Hiding alone in a crevice in the mountains behind enemy lines, a wounded American airman knew exactly what to do: survive and evade.
A weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down inside Iran evaded capture by invading Iranian forces for more than a day. At one point, he climbed rugged terrain to a ridge 7,000 feet above sea level, armed with more than a pistol, communication device, and tracking beacon.
How did the US military rescue the airmen?
CNN’s Jim Schutt breaks down what we know about the US military’s dangerous and complex mission to rescue a downed airman in Iran.
It was in the high mountains that an American commando force, accompanied by American planes dropping bombs to clear the area, swarmed and found the officer and brought him and themselves to safety.
Two U.S. officials then detailed the dangerous operation.
This involved hundreds of U.S. military and intelligence personnel, including special operations forces who carried out the successful rescue operation and CIA operatives who launched a deception operation ahead of time to get rid of potential Iranian prisoners.
Furthermore, there were various twists and turns during the operation, including the damage to two American special operations aircraft that the United States had to blow up on Iranian ground.
“We got him!” President Trump wrote on social media after spending time observing the operation from the White House on Saturday. “Over the past several hours, the U.S. military conducted one of the most daring search and rescue operations in U.S. history.”
After a fighter jet was shot down on Friday, the race to search and recover the officers quickly became an all-out effort for the administration. The plane’s pilot was quickly located, but the White House and Pentagon declined to confirm the rescue as a second, longer mission to search for the crew was underway.
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