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
bombing of a Kenyan hotel resort
2002 Mombasa attacks
List of operations conducted by SEAL Team Six