Operation Eagle Claw

Operation Eagle Claw (Persian: عملیات پنجه عقاب) was a failed United States Department of Defense attempt to rescue 53 embassy staff held captive by Revolutionary Iran on 24 April 1980. It was ordered by U.S. president Jimmy Carter after the staff were seized at the Embassy of the United States, Tehran. The operation, one of Delta Force's first, encountered many obstacles and failures and was subsequently aborted. One had encountered hydraulic problems, another was caught in a sand storm, and the third showed signs of a cracked rotor blade. During the operational planning, it was decided that the mission would be aborted if fewer than six helicopters remained operational upon arrival at the Desert One site, despite only four being absolutely necessary.

As the US forces prepared to withdraw from Desert One, one of the remaining helicopters crashed into a transport aircraft that contained both servicemen and jet fuel. The resulting fire destroyed both aircraft and killed eight servicemen.

Motivation for military intervention

On 4 November 1979, fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were taken hostage in the United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, by a group of Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, avid supporters of the Iranian Revolution. U.S. president Jimmy Carter called the hostage-taking an act of "blackmail" and the hostages "victims of terrorism and anarchy". In Iran the hostage-taking was widely seen as an act against the US and its influence in Iran, including its perceived attempts to undermine the Iranian Revolution, along with the US's longstanding support of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in 1979.

The crisis had reached a climax after diplomatic negotiations failed to secure the release of the hostages. Facing elections and with little to show from negotiations, the Carter government ordered the State Department to sever diplomatic relations with Iran on 7 April 1980. Cyrus Vance, the United States Secretary of State, had argued against a push by National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski for a military solution to the crisis. Vance left Washington on Thursday 10 April for a long weekend vacation in Florida.

Operation Eagle Claw occurred amid a breakdown in diplomatic relations between Iran and its western neighbor Iraq, including frequent border skirmishes, calls by Khomeini for Iraqi Shi'ites to revolt against the ruling Ba'ath Party, and allegations of Iraqi support for Arab and Kurdish separatists in Iran. According to an 11 April 1980 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analysis, "Evidence indicates that Iraq had probably planned to initiate a major military move against Iran with the aim of toppling the Khomeini regime" and had "sought to engage the Kuwaitis to act as intermediary in obtaining United States approval and support for Iraqi military action against Iran". Carter, who wrote in his diary on 10 April that "The Iranian terrorists are making all kinds of crazy threats to kill the American hostages if they are invaded by Iraq—whom they identify as an American puppet," may have been influenced by such reports to approve a rescue mission prior to the outbreak of a possible Iran–Iraq War.

Planning and preparation

thumb|upright=1.3|A pair of [[Sikorsky RH-53D Sea Stallion|RH-53Ds aboard as part of Operation Eagle Claw |alt=]]

Planning for a possible rescue mission began on 6 November, two days after the hostages were taken. Army Major General James B. Vaught was appointed as Joint Task Force commander and was to be forward-based at Wadi Kena in Egypt, reporting directly to the President. In turn, he had two field commanders: USAF Colonel James H. Kyle as the field commander for aviation and US Army Colonel Charlie Beckwith as ground forces field commander. In planning the operation, some of the maps the US used were tourist maps.

The plan was designed so all four main services of the Department of Defense would have a part: Army, Navy, Air Force and the Marine Corps. It was planned that helicopters and C-130 aircraft, following different routes, would rendezvous on a salt flat (code-named Desert One) 200 miles (320 km) southeast of Tehran. Here the helicopters would refuel from the C-130s and pick up the combat troops who had flown in on the C-130 transports. The helicopters would then transport the troops to a mountain location (Desert Two) closer to Tehran, from which the rescue raid would be launched into the city the following night. He also took soil samples to determine the load-bearing properties of the desert surface. At the time of the survey, the salt-flat floor was hard-packed sand, but in the ensuing three weeks an ankle-deep layer of powdery sand had been deposited by sandstorms.

The Tehran CIA Special Activities Division in-country paramilitary team, led by retired US Army Special Forces officer Richard J. Meadows, had two assignments: to obtain information about the hostages and the embassy grounds and to transport the rescue team from Desert Two to the embassy grounds in pre-staged vehicles. Desert One was in the South Khorasan Province, in the Dasht-e Lut desert near Tabas (); Desert Two was located 50 miles (80 km) short of Tehran at . A small advance force infiltrated Tehran and secured a warehouse where five Ford trucks and two Mazda vans with facade compartments that would conceal the assaulters as they went through Iranian checkpoints were kept.

Assault teams

thumb|upright 1.2|Planned and actual routes for Operation Eagle Claw

The ground forces consisted of 93 Delta soldiers to assault the embassy and a 13-man special forces assault team from Detachment A to assault the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where three further hostages were being held. A third group of 12 Rangers were to act as the roadblock team at the Desert One landing area. Rangers were also tasked with taking and holding the Manzariyeh Air Base near Tehran to be used to escape from Iran. In addition, the CIA had prepared an in-country team of 15 Iranian and American Persian-speakers, most of whom would act as truck drivers.

