To Fight with Intrepidity: Operation Eagle Claw

Denigrating the U.S. as the "Great Satan," a mob of militant followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini stormed the American Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and took sixty-six Americans hostage. Finally, it was determined that it was a matter of national honor as well as moral and political obligation to conduct a military operation to rescue the remaining fifty-three captives. The mission went to Colonel Charlie A. Beckwith. A veteran of Korea and Vietnam, "Chargin' Charlie" was a hardened Green Beret and Ranger who was considered to be the premier U.S. expert in unconventional warfare.

Colonel Beckwith was commander of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1SFOD-D) more commonly referred to as "Delta Force," a secret...at the time...elite team of commandos who were specifically trained in a number of antiterrorist tasks, one of which was to surreptitiously infiltrate target areas dressed in civilian clothes and free hostages from buildings.

On 11 April 1980, President Carter authorized the rescue mission to be conducted thirteen days later, on the 24th. The mission called for a group of 130 Delta, Rangers, drivers, and translators to be inserted into the Iranian desert by a support force of fifty pilots and air crewmen. Six C-130 Hercules transports were to lift the men, their equipment, and helicopter aviation fuel from the Egyptian air base at Qena to the island airfield of Masirah off the coast of Oman for a refueling stop.

From there, the force would fly to a secret landing strip in Iran, designated "Desert One." Located 265 nautical miles from the hostages held in Tehran, this site would be secured by the Rangers. Eight Sea Stallion RH-53D helicopters launched from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz on station in the Arabian Sea would join them.

Refueled at Desert One by C-130s carrying fuel bladders, the helicopters would depart prior to dawn to transport the assault force of 120 men to a remote mountain hideaway designated "Desert Two" located fifty miles from Tehran. After their departure, the remaining Ranger security element and aircraft would sterilize and depart Desert One and return to Qena.

Later that evening, the commandos would clandestinely depart Desert Two and drive in vans and trucks to Tehran to storm the American Embassy compound at around 2300 to free the hostages. Approximately forty minutes after the assault commenced, the helicopters would arrive from their hide site, about fifteen miles from Desert Two, to load the freed hostages and the commando force either in the vicinity of the embassy compound or a nearby soccer stadium.

Two AC-130H Spectre gunships would be on station overhead to interdict any Iranian mobs on the ground and to prevent any Iranian Air Force aircraft from taking off at a nearby airfield.

As the assault was commencing by the Delta team at the embassy compound, eighty Rangers would be airlifted from Qena to an isolated desert airstrip at Manzariyeh. Located thirty-five miles south of Tehran, this airstrip was part of an unoccupied former bombing range and had an asphalt paved runway that would be secured by the Rangers and used by C-141 Starlifters. Withdrawing from the embassy compound to the airstrip by helicopter, the Delta commandos and hostages would load the Starlifters. Then they, along with the helicopter crews, drivers, translators, and DOD agents...select individuals who were operating in Tehran in support of the rescue attempt...would depart for Qena, mission complete.

Once the other elements were lifted out, the Rangers would collapse their perimeter and fly out themselves. Delayed demolition charges would ensure the destruction of the helicopters left behind.

At least, that's how the plan was to work in theory. After a couple of false starts, the mission was launched from the United States on 20 April. On 24 April, the majority of the ground force, to include a detail of Rangers from C Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Rangers, boarded two C-141s and flew to Masirah Island. Later that evening, they departed for Desert One.

At 1930 on the deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz, eight Sea Stallions crewed by Marines rose in formation and began their fateful six-hundred-mile flight to Desert One under radio listening silence. Maintenance problems caused one helicopter to be abandoned along the way and a second to abort and return to the Nimitz. The mission was now down to the minimum number of helicopters Beckwith thought necessary to accomplish the mission.

At Desert One, Rangers deployed to establish security and a road watch while Delta support personnel prepared to receive the soon to be arriving helicopters. The Ranger road watch team had no sooner off-loaded a jeep and spread out when a large Mercedes bus drove up to the field. Stopping only after shots were fired over the bus, the forty-five distressed Iranians were unloaded from the bus and secured.

Minutes later, another approaching vehicle was spotted, a small fuel truck. Failing to halt, the vehicle was set afire by an antitank rocket fired by a Ranger. Quickly exiting the burning truck, the driver ran a hundred yards back to a pickup that had moved into the perimeter undetected. In a blaze of rubber and tossed sand, the pickup with its two passengers escaped in a hail of bullets.

