquarters. For the ensuing month or
so we avoided staying at the Marine house due to intelligence reports
that the bad guys thought it would be just swel l to kidnap a Marine or
2.
We lived out of overnight bags moving from vacated residence to
residence. Different floor to sleep on every night for awhile. I recall
smoking lots of cigarettes and eating lots of poptarts !
Eventually our 2 MSGS were allowed to return, making the detachment
whole again. For my entire tour there MSG's were armed wherever they
went, usually with a .38 in a bag, and normally while in the van we had
an 870P. It was a very challenging time, but the Detatchment was up to
the challenge.
Some of the State folks I remember fondly were F. Scott Gallo, Kate
Farnsworth, Rich and Lou Cole, Jim Mason, Bob and Therese, Lex and Sue,
and many more. Marines that came to the detachment after the
evacuation, but while times were still pretty hot included the
following.
Shawn A Reichenbach
Michael T Alvey
Ernest T Mccloud
Malcom G Main
Joel W. Swain
David W Wiehausen
Chris O Thomas
Respectfully Submitted, Joseph F. Statz.
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