[Iran Crisis] Details of the F15E Fighter Pilot's Thrilling Rescue Revealed: SOS Message "God is good" Questioned, CIA "Deception Strategy," Enemy Nation Builds Temporary Base

The search-and-rescue operation for two pilots of the U.S. Air Force F-15E fighter jets has been dubbed an “Easter miracle,” but within the U.S. military’s operational system, being rescued is not “getting lucky”—it is an extremely meticulous and expensive, systematized engineering effort. This system is called Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR).

When an American pilot is shot down behind enemy lines, the entire U.S. military machine activates immediately. The rescue process usually consists of the following core stages:

1. The moment of the crash: automation alerts and survival

• Ejection and localization: When the pilot ejects, the radio beacon (Beacon) on the seat automatically powers on, sending encrypted location coordinates and identification codes to satellites and warning aircraft.
• Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE): This is a required course for pilots. After landing, their first priority is concealment. They will use the terrain they observe during parachute descent to quickly move away from the crash site (the enemy will search there first), look for water sources, and dig out places to hide.

2. Contact and identity verification

• Encrypted communications: Pilots carry survivability radios with frequency-hopping capability (such as AN/PRC-112 or higher models) to make contact with command aircraft in the air or their fellow servicemembers.
• Identity authentication: To prevent the enemy from setting a trap, the rescue center will ask the pilot extremely personal questions (for example: the name of your high school gym teacher, the model of your first car). These answers are recorded in advance in the pilot’s confidential file; if they get even one word wrong, the rescue operation will not be initiated.

3. Assembling the “Rescue Task Force” (CSARTF)

The U.S. military will not just send one aircraft. A typical rescue operation usually includes:

• HH-60W “Happy Green Giant” helicopters: The core rescue platform, responsible for taking the pilot away.
• HC-130J transport aircraft: Responsible for refueling the helicopters in the air to extend their range, and also serving as the on-scene command unit.
• A-10 attack aircraft or F-15E: Responsible for “suppressing enemy air defenses” (SEAD), conducting carpet-bombing strikes on any surrounding threat targets when the helicopters land.
• Electronic warfare aircraft: Conduct jamming to render the enemy’s radar “blind.”

4. Key combat personnel: the airborne search-and-rescue team (Pararescuemen, PJs)

This group is an especially distinctive unit within U.S. special forces, nicknamed “PJs.”

• They are advanced medics with combat capability.
• They will enter the scene by sliding down from helicopters or parachuting in. Their first task is to check whether the pilot is injured and then drag him onto the helicopter.
• If landing at the site is not possible, they will use steel cable-and-hook systems to pull the pilot up onto the aircraft.

Setting up a temporary base inside Iran

There were two crew members on the F-15 fighter jet that was shot down in Iran last Friday, and both ejected and escaped. One of them had previously been rescued by the U.S. Trump said that this pilot’s rescue was much faster, carried out during daylight under Iran’s intense artillery fire. Trump only confirmed the other person’s safety again on Sunday morning. Iranian officials said the warplane was shot down by their air defense system.

This U.S. rescue operation, hailed as “bold,” successfully saved one Air Force personnel who was “severely injured,” and it is seen as a model of success for the United States. Trump announced, “We found him!” and provided a detailed description of this “astonishing display of courage and talent,” turning potential U.S. setbacks into a demonstration of strength.

A U.S. Department of Defense official described the first action on Friday as a “bold and quick snatch” in daylight, while the second action—after establishing a temporary base inside Iran—was carried out at night. “The two crew members were separated by a few miles, and there were hundreds of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers everywhere.”

Trump said the pilot was in Iran’s harsh mountainous area at the time, being hunted by the enemy. The enemy was closing in every hour, but he had never truly been left alone with no support, because the commander in chief, the Secretary of War, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his comrades were monitoring his location 24 hours a day and actively planning his rescue.

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200 special operations troops participated in the operation

When Trump gave an interview to foreign media, he said about 200 special operations troops took part in the operation. The Iranian military “just got lucky (They got lucky)”; they used shoulder-fired missiles to shoot down the F-15.

Details about the rescue are continuing to emerge, including how the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) shifted the enemy’s attention through “deception operations.”

According to reports from foreign media, the crew member spent more than 24 hours alone, hiding in the mountains with only a handgun. The crew members of the aircraft that was shot down had been highly trained for this kind of situation—their top priority was to stay alive and avoid being captured. The training was: assuming their physical condition allowed it and they were not injured to the point where they couldn’t move, get away from the ejection site as quickly as possible and conceal themselves to ensure safety.

CIA “deception plan”

The CIA spread messages throughout Iran through multiple channels, saying that the U.S. military had already found the second Air Force personnel who had ejected from the F-15 and was evacuating him by sea to take him out of Iran. In reality, this was to buy time in order to locate the trapped Weapons System Officer (WSO)—the second pilot in the fighter jet, seated behind the pilot.

A source said that the CIA intercepted a distress signal and passed the intelligence to the Pentagon and the White House. The White House then ordered an immediate rescue mission. The source said that initially there were concerns that this “beacon signal” was a “trap” set up by Iran.

Trump said that after the weapons system officer ejected, he transmitted a short and unusual message over the radio: “Power be to God.” Another account said that the exact wording was “God is good.”

Trump said that what he said over the radio sounded like what a Muslim would say. Trump added that people who knew the officer explained that he was a devout person, so it was reasonable for him to say such words.

After the CIA confirmed early on Saturday that it was not a trap, it used advanced technical capabilities to pinpoint the location of the missing Air Force personnel. CIA Director John Ratcliffe informed War Secretary Hegseth (Pete Hegseth), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Kane, and ultimately reported it to Trump.

Within 12 hours, the team had landed in Iran

A source said, “Within 8 hours, our aircraft were already airborne. In nearly 12 hours, our personnel had already landed in Iran. We’ve seen how they treat prisoners of war before. We will do everything we can to make sure we find him first.”

Trump said the U.S. military deployed dozens of aircraft into Iran and claimed the operation was completed without any American casualties.

MQ-9 drone for defense

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			▲  MQ-9 Reaper

The United States deployed MQ-9 Reaper drones to protect the area around where the Air Force personnel was hiding and to fire at any targets approaching that area and the U.S. military operation zone, preventing crowds or any Iranian military and civilians from getting close.

A senior U.S. official said, “We used every tactical fighter and B-1 bomber we have in the military inventory to carry out multiple large-scale strikes in the surrounding area to ensure his safety.”

The Air Force units tasked with executing the CSAR mission include the most highly trained and most professional personnel in the military. These missions are typically carried out by helicopters flying at low altitude over enemy territory, while other military aircraft conduct strikes and patrols in the area.

Iran turns it into a massive hunt—thousands追捕

Trump said that at the time, “thousands of savage people were hunting him, and even civilians were looking for him. They even offered a bounty for whoever could catch him.”

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that nomadic tribes living in the mountainous areas of the country opened fire on two Black Hawk helicopters that participated in the U.S. rescue mission.

Iranian media said that Iran successfully shot down (or destroyed) several U.S. aircraft: a C-130 military transport aircraft (some reports said it was the special-operations variant MC-130J “Commando II”), and at least two helicopters (identified as Black Hawks or MH-6 Little Bird helicopters).

Trump said that during the search and rescue of the two crew members, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) provided “a little bit” of help to the U.S. military. “They’ve always been great partners. They’re wonderful and brave people. We’re like big brother and little brother.” And a U.S. Department of Defense official said that Israel did not provide any information about the location of the weapons system officer, but shared intelligence about the overall situation on the ground. Israeli officials said the Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike to prevent Iranian forces from getting close to the area.