1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
Masirah Island—120 Delta Force and 12 ranger
roadblock personnel. 112
Throughout the afternoon the three Talons
were loaded with equipment needed for the mis -
sion. On Brenci’s aircraft (64-0565) a gun-jeep for
the roadblock team and five motorcycles were put
on board. Three of the motorcycles were to be
used by the rangers to provide mobility for the
roadblock force and two by Carney’s CCT to mark
the second parallel runway. A portable TACAN
was also put on board the aircraft to be used to
help the helicopters find Desert One. Two large
sheets of aluminum planking also were carried in
case the aircraft became mired in the desert
sand. Jubelt’s and Fleming’s aircraft were loaded
with camouflage nets for the hide site, support
systems, and Red Eye heat-seeking missiles that
would be transferred to the helicopters at Desert
One. Fleming’s aircraft also carried three 500-
gallon fuel blivets to be used by the helicopters if
they had any problems getting all the fuel they
needed from the EC-130E s. 113
At 1630 mission crews received their final
mission briefing. Weather for the next 48 hours
was forecast to be ideal, and there was no
change in the Iranian radar status. Intelligence
confirmed that there were no Russian trawlers
under the aircraft’s ingress flight path. After
the formal briefing, the crews reviewed the lowlevel
route and went over terrain features and
any threats the aircraft might face. Everything
looked good, and by 1700 all crews had been
briefed. All that remained was the launch decision
that would come from Vaught back at Wadi
Kena. Gast and Kyle went to the communica -
tions tent and waited for the launch order while
the crews prepared their aircraft. 114 They did
not have long to wait.
At Wadi Kena General Vaught received his fi -
nal weather briefing at 1700. The weather was as
good as it would ever be, according to an Iranian
advisor to Vaught who had spent 20 years flying
in Iran. After reviewing the satellite photos and
the weather charts one last time, Vaught announced
that the mission was a “go.” At 1720
local time the execute order was transmitted to
Gast and Kyle at Masirah Island. 115 Five and
one-half months of backbreaking effort had come
down to this moment—the JTF rescue force was
cleared to launch into Iran to free the American
hostages after 173 days of captivity.
Six mission crews and a spare Combat Talon
crew had been briefed, and their aircraft were
readied for launch from Masirah Island. The six
primary crews, their aircraft tail numbers, and
their call signs included the following:
Dragon 1
(Talon 64-0565)
Dragon 2
(Talon 64-0564)
Dragon 3
(Talon 63-7785)
Brenci Jubelt Fleming
Ferkes Nimmo Schwall
Guidry Turczynski Rumple
Chapman Sumida Peppers
Galloway Smith Townsend
Gamble Prator Novy
Almanzar Tafoya Felton
Chitwood Diehl Devine
Wiley Frederickson Hickman
Sanchez Joy Huff
*Wicker – – – –
**Kyle – – – –
Republic 4
(EC 62-1809)
Republic 5
(EC 62-1857)
Republic 6
(EC 62-1818)
Spare Crew
(Talon 62-1843)
***Lewis Tharp Uttaro Pearson
***McIntosh Darden Diggins Osborne
Harrison Burke Bagby Wilson
***Bakke Logan Beres Ozlins
***McMillan Poole Weaver Ross
– – – – – – Perkumas
***Mayo Garrett Newberry Banks
Beyers Latona Gingerich Farrell
McClain Messer Doyle Kirby
Bancroft Thomas Metherell Baker
Witherspoon Chesser Cole Hamilton
Dryer Moore Neckar – –
Tuttle Benstra DeLong – –
Marine Jerome Franks
Walton Rowe Houghton
With less than one hour left before scheduled
takeoff, Beckwith boarded Brenci’s aircraft with 56
of his soldiers. In addition to Delta Force, two
Iranian general-officer advisors, 12 ranger roadblock
soldiers, six Iranian truck drivers, and seven
Farsi-speaking American driver monitors also
boarded the aircraft. Carney and his CCT, along
with Wicker and Kyle, finished out the load.
Literally every square inch of the cargo compartment
was taken by either personnel or equipment.
At 1750 Brenci began his taxi to the north
runway, followed by Pearson in the enginerunning
spare Talon. The plan included rapid move -
m ent from Brenci’s aircraft to Pearson’s if the
__________
*1st SOW mission commander
**JTF air mission commander
***Indicates crew members killed at Desert One when an RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter crashed into their aircraft after refueling. EC-130E
aircraft 62-1809 was destroyed in the resultant fire.
216