Eight United States Navy (USN) RH-53D Sea Stallion (Call signs: Bluebeard 1 – 8) helicopters were positioned aboard , off the coast of Iran. The helicopters would fly to Desert One, refuel, load up the Delta Force and part of the Ranger teams, then fly further to Desert Two. As it would be close to morning, the helicopters and ground forces would hide during the day at Desert Two. The rescue operation would take place the second night.

Rescue raid

thumb|[[A-7 Corsair II|A-7Es aboard with special identification stripes added specifically for Operation Eagle Claw]]

First, CIA officers who were already inside Iran would bring trucks they had sourced to Desert Two. Together, the CIA officers and ground forces would then drive from Desert Two into Tehran. This team would assault the embassy and Foreign Affairs building, eliminate the guards, and rescue the hostages, with air support from Air Force AC-130 gunships flying from Desert One. The hostages and rescue team would then rendezvous with the helicopters from Desert Two at the nearby Amjadieh Stadium, where the hostages and rescue teams would board the helicopters.

Egress

In parallel to the rescue, an Army Ranger company would capture the abandoned Manzariyeh Air Base, () about southwest of Tehran, to allow two C-141 Starlifters to arrive from Saudi Arabia. The helicopters would bring all parties from the stadium to the Manzariyeh airbase, and the C-141s would fly them to an airbase in Egypt. The eight helicopters would be destroyed before departure.

Protection and support

Protection for the operation was to be provided by Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8) operating from Nimitz and CVW-14 operating from . For this operation, the aircraft bore special invasion stripe identification on their right wings. This was necessary to distinguish support aircraft from Iranian F-14 and F-4 aircraft purchased by Iran from the US in the time of the Shah. CVW-14 Marine F-4Ns were marked with a red (VMFA-323) or yellow (VMFA-531) stripe enclosed by two black stripes while CVW-14 attack aircraft (A-7s and A-6s) had an orange stripe enclosed by two black stripes.

The mission

thumb|right|Repainted Bluebeard RH-53D helicopters in sand [[camouflage and without markings aboard ]]

Only the delivery of the soldiers, equipment and fuel by the C-130 aircraft went according to plan. to establish a parallel landing zone north of the dirt road and to set out TACAN beacons to guide in the helicopters.

Soon after the first crews landed and began securing Desert One, a civilian Iranian bus with a driver and 43 passengers was stopped while traveling on the road, which now served as the runway for the aircraft. The bus was forced to halt by the Rangers and the passengers were detained aboard Dragon 3. Minutes after the bus had been stopped, the Rangers in the road-watch team observed a fuel tanker truck, ignoring their orders to halt, bearing down on them. The truck, apparently smuggling fuel, was blown up by the Army Ranger roadblock team using a shoulder-fired rocket as it tried to escape the site. The truck's passenger was killed, but the driver managed to escape in an accompanying pickup truck. As the tanker truck was thought to be engaged in clandestine smuggling, the driver was not considered to pose a security threat to the mission. The resulting fire illuminated the nighttime landscape for many miles around, and provided a visual guide to Desert One for the disoriented incoming helicopters.

Two hours into the flight, RH-53D Bluebeard 6 made an emergency landing in the desert when a sensor indicated a cracked rotor blade. Its crew was picked up by Bluebeard 8 and the aircraft was abandoned in the desert. The remaining helicopters ran into an unexpected weather phenomenon known as a haboob (an enormous, nearly opaque cloud of fine dust). Bluebeard 5 flew into the haboob, but abandoned the mission and returned to the Nimitz when electrical problems disabled flight instruments and flying without visual references proved impossible. The remaining six helicopters reached Desert One, 50 to 90 minutes behind schedule. Bluebeard 2 arrived last at Desert One at 01:00 with a malfunctioning secondary hydraulic system, leaving only one hydraulic system to control the aircraft.

With only five fully serviceable helicopters now remaining to transport the men and equipment to Desert Two (minimum of six aircraft was the planned mission's abort threshold), the various commanders reached a stalemate. Senior helicopter pilot Seiffert refused to use unsafe Bluebeard 2 on the mission, while Beckwith (field commander for ground forces) refused to consider reducing his trained rescue team's size. Kyle (the field aviation commander), therefore, recommended to Vaught that the mission be aborted. The recommendation was passed on by satellite radio to the president. After two and a half hours on the ground, the presidential abort confirmation was received.

Collision and fire

thumb|Plan sketch of Desert One

Fuel consumption calculations showed that the extra 90 minutes idling on the ground waiting for the abort confirmation order had made fuel critical for one of the EC-130s. When it became clear that only six helicopters would arrive at Desert One, Kyle had authorized the EC-130s to transfer 1,000 US gallons (3,800 L) from the bladders to their own main fuel tanks, but Republic 4 had already expended all of its bladder fuel refueling three of the helicopters and had none to transfer. To make it to the air tanker refueling track without running out of fuel, it had to leave immediately and was already loaded with part of the Delta team. In addition, RH-53D Bluebeard 4 needed additional fuel, requiring it to be moved to the opposite side of the road.

