Posted on 02/11/2017 11:42:34 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
It was just after midnight on March 21, 1980, when a Navy destroyer navigated by Stephen Bannon, a junior officer, met with the supercarrier USS Nimitz in the Gulf of Oman. The convoy headed near the Iranian coast, where a secret mission would be launched a month later to rescue 52 U.S. Embassy hostages held in Tehran.
Bannon's ship, the USS Paul F. Foster, trailed the Nimitz, which carried helicopters that would try to retrieve the hostages. But before the mission launched, Bannon's ship was ordered to sail to Pearl Harbor, and he learned while at sea the rescue had failed. A U.S. helicopter crashed into another aircraft in the Iranian desert, killing eight servicemen and dooming the plan to liberate the hostages.
"I have the perfect word" for how the crew felt upon learning the mission failed, said Andrew Green, one of Bannon's shipmates. "Defeated. We felt defeated."(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at readingeagle.com ...
I connected/relayed the distress call from that failed mission to DC.
The guy at the other end was strangely calm. Once I made the connection, I didn’t hear anything said.
Hard to believe it was 37 years ago. I flew that type of helo and later met one of the pilots on that mission. “Some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you.”
I had an older cousin that flew one of the heli's on that mission. He never would talk about it but then again I thought it best not to. He told me just enough to know he was there and described the embassy.
Were you on Diego Garcia?
One rumor at the time was that the helicopters were not modified to handle the desert sand. Another was that every service branch wanted a piece of the mission making coordination and command of assets difficult. I believe the result of the mission failure was the creation of Delta Force.
Fascinating article. It seems that Bannon is a multidimensional and very interesting individual.
http://townhall.com/columnists/kathrynlopez/2017/02/11/bannon-before-the-fame-n2284414
It's been a very long time ago but I think Delta Force was something he spoke about at one time or another. I know his father (my fav uncle), who was in the military for a very long time, was really proud of him. I always got the feeling that he was involved in top secret missions but then I was young and impressionable kid and he was the "cool guy" that slicked his hair back Jimmy Dean style that was always in a good mood and fun to be around. He'd stop and take the time to pass a football with you or give you a ride on his motorcycle. He drove the coolest motorcycles and everybody wanted to be around him. He was a Christian too as was his father. They were both great people.
Then there was the story of 19 year old mechanics maintaining the helicopters. Throw in the fact that the helicoptors used in the mission were not the ones used in training for the mission.
I was on th4e Nimitz when this took place.
One: The sand screens on the helos were removed so the helos would have the range to complete the mission.
Two: Nimitz was on station for weeks waiting for the GO signal.
Three: Sand storm season for the area started just before the GO signal was sent.
BTW: The Nimitz battle group spent 144 days at sea for this operation.
Politics was almost unknown in the military until Jimmah Cawtah became commander in chief. Gutted our defense and shamed us before the entire world causing many great officers and senior enlisted to leave the military. Then too, he paved the way for a future community dis-organizer to take up the destruction of our fighting force as evidenced by the Iranian propaganda of the sailors with their surrender photos.
Good for Bannon. I was loaded in a C5 @ Pope Air Force Base in the 18th Airborne Corp, moving across the runway from Green Ramp for takeoff when the stand down order came in. We were expecting to kill them all. Disappointment doesn’t come close. Ft Bragg was a very solemn place to be for quite a while. Then came Reagan!
I was on the USS Mars (AFS 1). We unrepped with you several times. We went to Diego Garcia constantly to pick up supplies so we at least got to get off the ship a few times times during the deployment.
The Navy squadron commander went on to serve as the NASP Schools Command Boss when we were in AOCS.
We spent too much quality time with the USMC DI’s to speak with him much. :)
Operational Detachment Delta was in existence long before that. Army Special Ops includes several tiers of operations units- A-through .... including D. They all have specified missions and purposes.
The outcome of the failed mission was the creation of the Joint Special Operations Command. USSOCOM. Each Service maintains its own special forces elements US Army Special Forces, USN Seals etc, USMC force Recon USAF Special Ops etc, but they are utilized by the SOCOM
Thanks for post.
Excellent article, explains a lot of things I did not know about how Bannon got were he is.
I have a friend that was on the ground during that mission. Thanks for the relay.
Ahhh, "Quality time" with your DI!
"Give me a hundred squat thrusts, maggot! NOW!"
Pure pain while holding in the smile.
Laughing inside.
Good times.
Guam
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