Army, Marine Rapid Reaction Forces at Work Evacuating US Personnel From South Sudan

Aborted evacuation attempt on December 21 left 3 Navy SEALs wounded

U.S. military quick-reaction forces put in the field after the September 2012 attack on the U.S. consular compound in Benghazi, Libya, have been in the middle of this month's evacuation of Americans from strife-torn South Sudan.

Based in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, soldiers in the Army force first left for South Sudan on Dec. 14 to evacuate diplomats at the embassy in the capital of Juba. Meanwhile, Marines stationed at an air base in Moron, Spain, have deployed to Djibouti and Uganda to help in the evacuations.

These moves follow the unsuccessful evacuation attempt of U.S. nationals by a Djibouti-based Navy SEAL team on Dec. 21. Four SEALs were wounded in the evacuation attempt when their V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft came under small-arms fire over the town of Bor. Their mission was aborted.