How the military rescued a downed airman in Iran
Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper, Greg Jaffe And Julian E Barnes
Updated ,first published
Washington: An air force officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran was rescued by U.S. Special Operations forces on Saturday night (Tehran time) in a risky mission that took commandos deep into enemy territory, President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday.
The rescue followed a two-day life-and-death race between U.S. and Iranian forces to reach the injured airman, a weapons systems officer, current and former U.S. officials said.
Eventually, Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos extracted the officer in a massive operation involving approximately 100 special operations troops and other military personnel.
Trump said there were no losses from the US in the rescue team. All the commandos and the weapons officer returned safely. Rescue planes took the injured airman to Kuwait for treatment.
“WE GOT HIM!” Trump said in a social media post: “This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, hunted by our enemies who were getting closer with each passing hour.”
The two crew members of the F-15E Strike Eagle, the first aircraft lost to enemy fire in the month-long war, were kicked out of the cockpit on Friday after the Iranian army shot down their plane. The jet’s pilot was quickly rescued, but the weapons systems officer could not be found, prompting an urgent search that would have major consequences for Trump and the war the US and Israel launched on February 28.
Finding the downed airman, who was hiding with only a pistol for defense, had been the US military’s top priority over the past 48 hours.
The officer hid in a mountain crevice after being ejected from the F-15E; his location was initially unknown to the Americans who tried to rescue him or the Iranians who tried to capture him.
A senior administration official said the CIA launched a deception campaign to confuse Iranian forces and make them believe the airman had already been rescued and was heading out of the country in a ground convoy. The senior administration official said the agency ultimately located the airman’s hiding place and relayed the information to the Pentagon, which launched the rescue operation.
The mission to rescue the crew member used hundreds of special forces troops and other military personnel, dozens of U.S. warplanes, helicopters and cyber, space and other intelligence capabilities.
A senior U.S. military official said the airman evaded Iranian forces for more than 24 hours, at one point climbing a 2,100-foot ridgeline. US attack planes dropped bombs and opened fire to keep Iranian convoys away from the area where the airmen were hiding. A US military official said US commandos fired their weapons as they approached the downed airman to keep Iranian forces away from the rescue zone, but did not engage the Iranians.
The airman was equipped with a beacon and a secure communications device to coordinate with forces executing the rescue. However, the airman restricted the use of the beacon on the grounds that Iranian forces might also have detected the signal.
A senior U.S. military official described the mission to rescue the airman as one of the most challenging and complex in the history of U.S. special operations, given the mountainous terrain, the airman’s injuries and the Iranian forces rushing to the area.
In a latest development, after the weapons officer was rescued, two transport planes that were to carry the commandos and the airman to safety were stranded at a remote base in Iran. Commanders decided to fly in three new planes to extract all U.S. military personnel and airmen, and they blew up the two malfunctioning planes rather than placing them in Iranian hands.
The F-15E fighter jet was shot down in a part of Iran where there is significant opposition to the Iranian government. As a result, the airman was able to rely on local people for shelter and assistance.
The accident attracted the attention of Iranian military forces, who scoured the area. The Iranian government asked locals for help finding the downed airman and offered a reward for his capture.
The CIA also often plays a role in making contact with civilians who want to help defenseless troops survive; this process is known as “unconventional assisted rescue.”
This article was first published on: New York Times.
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