The last two helicopters arrived at Desert One, nearly an hour and a half late. But, with their arrival, the mission's fate had been sealed, for one of the last two aircraft had sustained a crippling mechanical malfunction. With the mission now down to only five operational helicopters, the mission was aborted.

The task then at hand was to close up Desert One and get everyone safely back to Egypt. At approximately 0200, while maneuvering to top off with fuel from a C-130, a Helo pilot became disoriented in the great swirls of dust created by his engine and that of the C-130. Moving left, then right, the helicopter banked and crashed into the refueling C-130, creating a mammoth fireball in the desert night that caused fuel and debris to rain all about.

From the side troop doors of the stricken C-130, thirty-nine soldiers tumbled or were carried out while other soldiers risked their lives to rescue several unconscious men trapped on the ground near the raging inferno. The five Air Force crewmen in the C-130 cockpit as well as three Marines in the helicopter perished in the intense flames. Four Army soldiers suffered serious burns.

All helicopters were immediately abandoned and for the entire force of Delta, Rangers, and support personnel to load on the remaining C-130s. Equipment was jettisoned from the C-130s to make room for the extra bodies that had not been originally planned on the manifest. Left behind at Desert One were five serviceable helicopters, weapons, communications equipment, secret documents and maps...as well as fifty-three hostages in Tehran, a nation's honor, and its pride.

The crew involved in the Air Force's failed April 25, 1980 attempt to rescue 52 American hostages from the U.S. embassy in Tehran pose in front of their C-130 transport on April 24, 1980, in the Oman desert. The following day, the aircraft was involved in a crash with a Marine Corps helicopter. Top Row (from left): Maj. Richard Bakke, killed; unidentified survivor; Tech Sgt. Joel Mayo, killed; Lyn McIntosh, killed; Maj. Harold Lewis Jr., killed; Capt. Charles McMillan, killed; Staff Sgt. J.J. Beyers, survivor; Col. Jeff Harrison, survivor. Bottom Row: unidentified survivors. (The Associated Press)

For personal accounts of the survivors, go to Airman Magazine: April 2001, "Desert One" and Airman Magazine: May 2001, "A Night to Remember".

According to Skunk Works Digest "Lockheed C-141B Starlifter of the 437th MAW, MAC, based at Charleston AFB, MS, to extract the Delta Forces and hostages from Manzariyey, two equipped as "hospitals" (one as spare) and one as "airliner". Instead both specially equipped medevac aircraft flown to Masirah, Oman, to evacuate the wounded to Wadi Kena, Egypt, after the aborted mission."

According to an article on Spec War Net: Operation Eagleclaw:

What was ultimately decided on was an audacious plan involving all four services, eight helicopters (USMC RH-53's), 12 planes (four MC-130's, three EC-130's, three AC-130's, and two C-141's), and numerous operators infiltrated into Tehran ahead of the actual assault. The basic plan was to infiltrate the operators into the country the night before the assault and get them to Tehran, and after the assault, bring them home.

The first night, three MC-130's were to fly to an barren spot in Iran and offload the Delta force men, Combat Controllers, and translators/truck drivers. Three EC-130's following the Combat Talon's would then land and prepare to refuel the Marine RH-53's flying in from the US Carrier Nimitz. Once the helicopters were refuled, they would fly the task force to a spot near the outskirts of Tehran and meet up with agents already in-country who would lead the operators to a safe house to await the assault the next night. The helicopters would fly to another site in-country and hide until called by the Delta operators.

On the second night, the MC-130's and EC-130's would again fly into the country, this time with 100 Rangers, and head for Manzariyeh Airfield. The Rangers were to assault the field and hold it so that the two C-141's could land to ferry the hostages back home. The three AC-130's would be used to provide cover for the rangers at Manzariyeh, support Delta's assault, and to supress any attempts at action by the Iranian Air Force from nearby Mehrabad Airbase. Delta would assault the embassy and free the hostages, then rendevous with the helicopters in a nearby football stadium. They and the hostages would be flown to Manzariyeh Airfield and the waiting C-141's and then flown out of the country. All the aircraft but the eight helicopters would be flown back, the helicopters would be destroyed before leaving.

What actually happened was far different from what was planned.

A month before the assault a CIA Twin Otter had flown into the first landing area, known as Desert One. A USAF Combat Controller had rode around the landing area on a light dirt bike and planted landing lights to help guide the force in. That insertion went well, with no contact, and the pilots reported that their sensors had picked up some radar signals at 3,000 feet but nothing below that.

