New details are emerging about the daring rescue missions carried out by U.S. special forces in Iran to rescue the two airmen who were shot down last week while on a mission for Operation Epic Fury – and it sounds like the key to success centered on trickery, deceit, unparalleled military might, and a mysterious four-digit code.
This new information comes after President Trump, joined by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, gave a lengthy press conference Monday describing the multi-agency effort to rescue the downed airmen. RedState's Susie Moore has a detailed rundown of that presser here.
Shortly before 10 p.m. ET last Thursday, the F-15E Strike Eagle – with the epic call sign Dude 44 – was struck by a surface-to-air missile and the crew ejected somewhere over Iran. A search and rescue effort made up of "Navy SEALs, Army and Air Force Special Operations Aviation and combat medic teams" was immediately mobilized.
Dude 44-Alpha, the pilot, was located within hours; he had reportedly sustained serious injuries, and it was apparently thought for a time that he might not survive. Dude 44-Bravo, the "backseater" weapons system officer, landed far away from the pilot and had to embark on a harrowing two-day-long effort to stay alive until he could be rescued.
🚨 New details from the rescue of the weapons systems officer in Iran:
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 7, 2026
-As the special forces approached "go" time to get him off the mountain, several things happened. Centcom and JSOC received some messages from him. One was a four-digit number. "We said, 'What is he talking…
New details from the rescue of the weapons systems officer in Iran:
-As the special forces approached "go" time to get him off the mountain, several things happened. Centcom and JSOC received some messages from him. One was a four-digit number. "We said, 'What is he talking about?'" The team asked the person with the officer's radio a question about his dad only the officer would know.
-For hours, US bombers had been pounding Iranian targets, including one bunker with 50 IRGC leaders in it, and another bunker sheltering a commander.
-After Hegseth greenlit the second rescue operation, he told those with him he wanted to read something he thought reflected what the officer was going through. It was from Exodus.
-The team was in touch with the weapons systems officer’s wife. They read her in on a deception operation CIA and Centcom were running.
-Trump's team agonized over the clock, watching enemy forces nearing the mountain. Five kilometers away. Three kilometers away. "Every single minute was excruciating."
Dude 44-Bravo had made his way into the mountains in order to evade the armed forces looking for him despite also being seriously injured. When he reached higher land, he was able to successfully communicate with U.S. forces.
This is where that mysterious code comes in. U.S. Central Command reportedly received a strange four-digit code from the airman, which confused them at first, but they eventually realized it was a code used by American law enforcement to indicate an officer in distress needing assistance. They were then able to confirm his identity and use his location beacon to narrow down the rescue field.
SEE ALSO: Teamwork, Firepower, Precision: Hegseth and Caine Detail Iran Rescue Missions
Trump Vows to Hunt Down, Jail Leaker Who Endangered Missing F-15 Pilot by Tipping Off Iran
President Trump is said to have been working in the Oval Office all day Saturday and was receiving regular updates from Hegseth. Military leaders considered four different rescue strategies, eventually opting to go with two MC-130 transport planes for the actual rescue, with fighter jets, bombers, refuelers, and jamming aircraft flying in support.
(Interestingly, it looks like the airman's wife was looped into the operation and was made aware of the deception op being run.)
It was eventually Navy SEAL Team Six that located the airman and evacuated him to Kuwait, where he was able to call his wife and children. The only hiccup in the operation seems to be two military aircraft that got stuck in the sand and had to be destroyed to keep them from falling into enemy hands.
If you're interested in a rundown of what was covered at Monday's White House briefing about the rescues, yours truly – a fledgling YouTube video maker – pulled together the relevant clips.