To accomplish both actions, Bluebeard 3 piloted by Maj. James Schaefer had to be moved from directly behind the EC-130. The aircraft could not be moved by ground taxi and had to be moved by hover taxi (flying a short distance at low speed and altitude).

Creation of the SOAR

The lack of well-trained Army helicopter pilots who were capable of the low-level night flying needed for modern special operations missions prompted the creation of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) (Night Stalkers). In addition to the 160th SOAR's creation, the US Defense Department now trains many military helicopter pilots in low-level penetration, aerial refueling, and use of night-vision goggles. In addition to the formal report, various reasons for the mission failure have been argued, with most analysts agreeing that an excessively complex plan, poor operational planning, flawed command structure, lack of adequate pilot training and poor weather conditions were contributing factors.

Creation of the JCU

The Joint Communications Unit (JCU) is a unit of the Joint Special Operations Command charged to standardize and ensure interoperability of the communication procedures and equipment of JSOC and its subordinate units.

The JCU was created in 1980 after the failure of Eagle Claw. Its headquarters are in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Units involved in the operation

thumb|RH-53D helicopter rotor remnant from Operation Eagle Claw on display in the former US Embassy in Tehran

CIA

Special Activities Division/Special Operations Group (SAD/SOG)

US Air Force

1st Special Operations Wing: 8th Special Operations Squadron (EC-130)
436th Military Airlift Wing
437th Military Airlift Wing

US Army

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta ("Delta Force")
10th Special Forces Group Special Forces Detachment "A"
75th Infantry Regiment (elements from 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions)

US Navy and Marine Corps

was also present with USS Coral Sea as well as other support ships.

Commemoration

thumb|right|upright|Operation Eagle Claw Memorial in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]

United States

The official Operation Eagle Claw Memorial is at Arlington National Cemetery and is described by cemetery literature thusly:

Iran

The incident is considered as a US defeat and is commemorated annually in Tabas where government officials, religious leaders and people gather and display wreckage of the American planes and helicopters from the incident. A mosque called "gratitude mosque" was built at the crash site. On the road from Ashkezar to Tabas, at the location of Desert One there are several remnants of the operation, including wreckage and mock-ups of the RH-53D helicopters.thumb|right|Commemoration for Delta Team casualties at [[Gunter Annex, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama]]

An Iranian air-defense system is named Tabas, in commemoration of the crash site. At the old Tehran Airport, there is the shell of a RH-53D airframe on display.

Aircraft

The abandoned Bluebeards 2 and 8 were inducted into service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.
RH-53D Bluebeard 5 is immortalized at Wrightstown Gate Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, New Jersey

Second rescue plan

Shortly after the first mission failed, planning for a second rescue mission was authorized under the name Project Honey Badger. Plans and exercises were conducted, but the manpower and aircraft requirements grew to involve nearly a battalion of troops, more than fifty aircraft, and such contingencies as transporting a 12-ton bulldozer to rapidly clear a blocked runway. Even though numerous rehearsal exercises were successful, the helicopters' failure during the first attempt resulted in the development of a subsequent concept involving only fixed-wing STOL aircraft capable of flying from the US to Iran using aerial refueling, then returning to land on an aircraft carrier for medical treatment of wounded.

The concept called Operation Credible Sport, was developed but never implemented. It called for a modified Hercules, the YMC-130H, outfitted with rocket thrusters fore and aft to allow an extremely short landing and take-off in Amjadieh Stadium. Three aircraft were modified under a rushed secret program. The first fully modified aircraft crashed during a demonstration at Duke Field at Eglin Air Force Base on 29 October 1980, when its landing braking rockets were fired too soon. The misfire caused a hard touchdown that tore off the starboard wing and started a fire. All on board survived without injury. The impending change of administration in the White House forced this project's abandonment.

Popular culture

"O Superman" (1981) – the song by Laurie Anderson "is directly related to" the incident.

The Delta Force (1986) – the incident is dramatized during the prologue

Sand Storm (), 1997 Iranian film directed by Javad Shamaghdari

Argo (2012) makes reference to the operation and centres on the 1979 revolution

"Ham Avaz-e Toofan" (, "Singing with the Storm"), a 2014 song by Hamed Zamani

Desert One, 2019 US documentary by Barbara Kopple about the operation

This incident is referenced a few times in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic book, in particular as the source of the injuries sustained by the popular masked character Snake Eyes

Notes and references

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited references

External links

"The Desert One Debacle" – The Atlantic, May 2006
Operation Eagle Claw: Pictorial overview
Airman magazine – Archive of interviews with surviving participants
The Holloway Report – The official DoD investigation into the incident
Charles Cogan, "Desert One and Its Disorders", The Journal of Military History 67.1 (2003) 201–216