Despite these findings, the helicopter pilots were told to fly at or below 200 feet to avoid radar. This limitation caused them to run into a haboob, or dust storm, that they could not fly over without breaking the 200 foot limit. Two helicopters lost sight of the task force and landed, out of action. Another had landed earlier when a warning light had come on. Their crew had been picked up but the aircraft that had stopped to retrieve them was now 20 minutes behind the rest of the formation.

Battling dust storms and heavy winds, the RH-53's continued to make their way to Desert One. After recieving word that the EC-130's and fuel had arrived, the two aircraft that had landed earlier started up again and resumed their flight to the rendevous. But then another helicopter had a malfunction and the pilot and Marine commander decided to turn back, halfway to the site. The task force was down to six helicopters, the bare minimum needed to pull off the rescue.

The first group of three helicopters arrived at Desert One an hour late, with the rest appearing 15 minutes later. The rescue attempt was dealt it's final blow when it was learned that one of the aircraft had lost its primary hydralic system and was unsafe to use fully loaded for the assault. Only five aircraft were servicable and six needed, so the mission was aborted.

Things got worse, though, when one of the helicopters moved to another position and drifted into one of the parked EC-130's (in the pilot's defense, it was dark and his rotors kicked up an immense dust cloud, making it difficult to see). Immediately both the C-130 and RH-53 burst into flames, lighting up the dark desert night. The C-130 was evacuated and the order came to blow the aircraft and exfiltrate the country.

However, in the dust and confusion the order never reached the people who would blow the aircraft. There were wounded and dying men to be taken care of and the aircraft had to be moved to avoid having the burning debris start another fire. Because of this failure to destroy the helicopters, top secret plans fell into the hands of the Iranians the next day and the agents waiting in-country to help the Delta operators were almost captured.

The Aftermath: broken aircraft at Desert One. All told, five Air Force personnel and three Marines lost thier lives and dozens more were injured. The Iranians scattered the hostages around the country afterwards, making any further rescue attempts impossible. They would be released later, after ??? days of imprisonment.

Lessons Learned

Insufficient information and bad planning played a key role in the failure of the rescue. The planners had calculated that it would take the eight RC-53's four hours and twenty minutes to make the flight; it had taken five hours twenty minutes. The Air Weather Service had not been able to predict the low level dust storms that hampered the mission. If they had, some more low-level bad weather flight training might have made the flight easier and have prevented the fatal crash that killed eight people.

Also, the helicopter crews had been thrown together at the last minute after it was discovered that many of the Marine pilots lacked the skills necessary to complete the mission. It was a combination of Air Force, Navy, and Marine pilots who flew the mission. In one case, unfamiliarity with the aircraft caused one pilot to ground the aircraft when it could have flown the mission.

'The guts to try' still inspires 20 years after failed rescue mission

By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press

HURLBURT FIELD -- After the fiery collision of a helicopter and transport plane killed eight servicemen in an Iranian desert, survivors of their ill-fated mission got an unusual message that still inspires 20 years later. British workers at an airfield on an island off Oman wondered why only five U.S. Air Force C-130s returned on April 25, 1980 after six of the four-engine turboprops had taken off the night before.

They soon realized what happened to the missing plane after hearing news reports of a failed attempt to rescue 52 American hostages from the U.S. embassy in Tehran, recalled retired Col. Roland Guidry, then commander of the 8th Special Operations Squadron.

''They got two cases of cold beer and put them in a jeep and ran them around the edge of the runway to our tent city,'' Guidry said. ''One of them had written on the top case of beer an inscription that said, 'To you all from us all for having the guts to try.' ''

The message was torn off and taken back to Hurlburt where it was framed and put in the squadron's trophy room.

''The Guts to Try'' became the motto of a mission that may have failed but also prompted a buildup of special forces -- focusing on clandestine operations, guerrilla tactics and counter-terrorism -- which later paid off with successes in Grenada, Panama, Iraq and the Balkans.

Improvements were made in aircraft, training, communications, interservice coordination, command structure and tactics. The changes were qualitative and quantitative, said Col. Kenneth Poole, 48, of Anniston, Ala., a navigator aboard one of the surviving C-130s in Iran.

''If I need four airplanes to do an operation I'm going to send six,'' said Poole, now chief of contingency operations for the Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt. ''That's called Iran math.'' Guidry was aboard the lead plane in Iran and then participated in the buildup as chief of air operations for the U.S. Special Operations Command, which was created at Fort Bragg, N.C., as a result of the disaster. The joint command is now at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa.

''Although I hated to lose five people under my command, we're probably much better off in special operations today, 20 years later, because this mission failed,'' said Guidry, now a real estate broker in nearby Destin. ''It was a wake-up call.''

