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Operation Shadow Express

US special operations forces deployed to Liberia in the fall of 1998 after violent civic unrest in Monrovia again threatened the US embassy. On 18 September 1998, government forces fired on Roosevelt Johnson, effectively the leader of the Krahn ethnic group, and his entourage as they were talking to US officials at the US embassy entrance in Monrovia. The attack wounded 2 US personnel and killed 4 Krahn. Americans forces on scene returned fire, killing 2 policemen. The Americans and the Johnson party retreated into the embassy compound, setting the stage for an extended siege.

The next day, Liberian President Charles Taylor demanded Johnson's surrender, and an attack on the embassy appeared imminent. US European Command (EUCOM) responded by directing Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) to dispatch a 12-man European Survey and Assessment Team (ESAT), which was led by Major Joe Becker, an Air Force special operations forces helicopter pilot, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Pat Ellis, a US Navy SEAL. The team also included several special operations forces intelligence specialists. The ESAT team arrived at the embassy on 21 September 1998 and, within a few hours, ascertained that an armed force was massing to attack the compound. Senior Chief Petty Officer Ellis and Major Becker alerted Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), a Nigerian-led African peacekeeping force then in Monrovia. The ESAT team and the Marine embassy guards devised a defense plan, with the ESAT on the chancery roof and the Marines defending from within the building. Shortly thereafter, an ECOMOG checkpoint stopped 2 truckloads of men armed with rocket propelled grenade launchers from approaching the embassy. The State Department subsequently arranged for the Johnson entourage to relocate to a third country. The ESAT team planned the move, coordinated logistical support, and provided security for the Johnson group’s departure.

On 26 September 1998, the Defense Department ordered additional US forces into the region. In anticipation of this mission, SOCEUR dispatched USS Chinook, a special operations forces patrol coastal ship from Naval Special Warfare Unit Ten (NSWU-10), toward Liberia from Rota, Spain, with an 11-meter rigid inflatable boat (RIB) and 4 special boat operators aboard. Within 12 hours of their notification, also on 26 September 1998, SOCEUR deployed a special operations forces command and control element from Naval Special Warfare Unit Two (NSWU-2), accompanied by approximately 20 SEALs, 2 Air Force Combat Controllers, and an Air Force flight surgeon, on an MC-130 to a forward operating location in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The force landed in Freetown on 27 September 1998. The USS Chinook came into Freetown's port 30 minutes after the aircraft landed, took 17 SEALs on board, and embarked for Liberia, with the remaining special operations forces staying in Freetown to maintain a tactical operations center. By 28 September 1998, Chinook was positioned 2,000 yards offshore from the embassy, ready to provide an in-extremis response force.

From 29 September to 7 October 1998, special operations forces maintained a highly visible maritime presence off the embassy's coastline. First the USS Chinook, and later a second patrol coastal vessel, USS Firebolt, surveyed the Monrovia harbor and repeatedly conducted launch and recovery rehearsals of the RIB. The 2 patrol coastals also stood ready to evacuate the embassy, if necessary. The 10-day "presence operation" provided a calming influence on the situation and reaffirmed special operations forces' ability to deploy forces rapidly into an uncertain environment.