An HH-60W Jolly Green II hoists a simulated survivor during an aerial demonstration for Saluting Our Aviation Roots, Feb. 25, 2026, at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. The demonstration highlighted combat search and rescue capabilities for students and families. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Bre Lewis)

The dramatic and sprawling two-day operation to save the crew of an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran on April 3 involved hundreds of personnel, dozens of aircraft—and multiple close calls.

In an April 6 press briefing at the White House, President Trump and top government officials walked reporters through how the massive rescue operation unfolded and outlined new details of the risky, high-stakes operation.

Trump, who spoke alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, called the successful operation “one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing combat … search and rescue mission[s] ever attempted by the military.”

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