Five Hurlburt airmen and three Marines died when a Marine helicopter that was trying to take off crashed into a C-130 parked at Desert One, their rendezvous point.

The mission's 20th anniversary will be marked with a memorial service and symposium Thursday at Hurlburt. A ceremony sponsored by the humanitarian group No Greater Love is set for April 25 at Arlington National Cemetery.

The rescue attempt was an audacious plan, code named Eagle Claw, that nearly worked, Guidry said. Six C-130s landed at Desert One with an Army Delta Force and fuel for eight Navy and Marine Corps helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.

The choppers then were to take the attackers to a hideout near Tehran. The next night, trucks purchased by operatives in Iran, would have taken them to the embassy. Another assault force aboard C-130s would fly to and capture an Iranian airfield.

The helicopters would pick up everyone from the embassy and fly them to the airfield where transport planes would take them out of Iran.

The mission never got that far. One helicopter, struggling to find its way through engine-clogging dust kicked up by a sand storm, turned back. A second was forced down by mechanical problems and another chopper picked up its crew.

One of the helicopters that made it to Desert One also was out of commission, leaving only five. At least six were needed to go on so the mission was aborted.

There were other problems. A bus came by on a dirt road shortly after the lead C-130 landed. Its driver and about 40 passengers were held until the Americans left.

Then a gasoline tanker truck drove up and a soldier, ordered to stop it, blew it up with a rocket, said Chief Master Sgt. Taco Sanchez, of Murray, Ky., then a loadmaster on the lead plane.

''When you look back on it 20 years later it is kind of comical in a way, but at that time it was bloody-ass scary,'' said Sanchez, 46, Hurlburt's top-ranking noncommissioned officer.

It got worse. The helicopters were refueled to fly back to the carrier, but when one lifted off it became engulfed in dust, clipped a C-130's tail and spun into the transport's cockpit area.

''The whole windscreen lit up,'' said retired Staff Sgt. J.J. Beyers, the C-130's radio operator. ''We thought we were being shelled.''

Beyers, 57, of nearby Niceville, tried to go down steps to the cargo bay when something hit him and he blacked out. He came to in the cargo bay and crawled to a door. ''As I got there I stood up and a couple of Delta boys came and got me out,'' he recalled.

Of seven men on the flight deck, only Beyers and a relief pilot standing beside him survived. Three other airmen and dozens of assault troops made it out of the cargo bay.

Retired Air Force Col. John Carney, 59, of Tampa, was a combat air traffic controller watching from 100 yards away as munitions exploded, flames shot from the wreckage and a plume of black smoke billowed into the night sky.

''It was just a scene right out of 'Apocalypse Now,' '' he said.

Bodies were trapped in the burning wreckage and had to be left behind. Iran gave the remains to Swiss officials who turned them over to the United States.

Beyers was the most seriously injured survivor with lung damage and severe burns to his hands. He is permanently disabled and medically retired.

To provide for the education of 15 children left behind by the eight men who died, their comrades created the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Two of Beyers' six children also were given scholarships. Carney, the foundation's president, said it has since raised $1 million and provided grants to 347 more children of lost special operations personnel.

The military trained for a second rescue, but it was never attempted. Iran released the hostages after 444 days of captivity in January 1981 as Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president.

The C-130 crews straggled back to Hurlburt with their ''guts to try'' memento instead of the hostages they hoped to rescue.

''It was the right thing to do,'' Sanchez said. ''Did we do it? No. But I can tell you that if we had the same mission today we'd prosecute it 100 percent and we'd bring 'em home.''

Remembering heroes

April 2001

Eight men died during the aborted attempt to rescue American hostages held captive in Iran. Five of them were airmen from the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Three were Marine helicopter crewmen.

“Take solace in the fact [that] what they did only a few could even attempt,” said Lt. Gen. Norton Schwartz, the commander of Alaskan Command, at a 20th anniversary commemorative ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla. “What they did was keep the promise. They had the guts to try.”

Schwartz was a pilot in the 8th SOS at the time of the rescue mission and went on to command Hurlburt’s 16th Special Operations Wing.

Another special operator and now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Hugh Shelton, expressed similar sentiments during a speech at an April 2000 ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery honoring those killed.

“The sheer audacity of the mission, the enormity of the task, the political situation at the time. When I reflect on the results — both positive and negative — I’m awed,” Shelton said.

“The very soul of any nation is its heroes. We are in the company of giants and in the shadow of eight true heroes,” he said.

