Spectacular Rescue

US soldier rescued after downing and firefight

The U.S. military rescued the soldier whose fighter jet had been shot down by Iran (stock photo).(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP/JACK GUEZ/KroneKREATIV)

The U.S. soldier, whose fighter jet had been shot down by Iran, was rescued. “We’ve got him,” wrote U.S. President Donald Trump. It was one of the most daring search-and-rescue operations in the country’s history—setbacks included...

The soldier was injured but is doing well, Trump continued on his Truth Social platform. According to a U.S. official, a “fierce firefight” broke out during the rescue operation.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who were also searching for the man, reported airstrikes in the area. The U.S. soldier had been “chased by our enemies,” Trump said. They were closing in on him by the hour.

Special forces from various branches of the military are said to have been involved in the nighttime rescue operation. According to the “New York Times,” the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 ultimately evacuated the U.S. soldier after a two-day race against time.

The U.S. military rescued the soldier whose fighter jet had been shot down by Iran (stock photo).(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP/JACK GUEZ/KroneKREATIV)

Military leaders monitored his location in the mountains “around the clock” and meticulously planned his rescue, the report added. Had the Iranian military found the crew member first, they could have used the soldier as leverage. A large sum of money had been promised for the man’s capture. 

Rescue resulted in deaths and injuries
According to Iranian reports, three people were killed in the attacks in the area where the missing crew member had been. A propaganda battle had also broken out over the downed American. The U.S. had given up hope of rescuing the soldier, the Iranian news agency Tasnim had previously reported.

The rescue mission was a race against time:

As reported, a U.S. fighter jet was shot down over Iranian territory on Friday. The pilot was rescued by two military helicopters. Both sides were searching for the second crew member. According to sources in U.S. circles, the soldier used so-called SERE training (“Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape”) to avoid capture. He had moved away from the crash site and sent out a distress signal.

After ejecting from the F-15E, the officer took refuge in a crevice; his exact location was initially unknown. The jet was shot down in an anti-government region. It is unclear whether locals assisted the officer.

Enormously Complex Rescue Mission
According to the “New York Times,” the CIA launched a disinformation campaign to deceive Iranian search teams. The goal was to make the Iranians believe that the pilot had already been taken out of the country by a ground convoy. Eventually, the CIA located his hiding place and passed the information to the Pentagon, which initiated the rescue.

Hundreds of special forces personnel, as well as dozens of fighter jets and helicopters, were involved in the mission. The pilot evaded the Iranians for over 24 hours, during which time, according to U.S. media, he also climbed a 2,100-meter-high mountain ridge. U.S. jets bombed Iranian convoys to keep them away from the hideout. As the U.S. commandos approached, they kept the pursuers at bay with targeted fire.

The officer used his emergency equipment sparingly, as the enemy could track the signals. “A senior U.S. military official described the mission as one of the most complex in the history of U.S. special forces due to the terrain, the man’s injuries, and the approaching Iranian forces,” reports the “New York Times.”

Nervous moments before final rescue
Shortly before the end, there was another setback: Two transport planes got stuck at a base in Iran after the US soldier was rescued (see tweet above). The command sent in three new aircraft to evacuate everyone involved and blew up the damaged planes so they wouldn’t fall into Iranian hands.