Operation Celestial Balance is one example of such a mission : the target was the member of the east African al-Qaeda cell responsible for the 1998 United States embassy bombings and he was involved in bombing of a Kenyan hotel resort , he was the facilitator between al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab . After collecting information on the target and his location , CIA and JSOC planners presented President Obama with 4 options : a Tomahawk cruise missile strike , an airstrike , an attack by Little Bird helicopters or an attempt to capture the target with an assault force of SEALs . Obama picked the airstrike option , however on the day of the operation a USMC Boeing AV-8B Harrier II approached its release point it reported a malfunction in its targeting system ; so 8 helicopters ( 4 AH-6M Little Birds and 4 MH-60L Blackhawks ) piloted by members of the 160th SOAR " Nightstalkers " carrying a team of SEAL Operators from DEVGRU . The AH-6s strafed the two-vehicle convoy , killing the target and 3 Al ' Shabaab terrorists , the MH-60s dropped off the DEVGRU operators who cleared the vehicles and recovered the body
1998 United States embassy bombings
1998 United States embassy bombings
List of operations conducted by SEAL Team Six