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The legacy of ‘Eagle Claw’: How failure helped build America’s elite special forces
Forty-six years ago this month, America learned a brutal lesson in the Iranian desert.
In April 1980, Operation Eagle Claw, a Delta Force mission to rescue American hostages in Tehran, ended in disaster. Mechanical failures, a sandstorm, and a catastrophic collision killed eight U.S. service members. The mission failed. The world watched. Our enemies took note.
But what they failed to understand then, and what they are being reminded of now, is this:
America learns. America adapts. And America returns more lethal.
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The rescue of two U.S. airmen deep inside hostile territory was not just an extraordinary success. It was the direct legacy of that failure 46 years ago. What the world just witnessed was the full expression of a Special Operations playbook forged in the wreckage of Eagle Claw.
Failure Forged the Force the World Fears Today
Operation Eagle Claw exposed glaring weaknesses: fractured command, poor inter-service coordination, and no unified special operations capability. America did not retreat. America rebuilt.
That failure became a watershed moment in Special Operations history, helping give birth to USSOCOM and JSOC, the modern U.S. Special Operations enterprise: disciplined, integrated, and built for the world’s hardest missions. Units under Joint Special Operations Command now train for the exact scenario we saw unfold this week: a high-risk recovery deep inside denied territory, executed with precision under extreme pressure.
This latest mission did not begin when the aircraft went down. It began long before, through contingency plans, rehearsals, and layered decision-making built for speed. When the call came, execution was not improvised. It was immediate.
Decision cycles were not measured in hours. They were measured in minutes.
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“No One Left Behind” Is Not a Slogan. It Is a Covenant.
Every service member downrange understands one thing: if you go down, America is coming. No matter the cost. Whatever it takes.
That belief is not motivational language. It is operational truth. It drives risk tolerance. It compresses timelines. And it reinforces trust across the force in ways civilians rarely see or fully understand.
In this case, one airman landed roughly 40 miles from the crash site and survived over 36 hours evading capture, injured, alone, and moving. He did not “get lucky.” His training took over.
That is Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SEREE) training in action: controlling movement, minimizing signature, mastering fear, and maintaining discipline until recovery forces arrive.
Meanwhile, a massive recovery package surged into motion: more than 150 aircraft, including bombers, fighters, refueling tankers, and rescue platforms. This is what global reach looks like. This is what capability looks like. This is what commitment looks like.
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The Brotherhood Civilians Will Never Fully Understand
There is something in these missions that is difficult to explain outside the community.
A switch flips.
Everything else disappears – fear, fatigue, even self-preservation. What remains is singular focus: finish the mission. Find him, secure him, and bring him home. Whatever it takes.
I have had the luxury of a front seat to some of our most elite warrior. The tales of teammates throw themselves on top of hostages in the middle of a firefight, willing to absorbing bullets and shrapnel meant for someone else. That is not normal human behavior. That is the product of training, trust, and an unbreakable brotherhood forged over years.
These are “no-fail” missions. Not because failure is impossible, but because it is intolerable.
We Do Not Leave Our People. And We Do Not Forget Our Fallen.
There is another legacy of Operation Eagle Claw that matters just as much.
From that tragedy came the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, whose mission is simple and sacred: ensure the children of fallen special operations personnel receive a full education.
That is part of America’s battlefield promise.
We bring our people home. And if they do not come home, we take care of their families.
That promise is not a bumper sticker. It is not a talking point. It is a covenant, paid for in blood and honored in action.
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From 1980 to Today: Vindication in the Same Region
There is profound historical symmetry in what just happened.
Forty-six years ago, in that same region, we fell short.
Now, we executed with precision, recovering our people, striking enemy targets, and demonstrating a level of coordination and lethality our adversaries cannot match.
This is not just success.
This is vindication.
It sends a clear message to Iran, China, Russia, and every adversary watching: distance is not protection. Terrain is not protection. Time is not protection.
If you harm Americans, we can find you. And we will act.
