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[Iran Crisis] Trump Reveals More Rescue Details, The Thrilling Incident Could Be a Hollywood Movie, Leaker Reveals Iran Learned of a Second Pilot
U.S. President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and General Raisin Kane held a press conference at the White House in the early hours of Tuesday Hong Kong time to explain the actions during the Iranian search and rescue of two aviators. Trump said, “This is the most arduous attempt by the U.S. military in history—an historic rescue that will be written into the annals of history.”
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Not everyone in the military agrees with the rescue
However, Trump said that not everyone in the military agreed with the rescue operation. “Some very professional military personnel advised not to do it, because it could result in hundreds of people being killed. So there are people within the military who say this isn’t a wise course of action.”
In addition, Trump said that during the rescue operation, there was an hour when no one discussed the first rescue, and then someone leaked some information. “The leaker leaked that we rescued one person, but there was another person out there that we were trying to rescue,” he said, adding that he hoped they could find that leaker.
Investigate the leaker
“Someone leaked that there was a missing person. They originally didn’t know there was someone missing until this leaker provided information. So whoever did it, we believe we can find out, because we will go to the media company that published this information. We’ll say, ‘For national security, turn the person in, or you’ll go to jail.’ We know who we’re talking about. Because there are some things you can’t do. When they did it, suddenly the entire of Iran knew that there was a pilot on its soil fighting for survival. That made the pilot’s situation even harder, and it also made things harder for the people going in to search and rescue.”
So, Iran issued a major announcement, offering a huge reward to anyone who captured this pilot. Therefore, besides facing a military force, there were also tens of millions of people trying to get the prize.
Trump said they needed to establish the truth, and this is a national security issue. As for the person who reported this story—if they don’t reveal the source of the information, they’ll go to jail.
Shoulder-fired heat-tracking missile hits an F-15
Trump said that late Thursday night, a U.S. F-15 fighter crashed deep in Iran while carrying out “Operation Epic Fury.” The missile that hit the aircraft was a shoulder-fired heat-tracking missile. Both crew members ejected and survived on Iranian soil.
Trump said he immediately ordered U.S. armed forces to take all necessary measures to bring the brave warriors home. “This was a risky decision. Because we might lose 100 people rather than 1 or 2 people. This is a difficult decision. But in the U.S. military, we don’t leave any American behind. We absolutely don’t do that.”
First mission: 7-hour search and rescue operation, firefights by day
Hegseth said the first mission was a bold thunderstrike in broad daylight, going straight for the target. He said that after it was known where the aviators were, authorization was obtained at midnight within less than two hours.
As for the second mission, Hegseth said that when we knew the pilots’ location, it was immediately carried out. During the execution of the final mission, inside a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), there was a live video conference communication link (VTC). At the top of the screen it read 45 hours and 56 minutes, and the call stayed open throughout that time for coordination.
Trump said that within just a few hours of the first mission, U.S. armed forces deployed 21 military aircraft into hostile airspace, and many aircraft flew at extremely low altitude and were shot at. “When you fly that low, rifles can pose a threat to you, but low-flying also has some advantages.” During the 7 hours of daylight, at times they faced extremely fierce enemy fire, and one helicopter took a very large number of bullet hits.
Trump said that the first wave of search-and-rescue forces successfully found the F-15’s pilot. A HH-60 “Jolly Green II” helicopter extracted him from the area held by the enemy, and faced intense gunfire at very close range. “What’s surprising is that when you see the extent of the machine’s damage, somehow nobody was injured.”
The general Kane added that at 10:10 p.m. Eastern Time—4:40 a.m. local time in Iran—the Joint Personnel Recovery Center, responsible for the Central Command area of responsibility, announced that a U.S. Air Force F-15E “Strike Eagle” (call sign: Dude 44) had crashed over hostile territory in Iran and that an “Isolated Personnel Recovery Event” had been initiated.
Kane said that soon after, a U.S. Air Force combat search-and-rescue task force was dispatched. The task force included A-10 “Warthogs” aircraft playing the “Sandy” role, HC-130 “Combat King II” recovery aircraft, HH-60 “Jolly Green II” helicopters, and an American Air Force special tactics unit composed of combat rescue officers and pararescuemen. Under cover of daylight, they pushed deep into hostile territory. Their objective was to find, stabilize, and rescue Dude 44 Alpha behind enemy lines.
