Good day all. Last week there was a report of an F-15E Strike Eagle going down over Iran. Details on how this happened have not been released. I suspect they were flying lower than usual and were hit by a MANPAD. (Handheld heat seeking missile) The pilot and Weapons System Operator both ejected and landed in Iran.
The pilot was quickly rescued, but the WSO was not with him. This led to a major effort by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to capture the WSO, and probably torture and kill him, and the United States military coming in to rescuing him. Well, the news came out late Saturday or early Sunday that a successful rescue mission had been conducted and the WSO had been rescued. Here are some of the details from Fox News:
President Donald Trump hailed the rescue of a missing U.S. airman from a downed F-15E in Iran as an “Easter Miracle,” after U.S. forces recovered the second crew member following a high-risk mission behind enemy lines.
“The rescue was an Easter Miracle. The enemy was large and violent. The rescuers were brilliant, strong, decisive, and as cool as anyone can be,” Trump told NBC host Kristen Welker. “Such a rescue has never happened before in so violent an enemy territory. It is usually not done because it is considered not doable.”
That isn’t accurate. They made rescues like this in Vietnam. Since then, the military has worked hard to develop plans and procedures for just this sort of instance. It looks like their preparations and training paid off.
The rescue followed the downing of the F-15, which triggered a multi-day search operation inside Iran. U.S. forces had already recovered the first crew member before locating the second, who had been missing in mountainous terrain as large numbers of Iranian forces searched the area.
I’ve heard that some friendly Iranian villagers took in the WSO and hid him. If this is true, I hope we left some “Party favors” behind for them to use to protect themselves from the Basij and the IRGC. In any case, I suspect the WSO was in contact with his base. All flight crews carry a radio with them and have for decades for just this reason. The military probably knew exactly where he was and was working on a plan to get him out. In a statement by President Trump:
“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History. He is injured, but he will be just fine,” Trump said. “We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran. The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close.”
Trump also highlighted the operational risks involved, stressing that missions of this kind are rarely attempted due to the danger to both personnel and equipment.
“This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment.’ It just doesn’t happen,” he said.
When it comes to equipment, the United States has a history of expending machines to protect people. In this case, we had to abandon and destroy two C-130 transports and an A-10 was critically damaged and had to ditch in the gulf. That pilot was also rescued.
President Trump revealed that the earlier rescue of the first crew member had been deliberately withheld from public disclosure in order to protect the second operation, suggesting coordination across multiple high-risk missions.
“This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation,” Trump said.
So the Administration didn’t tell the usual blabbermouths in Congress what was going on? Good. We know which side the Democrats are cheering for and it’s not the American side.
He framed the mission as a broader demonstration of U.S. military capability, pointing to the lack of American casualties and what he described as dominance in the operational environment.
“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, shows overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” Trump said.
From other reports I’ve seen, it looks like Airforce Pararescue, (Known as PJ’s), and Delta Force operators went into Iran, located the WSO, and then blew the living crap out of Iranian forces closing on on them. This is where the A-10 was probably damaged. The Warthogs would have been laying down a lot of covering fire for the American forces.
President Trump also called for unity in response to the operation, arguing that the rescue should be a moment of shared national pride across political lines.
“This is a moment that ALL Americans, Republican, Democrat, and everyone else, should be proud of and united around,” Trump said. “We truly have the best, most professional, and lethal Military in the History of the World.”
Well, I think it’s safe to assume he won’t get any unity from the Democrat Party. I’m sure they were hoping that the Weapons System Operator would have been captured or killed so they could use it against President Trump. I am expecting them to start screaming about “BOOTS ON THE GROUND!!” regarding the rescue mission. In any case, the Officer’s family got a nice Easter present. I wouldn’t be at all surprised of he called home once everyone was clear of Iranian airspace.
I’m actually surprised at how few aircraft we have lost during Operation Epic Fury. We did lose three F-15E’s to not so friendly fire from Kuwait. Luckily, all the flight crews ejected safely and are back in the air. (I suspect we’re also going to get 3+ brand spanking new F-15EX models paid for by Kuwait real soon now) We also lost the A-10 previously mentioned, again with the safe recovery of the pilot and the two C-130’s that had to be abandoned and destroyed.
Right now we’re trying to get someone in Iran to throw in the towel and call it quits. Pretty much the entire Iranian leadership has been killed and now we’re going down the list. We’re not even sure of Ali Khamenei’s drag queen son is alive and buggering male goats. We are, of course, running out of things to blow up. While the United States would prefer an honestly elected, moderate government to take control, it isn’t a priority.
Shutting down Iran’s nuclear program and ripping the guts out of their support of terrorism is the priority and it looks like that has been almost accomplished. Good work to the PJ’s, Delta Force and all the others who took part in this successful rescue mission.
Thatisall
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