Something very much on the line in scrubby hills of Iran this weekend, besides the life of a “highly respected colonel,” was the notion of American exceptionalism. Regardless of your politics, there was little disagreement that the war in Iran was not going as well as had been hoped and the sudden loss of a couple of aircraft and potentially an airman sure didn’t help.
But if we sweep away all the domestic, economic, and geopolitical implications of a senior officer on the run in hostile territory with enemy forces and reward-hungry civilians hot on his heels, we see a remarkable tale of tactical improvisation and sheer guts that can make every American proud.
The young men and women who pulled off the rescue of the weapons systems operator from a downed F-15 E early Sunday were not thinking of the price of gasoline or the midterm elections. They were completely in the mission of saving one of their own and using the technology and know-how at their disposal to get that man out of there.
Of course, just about everything went wrong. From broken airplanes to surprisingly effective air defenses by the Iranians, the necessarily hasty formulation of the plan to extricate the WSO suffered as many hits as the equipment used to carry it out. But the training and resourcefulness of a cadre of enabled professionals was able to adapt and prevail under some pretty incredible circumstances.
More detail will come out over coming days and it will describe the technical and tactical factors that led to this successful outcome. But beyond the satellite radios, pinpoint targeting, capable aircraft, and overall command success, it came down to young Americans putting their lives on the line to preserve the fundamental ethic that binds them into such an effective fighting force. “No soldier left behind” isn’t a handy catchphrase. It’s the core principle that sets U.S. and other like-minded militaries apart from the types of regimes that view their front-line warriors as disposable.
There will be plenty of discussions (polite, relevant discussions on this platform) about the many other issues that all get rolled up into the overall assessment of something like this, but for a little while we can cut through all that for a celebration of the brilliant outcome that will send an experienced and clearly dedicated officer back to his family.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
The U.S. and its allies are all fortunate to have such talented and dedicated professionals on our side.
It would be great if the political leaders inspired the same level of confidence and admiration.
This is so good to hear. Really cool. Happy Easter.
EXCEPTIONALISM:
“an attitude to other countries, cultures, etc based on the idea of being quite distinct from, and often superior to, them in vital ways”
@realDonaldTrump
Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP
This is from the USA’s Aeronautical Decision Maker Commander in Chief to Iran’s counterpart. Very difficult to see any sliver of exceptionalism in his articulation of diplomacy or ADM skills approving a night strike by an F-15E based in the UK on the oil infrastructure of Iran very close to the Strait of Hormuz. This F-15E is manned in part by a 47-55 year old WSO Colonel flying in heavily guarded airspace on Good Friday getting shot down, during a war proudly started by the US five weeks ago attacking three elementary schools killing 171 girls ages 7-12 and over 20 young teachers using Tomahawk missles. ADM far from exceptional.
On Easter/Resurrection Sunday our ADM Chief Commander in Chief launches an aerial rescue mission for injured WSO Colonel staffed by Special Operation Forces whose average age is 34 years old, veteran’s with 11-15 years of active duty experience, armed with all the latest lethal weaponry, coordinated by the best ISR tech available from CIA/Mossad/USAF, flown in by two MC-130J’s and two Blackhawks, into what appears to be, believed to be, a deserted unused duster strip with fire suppression air cover overhead, at night well before dawn. Every boot soon to be on the ground filled by middle age military elite. Is this bravery or bravado fueled by hubris powered by underestimating one’s adversary?
Turns out this abandoned duster strip was well fortified by the Iranian IRGC in preparation for a potential event just like this SAR or land invasion. Now the Special Op’s were in an ambush, fighting both local Iranian militia and seasoned IRGC soldiers with drones and MANPAD’s. The fighting was indeed intense. Both MC-130J’s and Blackhawks were damaged unable to leave. The WSO Colonel was now wounded in addition to his ejection injuries but in the Special Ops hands in one helluva fight pinned down in spite of the overhead fire suppression. Special Op’ forces suffered casualties. Three more C-130J’s were ordered in to rescue the rescuers. The fighting went well into morning daylight hours. According to eyewitness accounts, the IRGC destroyed the 2 Herc’s and the two Blackhawks in the ambush, damaging the three additional Herc’s while they loaded, yet US managed to leave but without picking up dead US casualties, fate of colonel unknown. Western accounts say Special OPs torched the four aircraft, left with no casualties and no wounded, other than the wounded Colonel. ADM Commander in Chief claims this as a victorious rescue.
