"c186282"-a wrote in message news:Mbacnaa5TKlgUE_0nZ2dnZfqnPqdnZ2d@giganews.com...
It's good news !!!
Sounds like it WAS a huge operation - Iranian troops
were on his ass the whole time. One report says that
Reaper drones were used when the Iranians got too
close.
-------------------------- https://www.twz.com/news-features/everything-we-now-know-about-the- operation-to-rescue-the-f-15e-wso
"c186282" wrote in message news:Mbacnaa5TKlgUE_0nZ2dnZfqnPqdnZ2d@giganews.com...
It's good news !!!
Sounds like it WAS a huge operation - Iranian troops
were on his ass the whole time. One report says that
Reaper drones were used when the Iranians got too
close.
-------------------------- https://www.twz.com/news-features/everything-we-now-know-about-the- operation-to-rescue-the-f-15e-wso
UPDATED ALREADY!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HFHSS5oXAAAU2tk?format=jpg&name=small
I'm writing a new post since the last one got so messy. In fact, I've
had to edit this post twice already, less than an hour after I first
posted it. Never done that before, I think.
First things first, neither the Air Force nor CENTCOM has made an
official announcement, but there are now multiple fairly credible
reports that the Weapons System Officer from the F-15 shot down in Iran
has been recovered. His condition is unknown, although several reports
say he is "safe," implying that he is alive and not mortally wounded.
Fox News
@FoxNews
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the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and >Rescue Operations in U.S. History."
President Trump announces an American service member has been rescued
from Iran, says the Show more
Al Jazeera is the first "mainstream" outlet reporting this news as fact,
and their report cites unnamed US government officials, and not much
else.
Al Jazeera Breaking News
@AJENews
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F-15E in Iran have been recovered after a rCLheavy firefight,rC? but the >rescue operation is ongoing as teams attempt to safely exfiltrate from
Iran.
Fox News just confirmed Al Jazeera's reporting!
Jennifer Griffin
@JenGriffinFNC
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Fox News can confirm that the 2nd crew member of the downed F15E fighter
jet has been rescued and he and the members of the rescue team that
extracted him from behind enemy lines in Iran are all safely out of
Iran. That according to two senior US officials and multiple well Show
more
Fox News can confirm that the 2nd crew member of the downed F15E fighter
jet has been rescued and he and the members of the rescue team that
extracted him from behind enemy lines in Iran are all safely out of
Iran. That according to two senior US officials and multiple well placed >sources in the region. The Weapons Systems Officer ejected along with
the pilot when their F15E Strike Eagle they were flying was struck
Thursday night (early Friday local time) in southwest Iran.
The WSO used the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape)
training to evade capture, hiding on an elevated ridge after hiking away
from the wreckage and putting out an emergency beacon.) US Special
Operations rescue forces to include PJs (United States Air Force >Pararescuemen (PJs) and many layers of elite rescue forces took part in
the complex, layered mission to both find the crew member and also keep
the Iranian forces who were hunting the American weapons system operator
at bay. There are videos that have appeared from local eyewitnesses that
show what appear to have been injured and dead Iranian members of the
IRGC and Basij who were looking for the downed American crew member. Fox
has learned there was fighting on the ground but no Americans killed
during the operation. rCLIt was a very complex operation to retrieve the >downed service member,rC? a well placed source briefed on the operation
told me. Many different branches of the US military were involved in the >rescue.
Fox News can confirm the A10 Warthog that crashed Friday was involved in >providing cover for the rescue teams searching for the pilot. That A10 >crashed in Kuwait (first reported by ABC Friday) but the A10 pilot
managed to eject safely and was rescued. There was destruction of
aircraft which have sensitive equipment on board, I am told, all part of
this complex CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) mission.
The F15E was pretty much destroyed on impact. Two rescue helicopters
were hit by enemy fire on Friday and crew members onboard were injured
by enemy fire but managed to make it out of Iran.
There were a lot of elements to this rescue, I am told.
Two congressmen, including Elise Stephanik, had already leaked that the >rescue was complete and successful, likely jumping the gun given that
the White House wanted the information held close until all the ducks
were in a row.
The breaking reports of the safe rescue of the F-15 WSO are a profound
relief to every American. God Bless this brave servicemember who evaded >capture in the most challenging circumstances and God Bless the special >operations forces who put their lives on the line for this dangerous
rescue mission.
