In what President Donald Trump described as “,” US Special Forces on Sunday undertook a bold incursion into Iranian territory, rescuing the second crew member of a downed F-15 jet from behind enemy lines.
The rescue of the US airman—a weapons systems officer—took place over a day after an F-15 Strike Eagle jet was brought down by Iranian air defences.
When the aircraft was hit on Friday, both pilot and the weapons systems officer had ejected, but their fates had been different: while the pilot was found shortly after the incident, his crew member remained missing, sparking a frantic search by both US and Iran.
Now, gritty details have emerged about how the US airman survived for nearly two days behind enemy lines, with a CNN report providing an inside view of the daring operation.
Surviving behind enemy lines
According to US officials cited in the report, the crew member of the F-15 sustained injuries while ejecting from the jet, and with his whereabouts unknown to the US military, the airman hid in a crevice to avoid detection by Iran, where a bounty had been announced for his capture.
He subsequently made contact with the US military, but communication remained sporadic.
With Iranian forces pursuing, the airman evaded capture for more than a day and managed to get rescued, despite carrying minimal equipment and experiencing difficulties in communication. At one point, the downed officer also scaled rugged terrain to a ridge around 7,000 feet above sea level to escape detection by Iranian forces.
Trump skips golf to focus on rescue
As the airman evaded capture, officials of the Trump administration busied themselves in trying to locate him, while the US President checked in frequently: Trump reportedly spent Friday in the West Wing, moving between the Oval Office and its adjacent dining room to receive updates on efforts to trace the missing officer.
Trump, who typically heads to Mar-a-Lago on the weekends to play golf, skipped his usual activity to remain at the White House as his administration worked out a plan to find the downed airman.
Later, after the airman’s rescue, a jubilant Trump declared, “At my direction, the U.S. Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve him. He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine…This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory. WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!”
How it all came together
While the US military worked to put together an operation to find and rescue the officer, the CIA launched a parallel effort in addition to tasking intelligence operatives to spread misinformation inside Iran about the airman being rescued, in a bid to confuse pursuing Iranian forces.
Israel, meanwhile, postponed strikes it had planned to carry out so as to not interfere with the American search and rescue effort. Tel Aviv also reportedly provided intelligence support.
Finally, the missing airman, hiding high up in the mountains, was located by the CIA, and the US military sprung into action.
Special operations forces, including the elite Delta Force and Navy SEAL Team 6 which killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, were deployed and were able to carry out a successful rescue with air support: dozens of aircraft carried out strikes in the area to prevent Iranian forces from reaching the downed airman.
However, the operation did not come without its twists, with the US military losing a couple of aircraft — two MC-130J transport aircraft which had been waiting at a remote airstrip in Iran sustained damage, prompting American forces to blow the damaged planes up to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands.