Russ…you have noted that truth is sketchy with both sides making claims at this early juncture. I agree. Bravery being displayed or bravado of overconfidence being surprised by another day of underestimation forcing an expensive, hasty retreat without achieving the goal? Too early to accurately tell. American exceptionalism? Again, too early to accurately tell. Young bravery echoing the teenagers to early twenty something’s of WWII finishing off a war they didn’t start? Or highly trained, massively armed, middle age vets, with lots of experience in recent covert operations backed by top intelligence, in a war they did start but cannot finish. Nuance that makes this hard for me to label “brave” American exceptionalism. Time will well tell. It always does. And the entire planet is watching as this unfolds.
Slight corrections, we destroyed those C-130s and small helicopters with bombs from 2 B-1s. The aircraft sent in to pick up the troops were unmarked special operations CASA C-212s base at Pope AFB.
Thanks. I’ll fix.
Very well said Russ. We soldiers, airmen, marines, and Coasties stand with our Canadian brothers and sisters with whom we have fought shoulder-to-shoulder over the years.
The details of the operation may take a while to come into focus. Media have variously reported “US commandos”, SEAL Team 6, US Army Special Forces (please don’t say “Green Berets”), Delta Force, USAF SOF, and of course CIA were the ones who did it. The burned up C-130s harken back to Desert One, but the result of the op was completely different.
Yes – but – they should never have been there in the first place to have to perform the “success”.
Yes – but – they WERE there and I’m happy and proud of the brave men and women who willingly sacrifice (sometimes with their lives) to help keep us safe and strong as a nation. God bless them!
Stay on the topic.
Please keep all discussion of politics and religion out of aviation.
um… Why, greg? Those two topics pervade our airwaves, casual conversations, and nearly every other mode of human expression (except, perhaps, ballet) these days. It’s not like we’re discussing the fates of plumbers (although I’m sure some in the National Guard, are). These are airmen like us, but younger, and committed to doing what is asked of them, including die. Even if, like in VietNam, it’s stupid.
Or would you prefer that we discuss the third pervasive topic: sex?
For the rather obvious reason that they are inherently divisive topics. The fact that they are pervasive is irrelevant. Furthermore there are many, many other forums for such discussions. As for your question about sex, I would only say that snark is not generally a successful method of argument.
The subject of this article is Search and Rescue, not politics.
We get it, you hate Trump.
Agreed. Please stay on topic.
Let’s stick to the topic.
Sorry, greg. That is not possible. The aviation industry is the result in large part of political decisions which, ultimately, result from democracy.
The U.S. is TRULY exceptional in a number of ways. Perhaps the best example of that would be aviation. Any comparison with other countries, even the likes of Canada, Norway, U.K., France, you name it, would be dominated by contrasts.
Americans from all walks of life, and all political persuasions have created this uniquely airborne country and I, for one, am not going back to being earthbound, as are most humans on this planet.
Bad leadership can destroy it all.
And me, I’ve always admired the USAF SAR teams motto, “So that others may live”! Bless them all!
Russ–this is one of your “better” (correction–BEST!) observations and comments. Some question “why were we there in the first place”–your comments focused on the positive–“No man left behind!”
Those that have been in military service understand the promise of doing whatever is needed to support those actually “in the field.”
American democracy is alive and well, thanks to everyone contributing to the Russ’s thoughts, free speech takes work and courage. This column makes me proud to be an American!
In 1965, when I was in Vietnam, we were told that if we got wounded or killed out on patrol, they would bring us back. That reassurance mattered.
Maybe because it meant you were not just meat left in the bush. That is the human side of this colonel’s rescue that I understand. I see how, in that moment, rank fades away-reminding us that in life-and-death situations, our shared humanity is what truly matters. Salute!
Though I never had the need, I thanked the snake-eaters I got to know later in my career. I appreciated that no matter how badly I screwed up, they would risk all to retrieve my warm pink, while if they screwed up the likely answer was “you f-ed up, you figure it out”
Hats off to all involved, plans, no matter how thorough, never survive first contact and it takes a large set of private parts to go in knowing that luck breaking the wrong way can make for a very bad day.
There’s been some very interesting speculation about the true nature of this mission in the desert, as well as the reasons for the presence of a high-ranking officer in the WSO seat on that F-15E. The summary is: there was probably an attempt to set up a forward operating base to facilitate an operation to try to penetrate the bombed nuclear facility and recover whatever nuclear material remains inside. The colonel might have been running that op, which is why he was overhead to coordinate. Then they got shot down, and the C-130s took fire that disabled them, so the nature of the operation transformed to just getting everybody the heck out.
I have no way to know whether this speculation is true, but the number and type of aircraft and (according to Trump) size of the force makes more sense to me with that context.
Regardless, I’m very happy that everybody made it out, and I hope that those injured will make a full recovery.