American Exceptionalism, Proven, Not Claimed
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In a world that often questions American strength, this mission answered it. Not with rhetoric, but with results.
What you saw in this rescue was not luck. It was not improvisation. It was the culmination of decades of hard lessons from both triumph and tragedy, relentless training, and an unshakable commitment to one principle: leave no man behind.
That principle was tested in 1980, and it failed. But from that failure, we built something extraordinary, a force worthy of those still serving, those we have lost, and the warriors who built this legacy.
And now, the world has seen exactly what that looks like.
Kirk Offel is a Navy nuclear attack submarine veteran and the CEO of Overwatch Mission Critical, a Texas-based Service-Disabled Veteran Owned data center company that trains and hires future leaders for high-skill jobs in the data center industry. He is a Top 10 ranked global voice on data centers.
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Forensic genealogy unmasks cold case suspect as strangler, sexual predator decades later: officials
Years after DNA evidence linked a 1991 killing and a 1993 rape in Massachusetts, forensic genetic genealogy helped investigators identify the man authorities say was responsible for both cold cases.
Evidence from the killing of Cherie Bishop in 1991 and the rape of Donna Bell in 1993 was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said Thursday.
“For decades, the Bishop and Bell families were deprived of the full story of what happened to their loved ones,” Cruz said. “They carried these tragedies across lifetimes.”
Investigators said Bishop, 28, was found strangled in a wooded area near her Brockton apartment in June 1991. Bell was raped in Brockton in 1993.
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Bishop was found dead in nearby Mulberry Park, wearing only socks and a diamond earring, Cruz said. Her cause of death was ruled to be mechanical asphyxiation, and the manner of death was homicide.
Investigators collected DNA evidence through a rape kit and analyzed it at the time, but no suspect was identified. The evidence was later retested as forensic genealogy techniques continued to advance.
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A rape kit was also collected in Bell’s case.
Cruz said Bell was abducted from the street and sexually assaulted by a man in a vehicle, who threatened to strangle her if she resisted.
She managed to escape after, authorities said, she seized a sharp object. Bell died in 2021.
Cruz said investigators had known since 2016 that the cases were connected, but available DNA evidence did not identify a suspect until advances in forensic genetic genealogy provided a breakthrough.
“Their exhaustive investigative work, combined with a DNA sample match, identified Robert Carey as the perpetrator,” Cruz said.
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The district attorney’s office said Othram, a Texas forensic genealogy lab, identified a likely relative of the suspect, helping investigators ultimately identify Carey.
Carey, who died of natural causes in June 2025 at 64, lived at the Brockton Veterans Administration Medical Center, about 1.5 miles from both crime scenes, the district attorney’s office said.
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“None of this would have been possible without the tremendous effort and devoted work of the Massachusetts State Police, Brockton Police, the State Police Crime Lab, Trooper Joe Collett, Assistant District Attorneys Samantha Mullin and Jennifer Sprague, as well as Forensic Scientist Krista Lundgren,” Cruz said.
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Flight passengers warn new boarding overhaul could trigger more chaos at the gate
JetBlue is rolling out a new “intuitive” boarding process — but frequent flyers say it could make things worse.
The airline announced that starting April 29, it will streamline boarding by consolidating its process and switching to numbered groups.
The change is designed to make boarding announcements easier to follow and improve the overall experience at the gate, the company told Fox News Digital.
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“Effective April 29, 2026, JetBlue is simplifying its boarding process by transitioning from branded and lettered groups to a numbered system. Customers will continue to board in a familiar order, with early access continuing for Mint, Mosaic and EvenMore customers,” the airline said in a statement.
The “update reflects JetBlue’s ongoing commitment to delivering a smoother, more seamless experience for customers across their travel journey.”
Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the blog “View From the Wing,” said the changes are partly aimed at driving additional revenue.
“JetBlue is reducing the number of boarding groups, moving from letters to numbers, and people buying better seats get earlier boarding bundled in,” he said. “Premium credit card customers get a better boarding group.”
He added, “This is meant to incentivize high-margin extra revenue that customers add to JetBlue.”
