Members of the 353rd Special Operations Group, Kadena AB, Japan, recently honored the eight US service members killed during Operation Eagle Claw—best known as Desert One—the April 24, 1980, failed attempt to rescue American hostages from the American Embassy in Tehran. (Read our 1999 article here.) Col. Raymond Chapman, group commander, told attendees at a base ceremony, “Looking back today, I see that Operation Eagle Claw may have been a tactical failure, but it was a strategic success.” That failed rescue, said Chapman, helped make special operations the force it is today. Following Desert One, the Pentagon created US Special Operations Command.
30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 21
Jan. 20, 2021
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.