One Pistol For Protection: How US Airman Hid In Iran's Mountains Before Being Rescued In Daring Mission

Vast mountains deep inside enemy territory and only a pistol: that is all this injured US airman had for survival before he was rescued in a daring mission on Sunday.

Extracted by US special forces before he was captured by Iranian forces, the still unidentified weapons systems officer’s rescue mission went on for 36 hours across the rugged Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in southwest Iran.

According to reports, the American soldier survived by hiding in the mountains even as his rescue was hailed by President Donald Trump as the “most daring search and rescue operations in US history”. As details of the operation emerge, his survival is now being painted as extraordinary followed by a sophisticated intelligence deception to enable his rescue.

WHAT WENT DOWN?

On April 3, when an advanced F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was downed by a ground-launched projectile, one pilot was reportedly rescued soon after the crash but the second crew member remained missing.

The F-15E uses a CKU-5 rocket propellant system to blast the airman’s seat through the canopy at a staggering 200 metres per second squared. While sophisticated, this system carries a high probability of spinal fractures and other severe injuries.

American officials said the airman was indeed wounded following his ejection but remained capable of walking and, for 36 hours, he disappeared into the mountains. Armed with only a standard-issue pistol and, perhaps, a flare, his survival depended on his SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) training.

All US aviators are equipped with a combat vest containing a radio/GPS-coded beacon, minimal food and water, and first-aid material, but in terms of defence, he was almost entirely vulnerable while being “hunted down” by Iranian forces closing in “by the hour”.

HOW DID HE SURVIVE?

The US airman’s survival depended on who found him first: his own side or the other side. Realising the immense value of capturing him alive, Iranian authorities urged local tribesmen and citizens to join security forces in combing the countryside and even offering a reward for his discovery.

Social media footage appeared to show dozens of local residents rising to the challenge, searching the arid, mountainous terrain where he was believed to be hiding. But he managed to evade them all by hiding within a mountain crevice. Later, despite being injured, he hiked up a 7,000-foot ridgeline to reach a position where extraction might be possible.