Company "E" of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines executed a pre-dawn vertical envelopment of the besieged U.S. Embassy, with 237 Marines inserted via medium and heavy lift Marine Sikorsky CH-53D Sea Stallion and CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. The landing zones were under sporadic fire from light, medium and heavy weapons from belligerents. "Hotel" Company secured an extended perimeter around the U.S. Embassy and began evacuation of other allied embassies. Ground elements were supported by U.S. Marine AH-1T SuperCobra helicopters and Marine AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft. Simultaneously, elements of BLT 2/4 secured landing zones in the surrounding areas, extracting U.S. and foreign nationals. Non-combatants were flown off to and for processing and ultimately Freetown, Sierra Leone. Although BLT 2/4 conducted the initial entry into the embassy, the Marines of BLT 3/8 with 26th MEU arrived on station and continued with the evacuation operations as the 22nd MEU began its retrograde and departure.