Those heroes are Capt. Richard L. Bakke, 33; Capt. Harold J. Lewis, 35; Capt. Lyn D. McIntosh, 33; Capt. James T. McMillan II, 28; Tech. Sgt. Joel C. Mayo, 34; Marine Staff Sgt. Dewey L. Johnson, 31; Marine Sgt. John D. Harvey, 21; and Marine Cpl. George N. Holmes Jr., 22. — Master Sgt. Jim Greeley

Painting of MC-130E Ranger air drops

According to Operation Urgent Fury, "The 8th Special Operations Squadron ... was called on again in October 1983 to lead the way in the rescue of American students endangered on the island of Grenada. After long hours of flight, the aircrew members faced intense ground fire to airdrop U.S. Army Rangers to Point Salinas Airfield in the opening moments of Operation Urgent Fury. They subsequently followed up with three psychological operations leaflet drops designed to encourage the Cubans to discontinue the conflict."

It continued, "In regard to PSYOP in Grenada, Stanley Sandler says in Cease Resistance: It's Good for You: A history of U.S. Army Combat Psychological Operations, 1999. "4th PSYOP Group loudspeaker teams attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, in addition to persuading significant numbers of frightened Peoples Revolutionary Army (PRA) troops to turn themselves in, confirmed the enemy's low morale as well as the desire of even some of the Cuban "Construction Battalions" to remain on the island with their Grenadian wives and families."

Regarding leaflets, Sandler says, "But other, more specialized leaflets, emphasized that this was a combined operation with other Caribbean nations as well as the United States acting against a foreign threat. Something new was added when U.S. PSYOP troops photographed captured Grenadian Communist leaders in captivity, thus reassuring citizens that they could now go about their business unmolested by a cabal whom most genuinely feared. One such leaflet, headlined "These hoodlums are now in custody," displayed most unflattering photos of the subjects while another showed the two chiefs of the Marxist clique, Bernard Coard and Hudson Austin, in safe custody on a U.S. Navy ship with the message "Former PRA members: Your corrupt leaders have surrendered. Knowing resistance is useless...Join your countrymen now in rebuilding a truly democratic Grenada."

Sandler says in an article printed in Mindbenders, Vol. 9, No.3, 1995: "The 4th PSYOP Group distributed leaflets giving the Grenadian population guidance and information, and a newly-deployed 50-kilowatt transmitter, "Spice Island Radio," broadcast news and entertainment throughout the island.

Radio Free Grenada was one of the first targets of American bombs. To replace Radio Free Grenada, the U.S. set up Spice Island Radio, under the overall control of the Psychological Operations Section of the Army. A twelve-man team of Navy journalists immediately flew in from Norfolk, recruited some local announcers, and Spice Island Radio was on the air. Their first broadcast called on Grenadians to lay down their arms. The head of the Navy team, Lt. Richard Ezzel, told Reuters, "We wanted to save lives."

Department of the Army FM 33-1, Psychological Operations, July 1987, mentions the Grenada PSYOP campaign. "The 1983 Grenada operation included PSYOP elements from all the services. These elements provided the commander with the primary means of mass communication with both the enemy and local populace. The communication capability was especially important during the initial phases of the operation.

Leaflets directing the populace to remain indoors and tune their radios to a specific frequency were designed by the Army and printed aboard Navy ships. Other leaflets, produced both at Ft. Bragg and on the island, were effectively used during the consolidation operations to encourage Grenadian civilians to report information concerning Peoples Revolutionary Army (PRA) and Cuban soldiers. An Air Force airborne transmitter station was used by PSYOP elements to broadcast information after the Grenada radio station was rendered inoperative during the first day of operation. By the third day, a small land-based PSYOP station commenced operations. Later, Army PSYOP elements deployed a large 50KW transmitter capable of broadcasting to the entire island. Eventually, PSYOP personnel were broadcasting 11 hours per day."