As this rescue task force crossed the coastline and entered Iranian airspace, under the cover of the fighter attack formations, they entered the objective area amid enemy fire. Along the way, the helicopters received aerial refueling from a C-130 and continued forward into the objective area.
While all of this was happening, flying in front of them were the A-10 Sandy aircraft, other drones, and tactical aircraft. In close-range firefights, these aircraft aggressively suppressed and engaged the enemy, keeping the enemy away from the forward seats of the flight crew, and enabling the rescue forces to enter the objective area.
After an A-10 Sandy jet is hit, it continues the mission until it bails out
During this firefight, one of the Sandy jets—primarily responsible for communications with the crew member whose aircraft had been shot down—was hit by enemy fire. The pilot continued fighting and continued the mission. Then, during the withdrawal, he flew the aircraft to another country and determined that the aircraft could not land safely. This was an A-10 Sandy aircraft. The pilot then decided to eject over friendly territory and was quickly and safely recovered. He is currently in good condition.
After rescuing Dude 44 Alpha, the HH-60 “Jolly Green” helicopter unit was attacked by all Iranian personnel carrying light weapons. One of the aircraft—the trailing one—was hit multiple times. The crew suffered minor injuries, but they will all be fine.
Sandy got its callsign by being named after the aircrew callsign used to carry out this kind of mission for the first time during the Vietnam War, when it was performed by A-1 Skyraider aircraft and A-7 Corsair II attack aircraft. Sandy had only one mission: find the survivors, guide the rescue force forward, and place itself between the survivors on the ground and the enemy. They were committed to this mission. That is why they exist, and it is the goal they trained for over the years. The A-10 unit and the rescue force performed brilliantly during the process of rescuing Dude 44 Alpha, who was rescued on Friday afternoon.
Second mission: about 50 hours
Trump said the second aircrew member was a commander and Weapons Systems Officer (WSO). When flying at that kind of speed and then landing at a location far away, “even if you’re only a couple of seconds late to eject, the distance is several miles. You’re very far apart, because you’re flying too fast.” He was badly wounded and was heavily surrounded by militias and Iranian authorities. Iranian authorities told communities and people inside the country that if anyone found this aviator, they would receive a huge reward.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that during the search for the aviator, a deception campaign was carried out to mislead the Iranians who were desperately looking for our aviator. He said that on Saturday morning, once the aviator was found and confirmed to still be alive, he was hidden in a crevice in a mountainous area. The enemy still couldn’t detect him, but the CIA had already found him. This confirmed information was relayed by Hegseth to Trump, and the search-and-rescue operation moved quickly into execution.
Trump said that this battle-hardened officer, while injured, crawled into the rugged mountainous region. When climbing steep cliffs, he bled a lot and treated his own wounds. “To avoid being hunted, you want to be as far away from the crash site as possible. The farther you can get, the better, because they’ll all gather at that location.”
He made contact with U.S. forces and sent his location. They carried a very precise, pager-like device. “When they carried out these missions, they ensured the equipment had enough battery and stayed in good working condition. And this time it worked tremendously. It miraculously saved his life.”
He kept climbing to higher ground as the terrain became more and more treacherous. It was really very hard to find. The U.S. military immediately launched a large-scale operation. After avoiding the hunt for almost 48 hours, they rescued him from his mountain stronghold. “When you’re in danger and you keep bleeding, that’s a long time.”
Only after climbing after being wounded did they activate communications
Hegseth said that after evading the hunt for more than a day, the aviator climbed a rugged ridge. When he finally could activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple but full of strength: “God is good.”
Hegseth said, “In those moments of isolation and danger, his faith and fighting spirit shone brightly. On Friday (Good Friday) he was shot down, and the whole of Saturday he hid in caves and crevices, and then he was rescued on Sunday. As the sun rose on Easter Sunday, he flew out of Iran. A reborn aviator. Everyone was safe and brought home—and he was found. A nation rejoiced: God is good.”
Trump said that the second rescue mission launched 155 aircraft, including 4 bombers, 64 fighter jets, 48 aerial refueling tankers, 13 rescue aircraft, and more. They were mobilized from all directions, and much of it was to confuse the enemy—distract them elsewhere.