Leff said that in his experience, the airline is also trying to simplify its process.
“My general experience is that JetBlue is quite good in the air, but a bit confused on the ground,” he said, sharing his point of view. “They’re streamlining boarding a bit and standardizing … while moving to more effectively use boarding as part of their monetization stream.”
Under the new system, premium passengers and loyalty members will continue to board first.
Group 1 will include Mosaic 3 and 4 members as well as Mint customers — followed by Mosaic 1 and 2 members and customers who purchase “EvenMore” extra legroom seats in group 2.
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Credit card holders, select fare types and early boarding perks will follow in group 3, with general boarding continuing in later groups based on seat location, the company said.
JetBlue said customers with disabilities will still be invited to pre-board, while active military members and those traveling with car seats or strollers will be offered courtesy boarding.
The update introduces a new priority for some customers, including those who purchase certain add-ons or hold co-branded credit cards.
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“All JetBlue flights will board in numbered boarding groups (groups 1–8), to make boarding more intuitive, consistent, easier to follow along at the gate — and easier to hear and understand during boarding announcements,” the airline said on its website.
The changes have already sparked discussion on social media.
Some travelers on Reddit questioned whether the new system benefits loyal customers, with several users saying it could reduce the value of certain status tiers.
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Others pointed to potential crowding, noting that combining multiple groups could lead to longer lines at the gate and increased competition for overhead bin space.
“This will cause more delays,” one user wrote, expressing concern about larger boarding groups.
Another commenter criticized the shift, writing that it “devalues” certain frequent flyer tiers by placing them in larger boarding groups.
Still, some travelers said the changes may have little impact on the overall experience.
“I find it so curious that many of you consider your boarding hierarchy a devaluation. Literally everyone [is] getting into the same tube that leaves at the same time,” one user wrote.
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Ex-Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore’s mistress reveals he got her pregnant during relationship
Paige Shiver, the former University of Michigan employee who had a relationship with former head football coach Sherrone Moore, revealed in an interview on Friday that he got her pregnant.
Shiver sat down with ABC News’ Linsey Davis and spoke about her relationship with Moore and what led to him getting fired from the school. In an emotional part of the sit down, Shiver said Moore got her pregnant.
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However, she was diagnosed with Pompe disease, which can cause muscle weakness and lead to respiratory issues.
“Multiple doctors and experts told me that it wouldn’t be right or healthy for me to keep the baby,” Shiver said as she battled through tears, adding that she wanted to keep the baby.
She added that Moore told her that she had to “do what’s right for your body.”
Michigan fired Moore in December as it was revealed that he had a relationship with Shiver. He was facing charges of stalking, breaking and entering and home invasion after he allegedly stormed into her home and threatened to kill himself with butter knives.
He ended up reaching a plea deal and pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors to resolve the felony criminal case. The deal was struck the same day a judge planned to hear a challenge to Moore’s arrest in December on three charges, including felony home invasion. Those previous charges were dropped in exchange for Moore pleading no contest to misdemeanor trespassing and misdemeanor malicious use of a telecommunications device.
Shiver recalled hearing Moore come to her apartment immediately after he was terminated.
“All of a sudden, I hear footsteps and they’re getting closer and louder, and I’m like, ‘Crap.’ So, I run to my door to try to lock it, he barges in and he’s standing like ‘this’ close to me. And he said, ‘You ruined my life. Why would you do this to me?’ I start backing up and he starts following me,” she said.
She said she feared for her life in that moment.
“He’s 6-4. He comes in with his hood up, looking down at me saying I ruined his life, crying, and starts coming at me,” she said. “I tell him to leave and he’s not supposed to be here. He’s not listening to me. And he starts grabbing butter knives.”
Shiver said Moore should have gone to jail.
“Yes. I think he should have gotten more punishment for what he did,” she said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Moore’s attorney, Ellen K. Michaels, for comment.
“Sherrone Moore has closed this chapter,” Michaels told ABC News.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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