 On 4 January , several incidents , including a couple exchanges of gunfire , suggested that the embassy 's security detail was insufficient to hold off armed Somalis until the USS Guam and USS Trenton arrived with their helicopters and soldiers , at that time scheduled to arrive on 7 January . The embassy had just six Marine guards , whose job was limited to protecting the chancery . Ambassador Bishop made an urgent request to Washington for two platoons of soldiers to parachute into the embassy to defend it until the ships arrived . The request was denied , but the Ambassador was told that an advance element from the vessels would reach the embassy the following morning . 