Spread false tips across 7 locations
“We wanted them to think he was somewhere else, because they deployed a huge force there—thousands of people searching. So we wanted them to search in different regions. We spread false intelligence all over their heads. We set up seven different locations to make them think he was there. They were very confused. They said, ‘Wait, there’s a group of people here, and a group of people there.’ It was really something.”
They set up all these different locations so that everyone would think he was right there. There were 9 aircraft hovering in a small area—about 25 miles off the coast. “This was an amazing display of skill, precision, lethality, and force. U.S. forces descended into that area—into the real area—engaged the enemy, rescued the trapped officer, destroyed every threat, and then withdrew from Iranian territory, with no personnel casualties.”
“Something is moving 40 miles away”
Trump said that Ratcliffe told him at the time, “Call the people we have there. He’s 40 miles from us. We see something moving on the mountain.” It was nighttime, and then they pointed the camera at him for 45 minutes. He didn’t move at all. They said, “This might not be right.” But what did we see moving? It’s a huge mountain. The mountain is covered with shrubs and trees. We saw something moving 40 miles away.” Ratcliffe also said that it was a person’s head. He was moving, and then suddenly, after 45 minutes, he moved a lot. He stood up. They said, “We found him.” That really is an incredible thing. We had an idea where he might be, but not very specifically—that was a big mountain. So I have to thank the CIA. I don’t think they got enough credit.”
No-runway plane stuck in a farm—activate the backup plan
U.S. forces sent out two large, very old aircraft loaded with a lot of supplies. Because when going in they needed more equipment than when coming out, the aircraft had to be able to climb over mountains. But the sand there was wet and soft; takeoff could have caused problems due to the aircraft’s weight, and on top of that, once everyone jumped back onto the aircraft, it sank quite deeply.
So the backup plan was activated: send lighter, faster aircraft to land on the sand, take them away, and also blow up the old aircraft. “We blew them to pieces. Because although there were some pieces of equipment on the aircraft that we wanted to take with us, I don’t think it was worth spending another 4 hours dismantling them. And I didn’t want anyone to inspect our air-defense equipment and other equipment.” So they destroyed those very old large aircraft.
“Iran prime time”: reconfigure three helicopters in 10 minutes
Within 10 minutes, U.S. forces removed the helicopters from the aircraft, disassembled the rotors, and reconfigured those three helicopters. The helicopters were very small but had tremendous power—because they were small, they could enter certain specific areas.
“A three-aircraft contingency plan was standing by, because it was originally believed the sand was too soft and the aircraft might not take off. But the aircraft really did get stuck. It wasn’t a runway—it was a farm. Even though it was a farm, it worked.”
“If you’re making a movie about searching for filming locations, this is absolutely ‘Central Casting.’ And we were sitting in that most dangerous region of Iran. So these aircraft came in; these pilots flew very fast. Everyone boarded the helicopters with only 15 minutes between launches. One was loaded and took off; another was loaded and took off; the third was loaded and took off. We kept watching, and we said, this is too incredible. In many ways, I’m even more impressed by the backup plans we had than by what would have happened if we had a runway or solid ground. It’s an amazing thing.”
“We pulled an all-nighter that night, and then we waited for those backup aircraft to fly in. We said, ‘Hurry up—get in there.’ Because they were waiting on a farm without a runway, with wet mud and sand everywhere. It would literally swallow the aircraft. We waited. We said, ‘We hope that aircraft can land and take off.’ They flew in like magic—boom, boom, boom—one after another. I was very impressed by that.”
“Bring them home safe at any cost”
“We were worried, ‘Oh my God, if they can’t get in and can’t take off quickly, we’re at a disadvantage.’ That’s what they call ‘Iran prime time.’”
“Like what happened with Maduro—when we entered a huge military base with thousands upon thousands of soldiers, within just a few minutes he was trapped behind those iron gates. They quickly destroyed those iron gates, and in less than a few minutes, they had him pushed onto the back seats of those aircraft. It’s a similar kind of operation.”
“If it’s necessary, we will bring them home safely at any cost. We will bring our people home safely.”
