Gen. Caine details 'incredibly dangerous' F-15 rescue operation in Iran

[0:00] On Thursday, 2 April, at 10.10 p.m. Eastern Time, 4.40 in the morning, local Iran time, [0:06] the Joint Personnel Recovery Center, which handles the Central Command Area of Responsibility, [0:11] declared an isolated personnel recovery event for a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle, [0:17] callsign Dude 4-4, which was down in hostile Iranian territory. [0:22] The pilot and weapons system officer had both safely ejected and were isolated behind enemy lines. [0:29] Following confirmation of active rescue beacons and on the direction of the Secretary [0:34] and by order of the President, a rescue operation was launched [0:38] with the stated purpose of bringing both Americans home safely. [0:43] As the Secretary said several hours later on the morning after positively locating the front-seater, [0:49] callsign Dude 4-4 Alpha, and aware of an aggressive ongoing search by the enemy, [0:55] a U.S. Central Command plan was approved by the Secretary, [0:59] shortly thereafter a U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force comprised of A-10 Warthogs [1:08] in their Sandy role, and I'll describe what that is in a minute, [1:12] HC-130 Combat King IIs, HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopters, [1:18] and Air Force Special Warfare Airmen, a package comprised of Combat Rescue Officers [1:24] and Para-Rescue Operators, audaciously penetrated enemy territory, [1:29] saying, [1:30] We will return in broad daylight to find, fix and recover Dude 4-4 Alpha from behind enemy lines. [1:39] This was an incredibly dangerous mission, an incredibly dangerous undertaking, [1:46] but a filled promise made to every American warfighter that you will not be left behind. [1:53] We will always come find you, and we will always bring you home. [1:59] Over the next hours, [1:59] Search and Rescue Task Force crossed the beach, entered into Iranian airspace, protected by [2:05] a fighter strike package, and moved into the objective area all under fire. [2:11] In route, as some of you have seen on social media, the helicopters took gas off the C-130s [2:18] and pressed onward and forward up into the objective area. [2:22] While this was ongoing and out in front of them, the Sandy flight of A-10s and other [2:27] remotely piloted aircraft, drones, and other tactical aircraft were violently suppressing [2:33] and engaging the enemy in a close-in gunfight to keep them away from the front-seater and [2:39] allow the pickup force to get into the objective area. [2:44] During this engagement, one of the Sandy aircraft, the one primarily responsible for communicating [2:49] with the downed pilot, was hit by enemy fire. [2:54] This pilot continued to fight, continued the mission. [2:58] And then, upon exit, flew his aircraft into another country and determined that the airplane [3:04] was not landable. [3:05] This was one of our A-10 Sandy aircraft. [3:08] The pilot then made the decision to eject over friendly territory and was quickly and [3:14] safely recovered and is doing fine. [3:18] After picking up Dude 4-4 Alpha, the HH-60 Jolly Greenfight was engaged by every single [3:25] person in Iran who had a small arms weapon. [3:27] The HH-60 Jolly Greenfight was engaged by every single person in Iran who had a small [3:28] arms weapon. [3:29] The HH-60 Jolly Greenfight was engaged by every single person in Iran who had a small [3:29] arms weapon. [3:30] And one of the aircraft, the trailing aircraft, took several hits. [3:33] The crews sustained minor injury and they are going to be fine. [3:37] A note for those of you that do not know what a Sandy does. [3:43] Named after the flight call sign that did this very mission in Vietnam flying A-1 Sky [3:50] Raiders and A-7 Corsairs. [3:52] A Sandy has one mission, get to the survivor, bring the rescue force forward, and put themselves [3:59] themselves between that survivor on the ground and the enemy. They are committed to this. This [4:06] is what they live for and this is what they've trained for over many, many years. The A-10 force [4:13] and the rescue force did fantastic, did a fantastic job rescuing Dude 44 Alpha. He was [4:22] recovered Friday afternoon. As I said, and the nation needs to know this, this was an incredibly [4:29] brave and courageous mission and a testament to the courage, skill, and tenacity of the joint [4:37] force and our leaders. And especially a daylight option, having the guts to try means so much to so [4:45] many. Meanwhile, the backseater, as the president and the secretary have said, had continued to work [4:52] and survive. Through the hours of daylight, Dude 44 Bravo, the backseater, evaded using [5:00] every [5:00] means available. The efforts of the United States military, the Central Intelligence Agency, and [5:06] others were attempting to find and locate with precision Dude 44 Bravo, the backseater. A note [5:14] on the backseater and the frontseater. The