In a tense situation, U.S. officials urgently reached out to an Air Force colonel stranded in Iran, probing him with a personal question about his father. This was an effort to swiftly determine whether his earlier puzzling radio communications were genuine or a deceptive trap.
Following the downing of his F-15E jet by Tehran on Friday, the injured weapons officer made a grueling trek of over a mile up a mountain. His aim was to enhance his radio signal and convey the message, “God is great,” as reported by officials.
This message, which translates to the Islamic expression “Allahu Akbar,” left U.S. officials in a state of confusion, according to a CBS News report. President Trump, speaking to Axios, remarked, “What he said on the radio sounded like something a Muslim would say.”
The situation grew more perplexing when the officer sent a cryptic four-digit number, which U.S. forces failed to immediately understand.
“We were left wondering, ‘What is he talking about?’” an official revealed to CBS, highlighting the uncertainty and urgency of the moment.
“We said, ‘What is he talking about?” an official told CBS.
Eventually, the team realized that the four-digit number was a police code for a cop in distress or in urgent need of assistance â similar to the 10-13 code used by NYPD officers.
The team then asked the colonel a question about his father that only he would know to confirm his potential captors weren’t sending them into a trap.
The officer answered correctly, and military officials were able to verify his identity and confirm he was not taken hostage, according to CBS.
The hero, tough-as-nails airman spent about 36 hours in an area Trump said was “teeming with terrorists” in the Zagros Mountain range — all while suffering serious injuries and having a $60,000 bounty on his head. His pilot had already been rescued hours after their crash.
The massive, elite, historic operation mounted over the weekend to rescue colonel involved 100 special operations forces, led by SEAL Team 6, with Delta Force commandos and Army Rangers on standby, according to the New York Times.
The Pentagon also deployed more than 150 planes for the operation, including 64 fighter jets, four bombers, 48 refuelers, 13 rescue aircraft and 26 intelligence and jamming aircraft, CBS reported.
The CIA reportedly assisted in pulling off a diversionary tactic that saw the US plant fake intel that the soldier had already been rescued and was being driven out of Iran, paving the way for the actual retrieval mission.
The intelligence agency also helped to track and locate the colonel to the mountain crevice where he was hiding, with the weapons officer flown out of Iran by 12 a.m. Easter Sunday.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would go on echoing the phrase, “God is good” multiple times after the rescue mission, likening its success to an Easter miracle.
âShot down on Good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday,â Hegseth said at a White House press briefing featuring Trump and top administration security and military officials.
âFlown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn. All home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. God is good,â Hegseth said.