Kane added that in the daytime hours, the weapons systems officer in the back seat (Dude 44 Bravo) used every possible method to evade the hunt. The U.S. military, the CIA, and other agencies worked hard to precisely locate Dude 44 Bravo. During this time, the enemy continued searching for 44 Bravo. Meanwhile, joint forces kept striking them again and again.
While countering Iran’s harsh weather and the enemy’s manhunt, on Saturday—based on the advice of the commander at Central Command—the defense secretary and the president approved, and a rescue task force was launched to save Dude 44 Bravo.
This mission also required approval from the president and the defense secretary, but this time it deployed a far larger force, decided according to the enemy’s timeline for searching for 44 Bravo.
This force was also protected by A-10 Warthog aircraft (using the Sandy callsign), and it had only one mission: to do everything possible to bring the Americans home.
After Saturday night through until daylight on Sunday, the force fought its way through and successfully rescued Dude 44 Bravo. Under the cover of overwhelming air power—including tactical drones, attack aircraft, and more—at midnight Eastern Time on Sunday, more than 50 hours after the start of the operation, the Joint Personnel Recovery Center announced that Dude 44 Bravo (front-seat and back-seat aircrew) had returned to friendly territory.
$1 below: unofficial news on Monday====
Details of the high-stakes rescue of the F-15E aircrew pilot exposed; the distress message “God is good” was questioned; the CIA’s “deception campaign,” and an enemy country’s temporary base
The search-and-rescue operation for the two F-15E “Strike Eagle” pilots was dubbed an Easter miracle by the U.S. military. But within the U.S. military’s operational system, being rescued is not “good luck”—it is a highly meticulous and costly, systematized engineering effort. This system is called Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR).
When a U.S. pilot crashes in enemy territory, the entire U.S. military machine immediately kicks into action. The rescue process typically has the following core stages:
The U.S. military won’t just send one aircraft. A typical rescue operation usually includes:
This group is an especially specialized unit within U.S. special forces, nicknamed “PJs.”
Establish a temporary base inside Iran
There were two crew members on the F-15 fighter that was shot down by the U.S. last Friday. Both ejected and escaped from the aircraft; one of them had been rescued by U.S. forces earlier. Trump said that this aviator’s rescue was much faster—carried out in daylight amid Iran’s intense barrage of artillery fire. Trump then confirmed the other person’s safety only on Sunday morning. Iranian officials said the aircraft was shot down by their air-defense system.
In Washington, Trump stayed in the White House on Friday, moving back and forth between the Oval Office and the adjacent dining rooms, because the operation to locate the downed Air Force personnel in Iran was being readied and he was receiving the latest updates on the mission to search for that officer at any time.
Regarding the rescue of the second aviator, Trump said this “bold” U.S. rescue operation, successfully rescuing a “seriously injured” Air Force personnel, was viewed as a model of U.S. success. Trump immediately posted that “We found him!” and described in detail this “amazing display of courage and skill,” turning the potential defeat of the Americans into a demonstration of strength.
Another U.S. defense official described the first action on Friday as a daytime “bold and quick snatch,” while the second action was carried out at night after a temporary base was established inside Iran. “The two crew members were several miles apart, and there were hundreds of IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) soldiers everywhere.”
Trump said that at the time, the aviator was in the treacherous mountainous region of Iran, being hunted by the enemy. The enemy was closing in every hour, but he was never truly abandoned without support. Because the commander in chief, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his comrades were monitoring his location 24 hours a day and actively planning his rescue.
200 special operations troops participate in the operation
When Trump gave interviews to foreign media, he said that about 200 special operations troops participated in the operation. The Iranian military “got lucky.” They used shoulder-fired missiles to shoot down the F-15.
Details of the rescue are continuing to emerge, including how the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) diverted the enemy’s attention through a “deception campaign.”
According to reports from foreign media, the crew member spent alone more than 24 hours. At one point, he climbed rugged terrain to reach a mountain ridge at an altitude of 7,000 feet. Aside from a pistol, communications equipment, and a tracking beacon, he had almost nothing else. The crew members of the downed aircraft had been highly trained for this kind of situation. Their top priority was to survive and avoid capture. The training they received was: assuming they were physically able and not injured to the point where they couldn’t move, they should move away from the ejection site as quickly as possible and conceal themselves to ensure safety.