For more details on the Operation go to FAS: Operation Urgent Fury

The attack was initiated by two F-117As, which around 23:00hrs local time dropped two GBU-24s in front of Noriegas HQ at Rio Hato. This operation later caused much discussions, as it was declared for a failure by the public, while the bombs fell right where they were expected to do as the intention was for them to create confusion. Nevertheless, instead of creating confusion, the bombs alerted the Panamese, and when the 13 C-130s loaded with troops of the TF „Red“ arrived over Rio Hato they were confronted by the fire from several ZPU-4 heavy machine guns, caliber 14.7mm. Before the two escorting AC-130s could intervene, the 8th SOS MC-130E that lead the formation of Hercules‘ was obviously hit by ground fire and forced to make an emergency landing with only three engines in working order. The Gunships – soon after jointed by two AC-130As each from the 711th and 919th SOS AFRes, which took off from Howard AFB – then started suppressing the air defenses and this made it possible for the Hercules transports to disgorge rangers from a level of only 600ft/200m. Due to a number of heavily-loaded troopers landing on the concrete runway, 35 of them were injured, but in general they managed to swiftly recover and attack the main terminal of Rio Hato, which was secured by 0153hrs of 20 December. Shortly after the first transports started landing there, bringing reinforcements and evacuating casualties. During this attack the rangers lost two killed and 27 injured (in addition to 35 troops injured during the landing), while the PDF lost 34 killed and 260 captured. The TF „Red“ – now supported by several AH-64As and AH-6s flown in from Howard AFB, and the two 711th SOS AC-130As – then started preparing for its next task.

...a flight of darkened MC-130 Combat Talons and C-130E Hercules STOL turboprop aircraft approach at 500 feet... standing in the door are sticks of U.S. Army Rangers stooped over rucksacks so heavy, it takes both hands to lift and drag them to the jump doors....The Rangers are so encumbered by equipment that they cannot even stand up straight. Approaching their dark target, the GREEN LIGHT COMES ON, through the open jump doors they see red and green tracer fire below. The Rangers strain out the jump doors, some without reserve parachutes: a towed jumper caught by this overload of equipment on the edge of the jump door could get dragged through the air---- if cut away falls to his death....if pulled in, he may be a bloody pulp as he bangs against the side of the aircraft if those still inside wait until everyone jumps; if pulled in early, he blocks the door so Rangers cannot join the battle below to help win it.

A C-130E Hercules pilot writes:

"I saw your web page as a link from the 75th Ranger Reg't page. I flew in Panama, dropping Rangers in Rio Hato, point of fact, we were a 17 ship formation of C-130Es, there were no MC-130s in the airdrop at Rio Hato. When we left from Ft Benning or Panama, the weather was crap and we were overloaded to the point had we lost one engine we would likely have become a smokin' hole. We weighed less than the maximum published wartime weight, but that weight is based on sea-level standard day (59 degrees F) takeoff. When it's cold, that's usually better unless you have to steal engine power to keep the ice off the wings."

General Noriega

On 3 January 1990, the majority of the force redeployed, but a small element remained behind. During the evening of 3 January, two MH-60s from the 160th transported General Noriega from the Papal Nuncio to Howard AFB for transload to a waiting MC-130 and transport to the United States.

During the Vietnam War, the USAF used 10,000-lb. M121 bombs left over from World War II, to blast Helicopter Landing Zones (HLZ) in the dense undergrowth. As the supply of M121 bombs dwindled, the USAF developed the Bomb Live Unit-82/B (BLU-82/B) as a replacement. Weighing a total of 15,000 lbs., the BLU-82/B was essentially a large thin-walled tank (1/4-inch steel plate) filled with a 12,600-lb. explosive "slurry" mixture. The designers optimized this bomb to clear vegetation while creating little or no crater, and it cleared landing zones about 260 feet in diameter-just right for helicopter operations. Since only cargo aircraft could carry them, C-130 crews delivered the BLU-82/B with normal parachute cargo extraction systems. The BLU-82/B first saw use in Vietnam on March 23, 1970. Throughout the rest of the war, the USAF used them for tactical airlift operations called "Commando Vault." After the war, the BLU-82/B was used during the Mayaguez rescue in May 1975, but the remaining BLU-82/Bs went into storage until the mid-1980s, when the Air Force Special Operations Command began using them again in support of special operations. During Operation Desert Storm, MC-130E "Combat Talon" aircraft from the 8th Special Operations Squadron dropped 11 BLU-82/Bs, primarily for psychological effects. The USAF used these weapons against terrorist strongholds in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (WPAFB USAF Museum) (SITE NOTE: In March 2003, the 21,000lb superbomb was announced. It is an upgrade of the BLU-82. It contains 21,000lb of conventional high explosive, an increase from the 15,000lb BLU-82 "daisy cutter" used at least four times on tunnels and caves in Afghanistan. The warhead is packed with Gelled Slurry Explosive, which is detonated with a high explosive booster. The slurry is poured into the bomb's casing which is then loaded on to a plane and launched by parachute at 6,000ft. There is not yet much public information available about the MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Burst). It weighs 21,500 pounds, compared to the 15,000 pound Daisy Cutter, and is the size of a small truck. Like the Daisy Cutter, the MOAB is designed to be dropped out of the back of a C-130 aircraft, but can possibly be dropped from a C-17 aircraft, as well. Unlike the Daisy Cutter, which is a free-fall (dumb) bomb, that descends attached to a parachute, the MOAB is a precision bomb guided by GPS (Global Position Satellite). After being pulled out of the cargo hold of the aircraft by a parachute, the parachute releases, and the GPS guides the bomb to the target destination. At a designated altitude, the MOAB sprays the area with a highly flammable mist, which is then ignited by a conventional explosive within the bomb. The results are a truly devastating explosion that can destroy tanks, buildings, and personnel in an area of several hundreds of meters.) (See C-130 Bombers for BLU-82 in Vietnam.)

