The United States executed what officials described as “one of the most challenging and complex” rescue missions in the history of U.S. special operations to recover a downed Air Force officer deep inside Iran after he survived more than 24 hours behind enemy lines — injured during a violent ejection, hunted across mountainous terrain by Iranian forces and civilians, and ultimately located through a high-stakes intelligence effort that initially raised fears of a trap before culminating in a dramatic extraction that forced U.S. forces to destroy their own aircraft.
President Donald Trump confirmed the rescue at 12:09 a.m. Sunday on Truth Social, declaring, “WE GOT HIM!” and describing the operation as “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,” adding the wounded officer is now “safe and sound.”
The operation was triggered after an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran on Friday morning — a “worst-case scenario,” according to officials — forcing both crew members to eject into hostile territory carrying little more than their pistols, beacons, secure communications gear, and standard survival equipment. Trump later said the aircraft was likely hit by a shoulder-fired missile and described the strike as a case where Iranian forces “got lucky.”
The pilot was recovered within hours in what U.S. defense officials described as a “bold, broad daylight snatch,” with rescue aircraft operating for hours over Iranian territory under fire. A U.S. defense official said the two crew members had been separated by several miles after ejecting, complicating the search effort as Iranian forces moved into the area.
The second crew member — a weapons systems officer — remained missing, triggering an intensive search across rugged mountainous terrain as U.S. forces raced to locate him before Iranian units, including elements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), could reach him.
The airman, injured during the ejection, immediately shifted into Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) protocols — moving away from the crash site, as downed aircrew are trained to do, limiting communications to avoid detection, and climbing roughly 10 to 12 kilometers (about 6 to 7.5 miles) to higher ground, where he ultimately reached a ridgeline approximately 7,000 feet in elevation and concealed himself in a crevice as search teams closed in.
According to reporting from the New York Times, Iranian search teams had gathered near the base of the mountain where the airman was hiding, underscoring how close he was to being captured.
Iranian state media urged civilians to help locate the American, offering rewards for his capture, while Trump said “thousands” of Iranian personnel and civilians were actively searching for him across the region.
According to Axios, U.S. officials initially feared they were being drawn into a trap after receiving intermittent signals from the airman’s beacon and radio. Trump said the military had “beeping information” on the officer’s location, but concerns quickly emerged that Iranian forces could be transmitting false signals to lure rescuers into an ambush.
Those concerns intensified after the airman transmitted a brief and unusual message over the radio — described by Trump as “Power be to God,” and confirmed by a U.S. defense official as “God is good.” Trump said the phrasing initially raised alarm because it sounded like something “a Muslim would say,” prompting concern that the signal might not be authentic.
Officials ultimately determined the transmission aligned with the airman’s personal background, with those familiar with him confirming he is a religious individual, helping verify that he was alive and not in enemy custody. A U.S. defense official said, “It was not completely clear early on, but we stuck with it and verified he was alive and not captured.”
Because the airman limited his beacon transmissions — standard protocol designed to avoid detection or triangulation — U.S. forces had only brief windows to track his location, making confirmation of his identity and status the central challenge of the mission.
At CIA headquarters in Langley, analysts worked to resolve what one official described as an “ultimate needle in a haystack” scenario, using specialized and classified capabilities to verify the authenticity of the airman’s signals and help pinpoint his location.
At the same time, according to the New York Times, the CIA implemented a deception effort by spreading information inside Iran suggesting the airman had already been recovered and was being moved out by ground convoy, diverting Iranian search efforts away from his actual location.
Once the airman’s position was confirmed, U.S. military planners assembled a large-scale rescue force that a senior official described as “one of the most challenging and complex” missions in the history of U.S. special operations.
The operation involved around 200 special operations personnel, including elements of SEAL Team 6, supported by a broad array of aircraft providing intelligence, surveillance, and strike capabilities.
According to Fox News reporting, U.S. forces conducted extensive airstrikes across the surrounding area using multiple platforms to prevent Iranian units from reaching the airman, while MQ-9 Reaper drones and other surveillance assets tracked movement on the ground in real time.
A source familiar with the operation told veteran war correspondent Toby Harnden that U.S. forces were actively engaging Iranian elements pursuing the airman, saying, “They’ve been schwackin’ dudes chasing him all day. It was nuts.”
U.S. officials also indicated that Israel provided limited support during the operation. Trump said the Israelis helped “a little bit,” while a U.S. defense official said Israel shared general intelligence about conditions on the ground but did not provide the airman’s location. Israeli officials said the Israeli Air Force conducted at least one strike to prevent Iranian forces from advancing toward the extraction zone.
Rescue elements operated in the region across both Friday and Saturday as conditions were established for the extraction.
U.S. commanders waited until nightfall before launching the rescue operation to reduce exposure to Iranian forces and improve the chances of a successful extraction.
The operation required establishing an improvised forward arming and refueling point (FARP) inside Iranian territory — an austere airstrip used to stage helicopters and transport aircraft for the recovery — a capability U.S. forces regularly rehearse, including in recent Marine training exercises conducted in desert environments ahead of regional deployments.
From that staging area, special operations helicopters, including MH-6 Little Birds, flew to the mountainous location where the airman was hiding. As they approached, U.S. and allied aircraft conducted strikes across the surrounding terrain to suppress threats and prevent Iranian forces from closing in.
The airman was located, secured, and transported back to the improvised airstrip. During the recovery, U.S. personnel then carried out standard combat search-and-rescue authentication procedures. According to The Sun, the process likely included at least one verification question based on information in his Isolated Personnel Report (ISOPREP) — a classified document containing photographs, fingerprints, and personal identifiers used to confirm identity in recovery scenarios.
In the final phase of the mission, two MC-130J special operations aircraft that had flown into the improvised airstrip to support the extraction effort became stuck in the sandy terrain during departure, according to multiple reports, preventing them from taking off as planned.
With Iranian forces still active in the area and time working against them, U.S. commanders initiated contingency procedures and called in additional aircraft.
The rescue team and the injured airman were transferred to the replacement aircraft and successfully evacuated from Iranian territory.
U.S. forces then destroyed the disabled aircraft and additional equipment left behind — including light helicopters — to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, with images later circulating in Iranian media.
Despite the complications, all U.S. personnel were successfully extracted, and no American fatalities were reported.
Trump later described the mission as an “Easter miracle,” writing that “the enemy was large and violent” but “the rescuers were brilliant, strong, decisive,” adding that such an operation “is usually not done because it is considered not doable.”
The rescue unfolded as part of the broader campaign under Operation Epic Fury, as tensions between the United States and Iran continued to escalate.
Hours after announcing the mission’s success, Trump reiterated his warning that Iran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face imminent consequences.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day,” Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social. “Open the Fuckin’ Strait … or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH!”
The warning came as Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global shipping chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply typically passes — continued to disrupt global markets and raise the stakes of the conflict.
Even as the rescue concluded, U.S. military operations across the region continued, with officials pointing to the mission as a demonstration of the United States’ ability to integrate intelligence, deception, airpower, and special operations forces to recover personnel deep inside hostile territory.
The outcome reinforced a core principle Trump emphasized following the mission: “We will never leave an American warfighter behind.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
