US airman rescued: A US Air Force officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran has been rescued by the US Special Operations forces along with another pilot, in what US President Donald Trump described as “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History”.ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEOHad the pilot been captured alive by Iran, which had announced a reward for this, the war would have entered a very different phase, as Tehran would have possessed major negotiating leverage. Already, shooting down a US aircraft when its military is heavily degraded is being seen as a sign of Iran’s stubborn endurance and strength.Recovering soldiers from downed aircraft in enemy territory is one of the riskiest and most complex military operations. Militaries train extensively for such operations, while pilots train rigorously to survive if they fall behind enemy lines. Here’s how such missions are generally conducted, and what we know about this one.How did the Air Force officers end up in Iran?Iran shot down an F-15E Strike Eagle on Friday (April 3), marking the first time in over 20 years that the US lost a military fighter plane to enemy fire (the last time was in Iraq in 2003). Two crew member were aboard the plane, the pilot and a weapons system officer. Both ejected, and while the pilot was soon rescued, the other officer went missing. American as well as Iranian forces started looking for him, with Tehran urging civilians to join in the search.Shortly after, a US A-10 attack aircraft also crashed after being hit. Trump said the pilot of this aircraft had been rescued on Saturday, but it wasn’t announced “because we did not want to jeopardise our second rescue operation.”The airman rescued on Sunday has not been named but has been identified as a US Air Force Colonel operating as a Weapons System Officer (WSO). The equivalent of a USAF Colonel in the Indian Air Force is a Group Captain, a senior commissioned officer.In a two-seat fighter like the F-15E, the role of the WSO, also called a Wizzo, is to focus on tactical tasks and let the pilot, who sits ahead of the WSO, fly the aircraft. In effect, the WSO selects targets and ensures the correct dispatch of weapons. This duty division steps up efficiency during complex missions.Story continues below this adIn India, the Su-30MKI is a two-seat multirole fighter, the mainstay of the Indian Air Force. It has a WSO. So do the Rafale-B, and the Jaguar IB.What happens once a military aircraft is shot down?In most advanced militaries, soldiers are trained extensively on what to do if they end up behind military lines. US Air Force personnel are trained in what are called Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) measures, originally developed by the British during World War II. SERE is updated as the military gains more experience, in different kinds of terrain.Put very briefly, the soldiers are taught that if they end up in enemy territory, that situation will usually begin with them ejecting a compromised vessel, either in the air or water. Also, the Air Force will generally know they are missing, and will be making strenuous efforts to trace and rescue them.So they learn safe exit strategies and evading capture by the enemy till they are found. This involves how to survive outdoors in a variety of terrain, how to procure food (including setting traps and snares), how to safely get help from the local population, and how to navigate (including effectively using terrain features as maps and compasses).Story continues below this ad“Every army in the world has a well-established SOP to rescue own or friendly nations air crew shot down over the enemy territory. These are called ‘Combat Search and Rescue’ (CSAR) missions. These basically entail rapid response- designed to rescue and extract the air crew before they are captured in the hostile territory.The pilots are well trained for such contingencies for initial survival, involving SERE.They establish radio contact with the rescue team. The rescue team can be inserted: para-dropped, or landed by helicopters. They are highly trained to locate and provide immediate medical care and secure the extraction point. They are equipped with specialised gear to fight through. These missions have an ethos: No Man Left Behind,” Major General GG Dwivedi (retd), a 1971 war veteran who has also served in the Special Forces, told The Indian Express.Communication is another key component of this strategy, including beacons, satellite devices, etc. The rescued WSO was equipped with a beacon and a secure communication device, The New York Times reported.Equally important is inculcating a resistance and survival mindset, which also the troops are trained in.Story continues below this adOn the other side, the Air Force tries to first detect the lost personnel through reconnaissance, local intelligence, as well as whatever signal the personnel has been able to provide. Once the soldier has been found, the actual military operation usually involves some decoy activity, and then helicopters flying in along with other aircraft. Helicopters can fly low, to lift the soldier. The other aircraft provide covering fire.What happened in the Iran rescue operationGoing by available reports, the officer first hid in a mountain cave. His location is believed to have been found by the CIA, the American intelligence agency. US aircraft then dropped bombs in the area to keep away Iranian forces, and rescued the colonel.According to The New York Times, “In a final twist after the weapons officer was rescued, two transport planes that would carry the commandos and the airman to safety got stuck at a remote base in Iran. Commanders decided to fly in three new planes to extract all the U.S. military personnel and the airman, and they blew up the two disabled planes rather than have them fall into Iranian hands.”Meanwhile, Iranian officials said several US military aircraft were destroyed in the rescue mission. “Additional investigations by experts on the ground revealed that two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters of the US army were destroyed by our forces,” the spokesperson of the unified command of Iranian armed forces said, according to Reuters.