It is a deeply engrained patriotic value that Americans will to go to
the ends of the earth (and beyond!) and do whatever it takes including >risking it all to bring their fellow Americans home.
Happy Easter, indeed. ??
Also reporting the safe return of the airman were two well-connected >independent journalists who are deeply tied into the special forces
community and well-respected by their peers. Their report came hours
ago, indicating the lag time between success and everybody who needed to
be informed privately being complete.
Many reports of massive firefights and deaths of Basij militia have
flowed in, including from Iranian government sources. A hospital in Iran
has been treating many people from the fighting and has asked for blood >donations, and spoke of martyrs.
Iranian government sources told civilians to stay at least a kilometer
away from the area where a battle was raging.
Lots of us were scouring the internet, gleaning bits and pieces of >information, and, as usual, X is where you find the best and the worst
of it, and sorting it out is a herculean task.
According to U.S. officials cited by multiple outlets, the weapons
systems officer (WSO) from the F-15E shot down over Iran has now been >successfully rescued by U.S. special operations forces.
rCoThe rescue followed a high-risk operation inside Iranian territory
rCoBoth crew members are now confirmed to have survived and made contact >after ejecting ?
rCoThe mission came amid a race against Iranian forces searching for the >downed airmen ?
Earlier reports had indicated:
rCoOne crew member (pilot) was rescued shortly after the shootdown
rCoThe WSO remained missing for over 24rCo36 hours during intense search >efforts
Somebody at the USAF Special Forces Recruiting is going to lose their
job, because a couple of hours ago, they posted about the successful
rescue, and officials scrambled to disassociate the Air Force from the
site. There is a reason why the government waits to release
informationrCoto ensure family members and others who need to know find
out first from official channels, not rumors on the internet.
Somebody jumped the gun, fueling the frenzy of people like me searching
for every scrap of information.
I guess that is what you would call "malinformation;" it's true, but >inconveniently timed.
Well, now that the president has confirmed this, we can all breathe a
sigh of relief! Except that guy who is going to get fired.
The mission to save the crew member employed hundreds of special forces >troops, dozens of U.S. warplanes, helicopters, and cyber, space and
other intelligence capabilities.
U.S. attack aircraft dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys to
keep them away from the area where the airman was hiding. As U.S. forces >converged on the downed airman, a firefight erupted, two former senior >military officials briefed on the operation said.
The airman was equipped with a beacon and a secure communication device
for coordinating with forces mounting the rescue.
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.
In a final twist after the weapons officer was rescued, two transport
planes that would carry the commandos and the airmen to safety got stuck
at a remote base in Iran. Commanders decided to fly in three new planes
to extract all the U.S. military personnel and the airmen, and they blew
up the two disabled planes rather than have them fall into Iranian
hands.
Well, that tells you something about how America fights wars. Hundreds
of special operators, and when the C-130s (I assume) got stuck in the
sand, we flew in 3 more and blew up the other two.
Awesome. We'll do anything to get our men out.
Think Vlad the Mad Putin or even Emmanuel Macron would? That would be
half their air force.
UPDATE:
??A senior Trump administration official told me that prior to locating
the weapons systems officer and the U.S. military rescue operation, the
CIA first launched a deception campaign spreading word inside Iran that
U.S. forces had already found him and were moving him on the ground for >exfiltration out of the country
??The official said the CIA used its unique capabilities to search for -
and find - the weapons systems officer. "This was the ultimate needle in
a haystack but in this case it was a brave American soul inside a
mountain crevice, invisible but for CIA's capabilities", the official
said
??According to the official the CIA immediately shared the pilot's exact >location with the Pentagon, the U.S. military and The White House
??The President ordered an immediate rescue mission, which the Pentagon >executed, with the CIA continuing to provide real time information in
support of this mission, the official said
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/04/04/multiple-reports-that-f-15-weap >ons-systems-officer-rescued-after-massive-firefight-still-unconfirmed-n38 >13575
A large and impressive operation. Should improve
pilot morale considerably to see how important
this admin sees them.
Someone asked why a colonel was serving as the
weapons officer. Could be several reasons. The
mission may have been as much intel as attack.
Colonels sometimes like to "keep their hand in"
also. Finally, one ride and he'd get another campaign
ribbon for his chest, though it doesn't sound like
this guy was a petty asshole.
In any case a TOUGH old bird !
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