Delta Force (32 page)

He wanted me to look him square in the eye and tell him, “Sir, we've got to do it. We're ready.” And I did.

“I think we are, too,” he answered back. Then he told me he'd been down to Hurlburt Air Force Base and spoken with the pilots of 8th Special Operations Squadron who would fly the 130s. He sensed everyone there was ready as well.

We talked for nearly ten minutes.

“General Jones, I'll ask you to do one thing. Delta's been told to get ready, then to step down, seven times. Sir, I can't get these troops up but one more time. If we're going to go, this has got to be it.”

“I would agree with you. I think we're ready.”

“I do, too. In fact, I know we're ready. Now's the time to do it.”

“O.K. Good. I'm glad you feel that way. Let's go on to your headquarters. I want you to go over the plan with me one more time.”

FORTY

THE CODE NAME
of the mission to free the hostages was Eagle Claw. As described to General Jones, the basic plan was this [see
maps
]: Three troop-carrying MC-130s and three-fuel-bearing EC-130s would depart from the island of Masirah, which is off the coast of Oman, and fly to Iran, where they would land 200 miles southeast of Teheran at a location called Desert One—at 33° 05' N by 55° 48' E. On the ground they would wait for the arrival of eight RH-53D helicopters.

Launching from the carrier
Nimitz
somewhere in the Gulf of Oman, the eight helicopters, flying a different route and in four sections of two each, would arrive approximately thirty minutes after the last 130 had landed.

On arrival, the RH-53Ds would refuel and on-load the assault force of 118 men.

Unless six helicopters—a minimum figure deemed necessary by the air planners to lift the combined weight of the assault team and the equipment—were able to depart and fly to the next location, the mission would be aborted at Desert One.

Once the helicopters had refueled and on-loaded Delta, they would proceed toward Teheran and the 130s would return to Masirah.

Flying two and a half to three hours, the helicopters would land at Delta's hide-site—at 35° 14′ N by 52° 15′ E—ideally one hour before sunrise.

After Delta had been off-loaded, the RH-53Ds would fly to their hide-site fifteen miles north of Delta, where they would spend the daylight hours hidden in the hills around Garmsar.

At Delta's landing zone, the assault team would be met by two of the DOD (Department of Defense) agents who had been placed in Teheran several days before. They would lead Colonel Beckwith and his men five miles overland to a remote wadi sixty-five miles southeast of Teheran, and there Delta would remain concealed throughout the daylight hours.

After last light, two of the DOD agents would return to the wadi, driving a Datsun pickup truck and a Volkswagen bus. One of these vehicles would transport the six drivers and six translators, who had come with Delta, back toward the outskirts of Teheran to a warehouse where six enclosed Mercedes trucks were stored.

The other vehicle would carry Colonel Beckwith on a reconnaissance of the route to the embassy. Once the route and the vicinity around the compound had been checked, Beckwith would return to the hide-site. The six trucks would already have arrived and be waiting.

Delta, which had for this mission been reorganized into a Red, a White, and a Blue Element, would climb aboard the trucks around 8:30
P.M
. They would be driven north along the Damavand Road, where they would encounter a permanent 2-man checkpoint at Eyvanekey and at Sherifabad. If for some reason the trucks were stopped and searched, the guards would be seized and carried with Delta.

The next step had some flexibility built into it. The precise route through Teheran to the embassy and the method the trucks would use to traverse this course, convoy or leapfrog, would be determined at this time and would rest largely on the recommendations put forth by the DOD agents and on what Colonel Beckwith had been able to observe.

A 13-man assault team, tasked to rescue the three hostages being held in the Foreign Ministry Building, would travel in the Volkswagen bus and take a different route to their target.

Between 11:00
P.M
. and midnight a select group of operators would drive up to the embassy in the Datsun pickup and
with .22-caliber suppressed (with silencers) handguns take down the two guard posts and the walking guards along Roosevelt Avenue.

Driving two abreast, the trucks carrying Red, White, and Blue Elements would follow a little distance behind. When the assault team reached a position on Roosevelt Avenue across from the soccer stadium, they would leave the trucks and, using ladders, swiftly and silently climb over the embassy wall and drop into the compound.

Red Element, comprising forty men, was responsible for securing the western sector of the compound, freeing any hostages found in the staff cottages and commissary, and neutralizing the guards who were in the motor pool and power plant areas.

Blue Element, also forty men, was responsible for the embassy's eastern sector and freeing hostages found in the Deputy Chief of Mission's residence, the Ambassador's residence, the Mushroom, and the chancellery.

The smaller 13-man White Element was responsible for securing Roosevelt Avenue and eventually covering the withdrawal of Red and Blue Elements to the Amjadieh Soccer Stadium. One machine gun, an M60, was positioned to enfilade Roosevelt Avenue to the north and another, the HK21, to cover it to the south.