The CIA’s “deception campaign”
The CIA spread messages across Iran through multiple channels, saying that the U.S. military had already found the second Air Force personnel who had ejected from the F-15 and that it was evacuating him by sea to take him out of Iran. But in reality, this was to buy time in order to find the trapped Weapons Systems Officer (WSO), the second pilot in the fighter behind the pilot.
According to people familiar with the matter, the CIA intercepted a distress signal and passed the intelligence to the Pentagon and the White House. The White House then ordered that a rescue operation be launched immediately. The sources said there was initially concern that this “beacon signal” was a “trap” set by Iran.
Trump said that after the Weapons Systems Officer ejected, he sent a short but unusual message over the radio: “Power be to God.” Another version says that the exact wording was “God is good.”
Trump said that what he said over the radio sounded like something a Muslim would say. Trump added that people who knew the officer explained that he was devout, so it made sense for him to say words like that.
When the CIA confirmed early Saturday that it was not a trap, it used its advanced technical capabilities to pinpoint the location of the missing Air Force personnel. CIA Director John Ratcliffe conveyed this information to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Kane, and it was ultimately presented to Trump.
Within 12 hours, the team had landed in Iran
According to people familiar with the matter: “Within 8 hours, our aircraft were already launched. In nearly 12 hours, our personnel had landed in Iran. We’ve seen how they treat prisoners of war. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we find him first.”
Trump said the U.S. military sent dozens of aircraft into Iran and claimed the operation was completed with no American casualties.
MQ-9 drone serves as defense
A U.S. special operations team moved into the mountains. As U.S. military aircraft dropped bombs to clear the area, the U.S. used MQ-9 Reaper drones to protect the area around where the Air Force personnel were hiding, and to fire at any targets that came close to that area and the U.S. operation area to prevent crowds or any Iranian military and civilians from approaching. Trump kept monitoring everything from the Situation Room.
A senior U.S. official said, “We used every tactical aircraft and B-1 bomber in the U.S. arsenal, carrying out multiple large-scale strikes in the surrounding areas to ensure his safety.”
The Air Force units executing CSAR missions included the most highly trained and most professional personnel in the military. These missions are typically carried out by helicopters. They fly at low altitude over enemy territory, while other military aircraft in the region carry out strikes and patrols.
Iran puts a red notice up—thousands of people hunt them down
Trump said that at the time, “thousands of savages were hunting him down—civilians were looking for him too. They even offered a bounty for whoever could capture him.”
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that nomadic tribes living in the mountainous regions of the country fired on two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the U.S. rescue mission.
Iranian media said Iran successfully shot down (or destroyed) several U.S. aircraft, including a C-130 military transport aircraft (some reports said it was a special-operations variant, MC-130J “Commando II”), as well as at least two helicopters (identified as Black Hawk helicopters or MH-6 Little Bird helicopters).
A plane breaks down during evacuation—urgent dispatch of a new aircraft for rescue
There were multiple setbacks during the operation, including two damaged U.S. special operations aircraft. The U.S. had to blow them up on the ground in Iran during the operation. According to CNN citing sources, at a remote airstrip in Iran, two MC-130J special-operations transport aircraft had been waiting to transport the assault team and the rescued Air Force personnel out of the country. But at some point during the operation, they were damaged. The military decided to send a new aircraft and to destroy the damaged aircraft rather than risk having them fall into Iran’s hands.
Trump said that during the search and rescue of the two aircrew members, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) provided the U.S. with “a little bit” of help. “They’ve been great partners. They’re great and brave people. We’re like the older brother and the younger brother.” And a U.S. defense official said that Israel did not provide any information about the Weapons Systems Officer’s location, but shared intelligence about the overall situation in the area. Israeli officials said that the Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike to prevent Iranian forces from approaching the area.
Reports said that Israel’s intelligence helped the CIA determine the missing Weapons Systems Officer’s location, ruled out concerns that it was a “trap” set by Iran, and stopped its attacks in the area to assist the mission. Another Israeli official said Israel postponed some planned strikes against Iran to avoid interfering with the search and rescue; according to two Israeli officials familiar with the matter, Israel also provided intelligence support.
In a statement Sunday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote: “All Israelis are happy for the fearless U.S. warriors as they miraculously rescued the brave American aviator.”