This study is about the Operation Gothic Serpent and trying to gain an understanding on why the operation did not success. The operation is a known failure for Americas special forces when trying to capture two lieutenants of General Aidid, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by Somali guerrillas. This operation is analyzed with William, H. McRaven’s theory of special operations and what factors you need to fulfill to achieve success. The conclusion is that McRaven’s principles of simplicity and surprise were not fulfilled by the U.S. special forces. The U.S. suffered 18 losses on the days 3-4th October 1993 on the streets of Mogadishu and several other injured. This study is only using McRavens six principles as the base to try and identify what caused the failure for Operation Gothic Serpent. In conclusion, the study would have been more accurate if it had used more theories to give a more broad understanding on why the operation did not succeed. This is because McRaven’s theory only focuses on the special force unit and not on the Guerrillas.