Extracted from Source: Unknown

The men of the Eighth Squadron believed that the BLU-82 bomb could send an even more powerful message. In the early-morning hours of Feb. 7, Maj. Charles Bingington's MC-130E Combat Talon cargo plane lumbered off the runway. In its belly sat the massive bomb. Behind Major Bingington, a companion plane lifted off, carrying another BLU-82 (Bingington and his wingman became known as the Blues Brothers).

The day before, their target area had been rained with leaflets warning the soldiers below: "Tomorrow if you don't surrender we're going to drop on you the largest conventional weapon in the world." The Iraqis who dared to sleep that night found out the allies weren't kidding. The explosion of a Daisy Cutter looks like an atomic bomb detonating. In the southwest corner of Kuwait that night, an enormous mushroom cloud flared into the dark. Sound travels for miles in the barren desert, and soon Iraqi radio nets along the border crackled with traffic. Col. Mike Samuel, Schwarzkopf's special-operations commander, cabled a message back to the U.S. Special Operations Command headquarters in Florida: "We're not too sure how you say 'Jesus Christ' in Iraqi." A British SAS commando team on a secret reconnaissance mission near the explosion frantically radioed back to its headquarters: "Sir, the blokes have just nuked Kuwait!"

The next day a Combat Talon swept over the bomb site for another leaflet drop with a follow-up message: "You have just been hit with the largest conventional bomb in the world. More are on the way." The victims below didn't need much more convincing. The day after the BLU-82 attack, an Iraqi battalion commander and his staff raced across the border to surrender. Among the defectors was the commander's intelligence officer, clutching maps of the minefields along the Kuwait border. The intelligence bonanza enabled Central Command officers to pick out the gaps and weak spots in the mine defenses. When the ground war began Marine and allied forces breached them within hours.

The bombs cost about $27,000 each. They are dropped from a C-130 cargo plane flying at least 6,000 feet off the ground, to avoid the bomb's massive shock wave. Each is more than 17 feet long and 5 feet in diameter - about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle but far heavier.

Answering the call: Base adds two deployments to busy schedule

By Capt. John Paradis
Public Affairs

Hurlburt airmen this week headed for different parts of the globe but for a common purpose: to bolster U.S. military presence.

In addition to Brindisi, Italy and other worldwide commitments, the Air Force Special Operations Command has two additional deployments to add to its scope: Southwest Asia and Korea. Aircraft and airmen from the 8th Special Operations Squadron and the 20th Special Operations Squadron along with enhancements for additional force protection, logistics and combat support capabilities deployed this week to the Middle East.

Included in the deployment were 8th SOS MC-130E Combat Talon I aircraft and 20th SOS MH-53J Pave Low III helicopters.

Earlier this month, two AC-130H Spectre gunships left for the Pacific theater. The 16th SOS gunships arrived in South Korea to augment U.S. military presence there during the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Independence from the western Pacific to the Persian Gulf.

The two deployments add to the capabilities of forces in the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Pacific Command regions.

The deployments also illustrate the wing's reach around the globe, said Col. Rich Comer, 16SOW wing commander.

"Today, we have people in Brindisi, Italy supporting NATO forces in Bosnia, in Korea supporting the Pacific theater, and the Middle East in support of Central Command," said Comer. "We are a wing with commitments all over the world. That we are in high demand by commanders in numerous theaters is testimony to the professionalism and unceasing hard work of AFSOC airmen and what we provide as special operators."

The 8th and 20th, along with security forces, maintenance, civil engineers and other support people deployed after Defense Secretary William Cohen signed an order Feb. 7 authorizing the deployment of about 50 additional U.S. aircraft to the region.

In addition to 16th Special Operations Wing airmen and aircraft, Air Force Special Operations Command also sent EC-130 Commando Solo aircraft from the 193rd Special Operations Wing, Harrisburg, Pa., to the Gulf region. Elements of AFSOC special tactics also deployed.

