On Monday, President Donald Trump held a news conference providing more details about the daring rescue of two Air Force aviators.
The pilots were in the area conducting a strike mission against Iranian targets as part of ongoing operations in the region when their two-seater F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down by Iranian forces over southwestern Iran on April 3.
The pilot was quickly plucked from behind enemy lines, but a second service member remained hidden deep in the mountains as the regime in Tehran offered a reward for his capture.
He used a transponder to contact U.S. forces and evaded capture while the Pentagon mobilized 155 aircraft, including bombers and fighter jets, to protect his rescue team. The mission was severely complicated by a leak that informed Iranian forces to look for the missing weapons systems officer, who was ultimately extracted via helicopter on April 5.
The mission also included a logistical crisis where aircraft became stuck, requiring the destruction of equipment to prevent capture, but no U.S. casualties were reported.
Bob Maginnis, president of Maginnis Strategies, LLC., says, "We're blessed to have them back alive."
"It was the worst-case scenario, but we pulled it off with some very well-trained people," he tells AFN.
He says Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS)—shoulder-launched, surface-to-air guided missiles designed to be operated by individuals or small teams against low-flying aircraft, helicopters, and drones—are fairly effective at relatively low altitudes, and he is not surprised that Iran utilized them.
"If the F-15s were operating close to the ground, a MANPAD could have taken them out," Maginnis notes.
Otherwise, he says the operation was well executed:
"The CIA pulled off a great deception campaign to the south that drew IRGC (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) away from that air cover, and the drones worked."
He also commends the special operators on the ground.
"It's just phenomenal, and it's unmatched in terms of U.S. capability to recover its own people," Maginnis adds. "We make it very clear: we're not going to leave anybody behind."
He says this case sends a message to America's allies and enemies alike.
"I think that we should celebrate that," Maginnis concludes.
