Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command

Odin & Aesop

In April 1980, the U.S. military tried to rescue 52 Americans captured when Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The rescue attempt was called Operation Eagle Claw and it failed. Eagle Claw involved helicopters flying from a Navy ship and fixed wing aircraft carrying the assault force and extra fuel flying from another country. All the pieces converged in the middle of the Iranian desert at night in a place called Desert One. One of the helicopters collided with one of the aircraft during ground refueling. Eight Americans died and seven aircraft were either destroyed or captured. Even though the individual pieces of the Eagle Claw plan may have been capable of performing their part, the mission fell apart when the pieces came together. According to the author Sean Naylor the U.S. answer to was to have all its counter terrorist pieces from different parts of the military in one standing joint task force. The U.S. formed this counter terrorist task force in December 1980 and called it the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). JSOC went on to play a central role in the Global War on Terror.