Two AC-130s flying on station over Teheran would prevent Iranian reinforcements from reaching the embassy compound. Using a predetermined grid system that pinpointed targets and zones in the area of the embassy, Major Buckshot and Sergeant Major Foreman were responsible on the ground for calling in, if necessary, covering fire from the gunships.

Inside the embassy compound, once Red Element—which had the farthest to travel and most area to cover—was in position, the wall was to be blown.

This large explosion signaled the beginning of the assault on the buildings. Any armed Iranian guards encountered would be killed and the hostages located and freed.

The operation would take approximately forty-five minutes.

Major Snuffy (pseudonym), who was acting as Delta's air
officer, would already have alerted the RH-53Ds outside of Garmsar and by now they would be orbiting north of the city.

At his signal, the choppers would begin to arrive in the vicinity of the compound.

If, as was expected, the poles placed in the embassy's open acres could be removed, the first helicopter would be called directly into the embassy grounds. There it would load all the freed hostages, who would be accounted for by Delta's medics.

A second chopper could also be brought in.

If the poles could not be removed, the alternate plan was to move the hostages across to the soccer stadium.

Once all the hostages they'd liberated had been lifted out. Red, followed by Blue, would withdraw through the gaping hole in the wall and cross Roosevelt Avenue to the stadium, where, accompanied by White, they would load on the remaining helicopters.

Sometime during the assault on the embassy, the 13-man Special Forces team tasked to assault the Foreign Ministry Building would begin its operation. Their plan was to scale the outside of the building and enter through its third-story windows. They would then eliminate any resistance they met and free the three hostages.

Outside the building, in an adjacent parklike area, one of the helicopters would make the pickup.

While these operations were going on and the targets in Teheran were going down, thirty-five miles to the south, in Manzariyeh, a Ranger contingent would fly in, take, and secure the airfield there. They would hold the field until the helicopters arrived from Teheran.

Once everyone had arrived in Manzariyeh, all of the hostages, drivers, translators, helicopter pilots, crews, DOD agents, Special Forces assault team, and Delta Force would be airlifted out of Iran on C-141 StarLifters.

The Rangers would then dry up Manzariyeh and be flown out themselves.

A contingency plan covered the eventuality that not enough
helicopters would be available to lift the hostages and the assault forces out of Teheran at one time.

In that case, in the soccer stadium across from the compound—if, after removing the hostages, there were not enough RH-53Ds to remove the assault force—Delta would take up a defensive position around the stadium's perimeter.

The remaining helicopters, however many there would be, would shuttle back and forth between Manzariyeh—where they would unload the hostages and refuel—and the stadium, until every member of the assault team had been removed.

If no helicopter had been able to return, Delta would be prepared to evade and escape.

General Jones listened very intently. While the plan was being described, he had several times nodded his head in agreement and on occasion asked a question.

There was one hell of a load on his shoulders, keeping all the elements of the plan in his head, evaluating all the components, weighing the various pros and cons, and interfacing with Dr. Brown at the Department of Defense and Dr. Brzezinski at the White House.

It was obvious to everyone at the briefing, by the penetrating questions he had asked, that General Jones was on top of everything.

General Vaught, too, was up. Their contagious optimism spread to Delta.

To those standing in the room, I said, “Hey, we gotta do this thiing!”

I still had lingering doubts about whether we'd actually go, but at least, there was now a good chance we'd deploy to Egypt and stage.

FORTY-ONE

ALL DURING FEBRUARY
and March, people kept bringing up the rules of engagement. What will they be? What kind of document should we give Beckwith? Hell, I didn't need any damn document. Some staff officers, the ones who worry about their bosses' bowels, spent a lot of time focusing on this aspect. The rule was not to take any lives unless it was warranted. If Delta became involved in a firefight, it had to be able to use whatever force was necessary.

At the White House briefing Wednesday night, April 16th, the subject had come up. General Vaught introduced it very smoothly. The President had said, “As far as I'm concerned, Colonel Beckwith has my approval to use whatever force he needs to save American lives.”

President Carter understood where we were coming from. He'd been driven to the end of his patience. Now it was time to act.

I recalled the briefing held that afternoon, before we all went over to the White House, when General Meyer expressed his concern to General Jones about the command and control at the Pentagon of the Iranian operation. He feared it might be overcontrolled. When President Carter brought up the subject, “David, this is a military operation and you're going to run it,” he almost used General Meyer's exact words. I don't know whether General Jones or General Meyer talked to the President after their meeting and before his, but I do know the situation was handled perfectly. From Desert One, Jim Kyle
and I, back to General Vaught in Egypt, back to General Jones at the JCS, back to the President. It was clean, simple, and direct. A precedent had been set that night in the White House. I hope future American presidents, if faced with a similar situation, will follow.

Following the President's brief, the generals and I left the White House around 10:00
P.M
. The streets of Washington were nearly deserted, and the driver made good time. Everyone expressed his satisfaction. The talking was over. Now it needed to get done.

The blue Dodge pulled up in front of the River Entrance of the Pentagon. Generals Vaught and Gast went ahead into the building. General Jones took my arm and we began to walk down the darkened street. The night was balmy. It was cherry blossom time.

