feet of the ground, racing at some 200 they know we’re going to try to get reconnaissance missions. The suc-
mph but still taking ground fi re. our kids out of trouble,” says Whit- cess of unmanned combat air vehicles
Although the helicopter absorbed comb. “That’s why we have to look at (armed UAVs) in Iraq and Afghani-
several rounds in its cabin and ro- this as a battle. And as with any battle, stan and the vehicles’ increasing so-
tors, it fi nally fl ew out of range of its preparation, organization, and having phistication now allow commanders
attackers and departed Bosnian air- the right equipment [are key].” to mount some air-to-ground attacks
space. O’Grady had lost 25 pounds in Unsuccessful missions such as without exposing pilots to harm.
his six-day ordeal and sustained vari- Operation Eagle Claw — the 1980 at- But for the foreseeable future, CSAR
ous burns, cuts, and bruises, but he tempt to rescue 52 American hostages teams still stand ready to risk every-
was alive — and he had the Marines to from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran thing for their fellow warriors — and
thank for it. In his book Return With — are tragic, but each failure teaches sometimes the price is high.
Honor (HarperTorch, 1996), O’Grady these teams lessons. “Probably more In 1997, the remains of the six crew-
says of his rescuers, “These men were analysis is done when we have failure members of Jolly Green 67 who died
truly valiant. They weren’t the glazed- than [when we have] success,” says in the Bat 21 mission were identifi ed
eye action heroes from some Sylvester Whitcomb, “because successes often and recovered. That November they
Stallone movie. They’d known what become templates for future missions. were interred at Arlington National
they’d risked to save me, and they’d The thing we forget is that every bat- Cemetery, Va. In his memorial address,
been brave enough to face it.” tle, every rescue, is different.” then-Air Force Assistant Vice Chief
Today, the number of CSAR mis- of Staff Lt. Gen. Dave Vesely said,
Training TRAP teams sions is declining, notes Whitcomb, “Today, while we count the high cost,
A reason for success is practice, says because not as many aircraft are being we should also count ourselves fortu-
Staff Sgt. Kris Buck, a TRAP instructor shot down. One reason might be the nate to be the benefi ciaries of these,
with II Marine Expeditionary Force rise of unmanned aerial vehicles the best of men — men who gave their
Special Operations Training Group (UAVs), once relegated to tactical lives so ‘that others may live.’ ” MO
at Camp LeJeune, N.C. “With rescue
missions, time is of the essence,” he
says. “When we train a unit for TRAP,
The Curious Case
we teach them to have a planning
of Scott Speicher
process in place that works quickly,
because it has to happen fast, and The first night of the first Gulf War in
everyone has to know their part. The January 1991, F/A-18 pilot Lt. Cmdr. Scott
longer a pilot’s on the deck, the [more Speicher, USN, known as “Spike” by his
likely he or she will] be captured.” fellow pilots, roared off the deck of the
Because of the relatively small USS Saratoga (CV-60) as part of the
size of the Marine Corps compared first strike team into Iraq. At some point
to the Air Force and Navy, TRAP in the following two hours, his plane was
teams don’t perform the search mis- lost — probably shot down by a surface-
sion, says 1st Lt. Shaun Miller, XO of to-air missile — making Speicher the first
Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 6th casualty of the conflict. Or was he?
Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Divi- Although declared dead several hours
sion. “A CSAR team actually locates later by then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, questions about Speicher’s
the pilot,” says Miller, a veteran of fate soon arose. Because his mission took place in predawn hours, no one
TRAP missions in Afghanistan. “The knew if he was able to eject. Then, Iraqi officials announced they had cap-
TRAP team goes in once he has been tured downed pilots, but that couldn’t be confirmed.
located to within a kilometer.” The Later, intelligence reports indicated Speicher did eject from his aircraft, and
team members aren’t dedicated sole- during an American Red Cross mission after the war, the remains of his F/A-18
ly to the rescue mission but perform and a flight suit were found. There was no sign of human remains. Speicher was
them as needed in addition to their declared KIA/body not recovered in May 1991, reclassified as MIA in 2001, and
regular duties, Miller notes. then reclassified to missing/captured in 2002 after a sighting — later discredited
But not all rescue missions are suc- — was reported. In March 2009, he was designated MIA again.
cessful. “Our enemies today watch Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) thinks Iraqi officials know what happened to Speich-
our movies and read our books, and er and wants the search to continue. As he told the Associated Press, “The fact
is the U.S. government walked away from a downed pilot — mistakenly, the sec-
PHOTO: USN/GETTY IMAGES JULY 2009 MILITARY OFFICER 49
retary of defense declared him dead. It is our obligation to keep looking.”
JJul_Rescue.indd
49ul_Rescue.indd 49 66/3/09 2:47:14 PM/3/09 2:47:14 PM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80