24 April is another one of "those anniversaries" that are vivid in my memory. I'll elaborate the "why" later, but first let's cover the "what"…
In late 1979, the Ayatollahs came to power in Iran, sparking what was then called a "student uprising". During that uprising, the Shah, a man put into power in the early 1950's by a U.S.-led coup, fled the country. He was, during his reign, a tyrant–he would do his best to keep the common Iranian down while also doing his best to see that the rich Iranians got richer. At the time he left the country, he was also ill–he was suffering from cancer, a malady that would take his life soon after.
During all the demonstrations, the insurgents demonstrated outside the Embassies of the Western powers. To this day, I can still vividly remember the chants, "Death to Carter, Death to the Shah!", referring, of course, to President Jimmy Carter and the now-deposed Shah. At some point, the American embassy was stormed and the workers taken captive. Ultimately, 52 Americans would be held for 444 days, gaining their release just after President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in January 1981.
However, in 1980 President Carter wanted to do more than negotiate, and had formulated plans for a massive rescue mission. That mission would be called Operation Eagle Claw. It involved assets from all branches of the military–Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. It was a complicated plan, too: An advance mission on 1 April transported one Air Force Combat Air Controller went into Iran and selected the first landing site, called Desert One. He installed infrared landing lights and took soil samples–he reported back that the site was hard-packed sand. Three weeks later, the surface had accumulated a layer of fine, powdery sand, unknown to mission planners.
The mission as planned: Three USAF EC-130E's (call signs Republic 4, 5, and 6) would carry the members of the Army's new elite Delta Force and some 6,000 gallons of jet fuel in collapsible bladders to refuel the Navy helicopters. Three USAF MC-130E Combat Talon aircraft (call signs Dragon 1, 2, and 3) would carry logistical support equipment. Eight RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (call signs Bluebeard 1 through 8, located in the Persian Gulf, would rendezvous with the C-130's at Desert One. Once at Desert One, the Delta Force would embark on the RH-53's and be flown to another remote landing site, Desert Two. There they would spend the next day. Come nightfall, Delta Force would drive into Tehran in trucks brought to Desert Two by CIA operatives. The helicopters would reposition to a nearby football stadium and wait. Delta force would storm the Embassy and any other holding sites, neutralize the Iranian guards, and free the Americans. Other members of the ground combat force would destroy power stations to keep the Iranians pinned down. USAF AC-130 gunships would be orbiting over the area to add close air support, and Army Rangers were to neutralize and capture the nearby Manzariyeh Air Base, where USAF C-141 Starlifters would land. The ground forces and freed hostages would rendezvous with the helicopters and the football stadium and would be flown to the air base. They would then board the C-141's and be flown to safety.
That's the mission in theory. Here's how reality played out…
24 April 1980: All the aircraft departed from their bases as scheduled. The MC-130s and EC-130s were able to locate Desert One and land–Dragon 1 was the first in, and sustained damage upon landing. It was able to offload personnel and equipment and was able to fly out, but would require extensive maintenance afterwards to repair the damage.
Meanwhile, the RH-53s began to have problems. Bluebeard 6 had to land in the desert because the crew were getting a warning light that pointed to a cracked rotor blade. The crew abandoned the aircraft and were recovered by Bluebeard 8. The rest of the helicopter group was overcome by a haboob, a sudden and severe dust storm frequent to the region. Bluebeard 5 returned to Nimitz when its flight instruments malfunctioned. The remaining helicopters arrived at Desert One. When Bluebeard 2, the last to arrive, landed, they were a full 90 minutes behind schedule. To make matters worse, Bluebeard 2 had a malfunctioning hydraulic system, leaving only a single system to operate the aircraft.
In the meantime, Army Rangers intercepted and destroyed a truck smuggling gasoline. This was both bad and good: the fires lit up the night, but also provided a visual beacon for the helicopter force. Later, a bus carrying some 44 civilians was stopped and the passengers detained on Republic 3.
With all the aircraft that would arrive on scene, COL Charlie Beckwith (commander of Delta Force) was at a dilemma: Mission plans clearly stated that if there were any fewer than six helicopters, the mission was to be aborted. The Navy flight crews, all too well aware of what a total loss of hydraulic pressure would do to a Sea Stallion, decided that Bluebeard 2 was to be shut down and taken off the mission. This left five helicopters to continue, one less than the plan called for. Discussions between commanders on scene and in Washington led to the decision to abort the mission. Bluebeard 2 was to be left, and the aircraft were to return to base. The civilians from the bus were released, but the bus was disabled.
And this wasn't the bad news.
The helicopters needed to be refueled from the EC-130's. Republic 4 was also low on fuel, and had already transferred its bladder fuel to the helicopters. It was now at a point where it needed to depart immediately if it had any hope of getting home. In order to do so, the aircraft needed to be re-arranged. Since the ground had that ankle-deep layer of powder, the easiest way to move the helicopters was to air taxi them. Bluebeard 3 had to be moved in order to get Republic 4 and Bluebeard 4 repositioned–Republic 4 to depart and Bluebeard 4 to refuel from another EC-130. A USAF Combat Air Controller began to marshal Bluebeard 3 away from Republic 4, but as the helicopter became airborne it caused a huge dust cloud to form and also caused the CAC to start to move away from the helicopter. Being the helicopter pilot's only visual reference, he tried to maintain a constant distance from the CAC, not knowing that the CAC was being blown over by the rotor wash. Shortly, the main rotor of Bluebeard 3 contacted the tail surfaces of Republic 4. Both aircraft caught fire. Republic 4 still had residual fuel in the bladder tanks. The flames spread quickly. Eight American servicemen were killed that night on the Iranian desert, five airman from Republic 4 and three Marines from Bluebeard 3. Along with the loss of life, we lost many classified documents on the RH-53s that were abandoned when all hell broke loose.
It was a debacle. There is no other word for it.
So, why do I recall the events to this day? One, I had the day off from school–it was a teacher workday, I think–and remember waking up to the news. As a kid of 16, I couldn't understand how my country could fail this miserably. I was old enough to recall the Vietnam War, and the trials and tribulations attached to it. I thought that was bad enough, but now here we were again, embarrassed in the eyes of the whole world.
As I got older and started to become more worldly (in other words, I not only got older, I got wiser as well), I came to learn that there were outside circumstances that were attached to our involvement in Iran. The moral of the story is as Jack Ryan told Captain Ramius in "The Hunt for Red October": "It is good to know a little about one's adversary, don't you think?"
In the years following Eagle Claw, the military revised procedures for their anti-terrorist and Special Forces. Procedures were put into place for better inter-service cooperation and better intra-branch cooperation. Better equipment was devised and purchased. Better training was implemented. The culmination of all this was evident during Operation Desert Storm…
If you want some homework, I'd suggest trying to find a copy of Steven Kinzer's "All The Shah's Men". The book covers the ouster of Mohammed Mossadegh and the return of the Shah to power. Also, The Atlantic published a good article on Operation Eagle Claw. Educate yourself on the history of our world, you might be surprised what you learn.
Thanks for reading. Be good to one another. I bid you Peace…