“You know, I thought it was very important you go over to the White House this evening. I wanted you to see what took place and to meet the President. I wanted you to be involved.” He stopped and looked at me. “You got a tough job, Charlie. God bless, and I'll see you when you get back.”

There was an Army King-Air at Davison Army Airfield standing by to fly me back to Bragg. I was greeted by the two warrant officers who flew it. They were glad to be going home that evening. I thought to myself, If you fellas only knew where I've been and where, in the next few days, I'm going. History is gonna be made.

The fifty-minute flight to Bragg seemed like ten minutes. My mind raced from one point to another: when and where to inform the guys…last-minute checks…what to tell Katherine…remind everyone to be careful about how they assembled at the Stockade…tell them to use a cover story of another rehearsal out west. My mind ricocheted back and forth, covering all the potential problems Delta could have leaving Bragg. There was a lot to accomplish before we left.

Two C-141s were coming to get Delta on Sunday morning, the 20th. At 0730 hours we would on-load at Pope Air Force Base.

I told the troops on Thursday that we were moving forward
to Egypt, but not that the mission was a go. I did, however, inform Buckshot and Country that we were not going on another dry run. The men spent the rest of the week cleaning and checking equipment. There wasn't anything better to do. I wrote a letter to my wife telling her how much I loved her and our daughters. It was given to my adjutant, Captain Smith, who was staying behind, and he was told to hand it to Katherine in the event something happened to me.

By early Saturday night, Delta was cocked and locked. Country informed the unit they were to assemble at headquarters at 0230. A little earlier in the evening, one of the noncommissioned officers, Sergeant Holden (pseudonym), had arrived home and discovered a prowler in his home. He lived off the post and alone. He'd grabbed his 9mm Browning and taken the intruder out. Captain Smith called me around midnight to tell me of the incident. He assured me everything was kosher and that Holden would be at the Stockade on time.

With the unit together—they were dressed in casual civilian clothes—I told them, “We have in our midst one of our mates who I'm very sure will pull a trigger, because a few hours ago he did.” Sergeant Holden, who was still in an emotional state, didn't think this was too funny. I then told the operators we were going to Iran. I thought the Stockade's roof would come off. Oh, wow! The President's message to them, about where the buck stopped, was also passed along.

Delta then loaded up in trucks and was taken down to Pope Air Force Base to meet the C-141s.

At Pope I was introduced to two Iranian generals whom General Gast had told me to expect. They'd come to the United States when the Ayatollah Khomeini assumed power in Iran. Both were intelligent and well educated and neither was “Joe Shit, the Rag Man.” They spoke Farsi and I thought they might be helpful to us in Teheran. One of them knew the Iranian Air Force very well and it was decided he would fly with the helicopters and stay with Seiffert. I hadn't made up my mind about the other one. “What the hell,” I thought, “I'll work with him until we get to Desert One, then I can see what happens. If he doesn't work out I'll dump him and he can
return to Egypt on one of the 130s.” I issued both of them a new revolver, what we call a wheel-gun: a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson. Delta didn't have a large supply of Smiths, but I provided them to these generals because I felt it befitted their rank.

The two MAC (Military Air Command) pilots knew nothing of their destination. They'd been given an altitude and a compass bearing, but nothing else. One of them, after looking around for a while, walked over to me. “You act as if you're in charge.” “I'm foreman of this here ranch,” I said. “Then, sir, how much fuel should I put in this bird?” I recommended he put on every drop he could. He hollered to the crew chief, “Fill 'er up.”

It was night when the transport planes landed at Frankfurt, West Germany. A fresh MAC crew came on board. They didn't say much, as they had been briefed and knew their final destination. Delta was also joined in West Germany by a small 13-man cell that had been carefully selected and trained to take down the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. In mid-November it had been discovered there would be two separate targets. Intelligence sources learned that three American Embassy officials were being held outside the compound, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Delta was committed to the embassy and didn't have the additional personnel to take down the Foreign Affairs building. Subsequently, it was determined that a select group would be formed for this task. They came from a Special Forces unit in this country and were commanded by an old friend who had much experience in special operations activities. He spoke several languages and the men under him had high regard and respect for him. Delta trained with this cell infrequently but maintained close coordination with it. Because of security it was determined that this cell should prepare and train in Europe. A building similar to the one in Teheran was found in West Germany, and at night this unit rehearsed its assault plan. They worked very hard and were as ready as Delta to accomplish their portion of the mission. This unit was under my operational command.

The mission now numbered 132 men: 2 Iranian generals;
12 drivers; a 12-man Road Watch Team, including translators, who would secure Desert One; the 13-man special assault team; and Delta's 93 operators and staff.

The Road Watch Team would return to Egypt on one of the C-130s. One hundred and twenty men would continue to the hide-site.

This group didn't include Al. He hadn't made it. At the end his blood turned to water and he had a change of heart. I hope he doesn't play stud poker. He'll never win a pot.