Wendi Strauch Mahoney - American Thinker
Whether the cause of this leak was hubris, blind hatred of Trump, or the dehumanizing detachment of a virtual culture, it points to something deeply broken and worthy of serious reflection.
"Over Easter weekend, the United States military did something that separates America from most other nations: It went back for one of its own, prioritizing human life over hardware.
"After an F-15E was shot down by Iranian fire deep in enemy territory while conducting a deep strike mission, the pilot and the weapons system officer ejected and separately made contact with U.S. forces via encrypted radios and rescue beacons. One of the airmen, the “front-seater,” Dude-44A, was recovered on Good Friday, but the second, Dude-44B, “the back-seater” and weapons systems officer, remained injured, isolated, and hunted from every angle in enemy territory far from Dude-44A.
"On Monday, General Dan “Razin’” Caine described the high-risk rescue mission by the U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue Task Force, which included A-10 Warthogs in the “Sandy” role — a mission to get to the survivor, bring the rescue force forward, and put themselves between the downed American and the enemy. The rescue package, according to Caine, included HC-130 Combat King IIs, HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopters, Air Force Special Warfare airmen, combat rescue officers, and pararescuemen who “penetrated enemy territory in broad daylight” while the CIA ran a deception effort to buy time and throw Iranian forces off his trail. This, said Caine, fulfilled the promise that no American warfighter would be left behind.
"Caine described other harrowing details of the rescue, including a relentless effort to “violently” suppress and engage “the enemy in close-in gunfight to keep them away from the front-seater and allow the pickup force to get into the objective area.” At one point, one of the Sandy aircraft, an A-10 Thunderbolt II, “the one responsible for communicating with the downed pilot,” was hit by enemy fire. That pilot, according to Caine, “continued to fight, continued the mission,” and then upon exit flew his aircraft into friendly territory and ejected after determining that it “was no longer laudable.” He was safely recovered and, Caine said, “is doing well.”
On Saturday, April 4, U.S. forces established positive communications with the injured back-seater who was “actively evading enemy forces.” . . .
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