Secretary Cohen signed the deployment order in response to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's continued refusals to allow U.N. weapons inspectors access to all potential weapons-production sites, said the Defense Department.

As of Wednesday, nearly 27,000 American and British troops, hundreds of fighter aircraft, two American carrier battle groups and one British aircraft carrier were assembled in the region, according to DOD.

The United States and Great Britain contends Saddam Hussein must open his doors to U.N. weapons inspectors, said Defense Secretary William Cohen this week. The Iraqi leader must not be allowed to develop or deliver weapons of mass destruction, he said. "We believe he poses a threat to the stability of the region, that he has the capacity to inflict great harm, and has shown no hesitancy to do that in the past," he said.

The United States and Great Britain are not alone, Cohen added. During the week of his travels, first Germany, then Canada and Australia announced their support.

"There is a growing recognition that the U.N. resolutions cannot be flouted if they are to maintain their integrity and credibility," Cohen said.

"We hope diplomacy will succeed,but if it doesn't, then we must compensate and try to reduce his capacity to build and deliver these weapons of mass destruction by military means, if all else fails."

MC-130H

The following article appeared in the Northwest Florida Daily News on 10 Feb 1998.

Troops ordered to Kuwait; Hurlburt forces readied

Airmen from the 8thand 20th Special Operations squadrons are heading for the Persian Gulf.

by BRUCE ROLFSEN Daily News Staff Writer

HURLBURT FIELD -- Aircraft and crews from this special operations base have been ordered to the Persian Gulf, Hurlburt Field spokesmen said Monday.

Being dispatched from Hurlburt Field are MC-130E Combat Talon I airplanes of the 8th Special Operations Squadron and MH-53J Pave Low helicopters of the 20th Special Operations Squadron. How many airmen and aircraft are being sent and when they are leaving aren't being discussed. "We can't talk about the numbers and the timeline," said Lt. Darren Berry, a spokesman for the Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters at Hurlburt.

In addition to crews from the 8th and 20th, Hurlburt will be sending support teams for security, maintenance and supplies, Berry said.

Both squadrons fought in Desert Storm during 1991 and since then have frequently rotated aircraft and crews to Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region for temporary deployments.

When the current dispute with Iraq began growing in November, the 20th and 8th didn't have teams in the region. For more than a week, some Hurlburt air crews and support units have been on notice that they could be called for duty in the Persian Gulf.

The Combat Talons can fly directly to the Persian Gulf, using in-air refueling or landing at bases to take on more fuel.

While Pave Lows can also be refueled in the air, for cross-Atlantic flights the helicopters are usually carried inside jet transports, such as the C-5 Galaxy or C-17 Globemaster.

Official word of the deployment didn't come until this past weekend when Secretary of Defense William Cohen, while in Europe, approved American generals's request for 50 more aircraft.

Most of the new aircraft are expected to be based in Kuwait, along Iraq's southeast border. Saudi Arabia, where many of the Air Force's planes and helicopters are located, has refused to allow American aircraft based within its borders to be part of an attack on Iraq.

During Desert Storm, Pave Lows were used to infiltrate Iraqi territory at night. At the start of the 1991 air war, two Pave Lows led Army attack helicopters for a rocket assault on front-line Iraqi radars. Pave Lows were also used to fly in Army special force reconnaissance teams and rescue air crews shot down behind Iraqi lines.

The Talons can be used to refuel the Pave Lows and other helicopters or sneak behind enemy lines to deliver ground forces, vehicles and supplies.

One third of all airdrops in the first three weeks of Desert Storm were flown by Talons.

The Talons can also be rigged to let loose one of the Air Force's largest bombs, the BLU-82, roughly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle and weighing about 15,000 pounds, or to release propaganda and warning leaflets.

Also bound for the gulf are aircraft from the 193rd Special Operations Wing in Pennsylvania, Berry said.

The Air Force Reserve outfit flies EC-130E Commando Solos -- C-130s that have been turned into flying radio and television transmitters. From their high vantage point the Solos can broadcast programs directly to Iraqis or jam some Iraqi signals.

Already in the Persian Gulf from Northwest Florida are about 200 airmen and a dozen F-15 Eagle fighters from Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing. Since late November the wing has been flying missions over Iraq from a base in the island nation of Bahrain.

Talon I from the 8th SOS on the ground ( Vic Everett)

Talon I from the 8th SOS refueling two helicopters over Kuwait City ( Dan Moore )

Talon I from the 8th SOS refueling two helicopters over Kuwait City ( Dan Moore )