single most important contributor to a successful rescue [5:23] operation is the spirit of attack inside the heart of that downed aviator. Their will to survive, [5:30] livre, their will to evade, their will to recover is [5:35] everything. In this case, the backseater's absolute commitment to [5:39] surviving made much of our efforts possible. On Saturday, 4 April, after [5:46] establishing positive communications with the backseater, we learned as the president said that he was [5:52] injured and actively evading enemy forces. And thanks to our interagency partners, we were able to get [5:59] eyes on his location and positive reaction. And I think for all of us, it measuredocs the team is alive. They're [6:01] IDM. Throughout this entire time the enemy force continued to search for 4-4 [6:07] Bravo and the joint force continued to strike them over and over and over again. [6:12] Fighting off marginal weather in Iran and the enemy's search for a second time [6:18] on Saturday at the recommendation the CENTCOM commander and at the approval of [6:23] the Secretary and the President, we launched a rescue task force to recover [6:27] dude 4-4 Bravo. Again this came to the President and the Secretary for [6:33] approval this time with a much larger force package based on the time that the [6:38] enemy had to prepare to find 4-4 Bravo. Again this force was protected by A-10 [6:45] Warthogs using the Sandy Call sign and this force had one single mission. Do [6:51] everything they can to bring an American home. This meant having a plan, being [6:57] prepared to execute of the mission, and then a single mission to take an American home. This meant having a plan, being prepared to execute [6:58] to execute an American home. This meant having a plan, being prepared to execute [6:58] execute that plan, and more importantly, being prepared for multiple simultaneous contingencies. [7:07] And because of this force's professionalism, grit, and determination, fight off two enemies [7:14] at the same time, the enemy searching for 4-4 Bravo and contingencies, which anyone [7:20] who has done these types of missions knows we run into every single time. [7:27] The force fought off both of those enemies incredibly well. [7:31] During the period of darkness on Saturday, and as the Secretary said, into Easter Sunday [7:36] and into the daylight, the force fought its way in and rescued Dude 4-4 Bravo. [7:44] They were protected overhead by an air armada, including tactical drones, strike aircraft, [7:50] and others. [7:52] The force fought through multiple simultaneous contingencies, something no [7:58] other nation, no other military can do, and safely returned Dude 4-4 Bravo, the backseater [8:05] home, and all other Americans home as well. [8:11] At midnight 12 local Eastern time, Easter Sunday, more than 50 hours after the start [8:18] of this operation, the Joint Personnel Recovery Center declared Dude 4-4 Bravo, both the front [8:26] and backseater, returned to friendly territory. [8:30] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The courage [8:31] demonstrated by both the pilot and the weapons system officer while isolated and them invading [8:37] the enemy cannot be overstated. [8:40] Their grit and war fighting tenacity is a direct result of the absolute trust they have [8:46] in our rescue forces, their training, and their will to survive and return. [8:52] They always knew that we would be ordered to go get them and they always knew that we [8:57] would be coming to get them. [9:00] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . These two operations [9:01] reflect our nation's most sacred obligation to our military service members we leave no one behind [9:08] bless you it also perfectly captures the first truth of our special operations forces that people [9:16] are more important than hardware that is the standard we live by and the rescue forces that [9:23] execute these missions operate under under a clear motto these things we do that others may live [9:32] their actions were a direct embodiment of that commitment to others and i could not be more proud [9:40] of each and every one of them today as the secretary said to our enemies this operation [9:47] serves as a clear reminder of the capability and will of america's joint force the united [9:54] states of america will recover our war fighters anywhere in the world under any conditions [10:00] when we want to we will always bring overwhelming [10:03] responsibility to our enemy the military and our forces on the ground and on every [10:07] day of the day operationalizing tough matters and protecting the land and air [10:12] and it's what we have to do to be a strong ally for our people and our nation [10:16] our zeal and our firepower to every member of the joint force our interagency partners [10:22] the leadership at centcom and our leaders at the department and above thank you [10:26] i'm proud of each and every one of you and thankful to our deployed forces and their families