How Was the U.S. Officer Hidden on Iranian Cliffs for Over 40 Hours Discovered?

On Monday, April 6, U.S. President Trump held a press conference at the White House, personally recounting the military rescue operation conducted by U.S. forces inside Iran from Thursday to Saturday of the previous week. Attendees included Defense Secretary Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Caine, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe.

Trump stated that this was one of the largest, most complex, and most intense combat search-and-rescue missions in history—an operation of historic significance that will undoubtedly be recorded in the annals of military history. He was here to celebrate the successful completion of this mission.

It is well known that on the evening of Thursday, April 2, a U.S. F-15E aircraft participating in the "Operation Epic Wrath" deep inside Iranian airspace was shot down. Two crew members ejected and parachuted into Iranian territory. The U.S. military first rescued the pilot, but the second crew member—a weapons systems officer holding the rank of colonel—remained missing.

Trump told the media that he decided to rescue these two U.S. service members because "in the U.S. military, we never leave a single living American behind."

Trump acknowledged that the decision to extract the U.S. servicemen from Iran was "risky"—"because we might have lost up to 100 people instead of just one or two." He emphasized, "This was a difficult choice, but in the U.S. military, we never abandon any American."

Trump provided a detailed account of the dramatic search-and-rescue mission carried out by U.S. forces inside Iran. The United States ultimately foiled and misled Iran’s large-scale military operation aimed at capturing the F-15E weapons systems officer. Over 150 U.S. aircraft participated in the rescue effort, with many aircraft deployed solely to divert Iranian attention.

Trump praised the U.S. military for its breathtaking skill, precision, lethality, and power, executing operations in an actual combat zone, engaging enemy forces, rescuing the stranded soldier, eliminating all threats, and withdrawing safely from Iranian territory—all without any U.S. casualties.

Regarding the rescue plan for the two trapped American soldiers, Trump explained that immediately after the F-15E was shot down, the U.S. deployed 21 military aircraft. In the initial wave of search and rescue, an HH-60W "Happy Green Giant II" helicopter located the pilot and successfully extracted him. However, the weapons systems officer had landed in a location "quite far away" from the pilot.

Trump said that this brave officer climbed a cliff, treated his own wounds, and then transmitted his position to U.S. forces. The full rescue operation mobilized 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft.

"This courageous F-15 weapons systems officer evaded capture on the ground in Iran for nearly 48 hours." "When you're in poor physical condition and bleeding, that's a very long time."

CIA Director John Ratcliffe described the CIA’s role in the rescue of the weapons systems officer, calling it a "mission with no margin for error." The CIA deployed human assets and advanced technology to overcome a challenge "even more difficult than finding a grain of sand in the desert." The CIA launched a deception operation designed to mislead Iranian forces searching for the officer. On the morning of Saturday, April 4, the CIA located him and confirmed he was still alive, hiding in a mountain crevice.

President Trump further detailed how the CIA managed to locate the trapped officer. According to him, the CIA’s surveillance system detected movement along a high mountain ridge, prompting action to determine whether this was the target. "They watched him through cameras for 45 minutes. He didn’t move at all. Soon after, CIA personnel finally saw the Air Force officer stand up." And that, he said, was when the real operation truly began.

When the trapped weapons systems officer was able to activate his emergency beacon, the message he sent read: "God is merciful."

Source: rfi

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1861761662782535/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.