The abortive attempt to free the 53 hostages held in Tehran, Iran ranks as one of the noblest ventures conducted by special operations forces.

On November 4, 1979, three thousand Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The students seized the compound, capturing 66 Americans. On November 17th, the militants released thirteen hostages. For the remainder of the crisis, the militants held 52 American hostages. When five months of diplomatic negotiations failed to gain the release of the hostages, President Carter issued an executive order for a military rescue mission. The rescue mission, code named Eagle Claw, ended with catastrophic results. The mission was aborted in the first staging/refueling area known as Desert One with the deaths of eight servicemen.

A combination of a helicopter supported force with additional C-130 transport aircraft was deemed the best option for a clandestine insertion. The helicopters selected for the mission would be the RH-53D Navy minesweeper. The difficulty with the helicopters was the range restrictions; a refueling point would have to be planned along the route. Aerial refueling was not an option at this time, so ground refueling from an EC-130 aircraft would have to be planned. A remote site that was flat enough to land the aircraft and perform fueling operations was found some 265 miles south of Tehran; it was code named Desert One.

Abort criteria for the helicopters was a difficult tactical planning consideration. Based on the number of personnel in the assault force, the abort criteria was set at seven aircraft crossing the Iranian coastline, six aircraft taking-off from Desert One, and five aircraft providing lift for the assault. The hostages and the assault force could be lifted with four aircraft.

At 1905 hours local, the eight RH-53Ds launched from the U.S.S. Nimitz positioned fifty-eight miles south of the Iranian coastline. The helicopters proceeded on the first leg of the mission for refueling and link-up operations in landing zone Desert One. This first leg was a 600 nautical mile flight. The low-level flight profile was 100 feet above the ground level (AGL) and at 120 knots of air speed. The crews used full-face, first generation night vision goggles to assist with the navigation of the route. The Air Force component, the C-130 transport package took off with the assault force from Masirah Island, Oman approximately ten minutes after the helicopters. The C-130 mission package consisted of three MC-130s transporting the assault force. In addition, there were three EC-130 refuelers responsible for the ground refueling operations.