A second Air Force officer whose jet was shot down in Iran was rescued on Saturday evening in what retired U.S. Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath described as a “remarkable” high-stakes operation in enemy territory.
“This rescue mission, in my belief, is just one of the most extremely complex missions I have ever heard of,” McGrath told MS NOW’s Alex Witt on Sunday, after news of the rescue mission was confirmed by President Donald Trump.
McGrath, who was the first woman to pilot the F/A-18 in a combat mission and is now running as a Democratic candidate in Kentucky’s Senate race, said she had never seen an operation “so daring and so dangerous.”
According to reporting from The New York Times, the injured airman followed his training and hiked up a mountain after being ejected. A senior administration official told MS NOW that he hid in a crevice and U.S. forces were alerted to his location.
“Clearly, this pilot knew exactly what to do, even while injured,” McGrath said, praising the officer’s determination.
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She said the mission exemplified America’s “military ethos” that nobody is left behind, adding, “Our special operations forces and our combat search-and-rescue forces are the best, most professional, in the world.”
McGrath said wider concerns about Trump’s war with Iran remain, however.
“Our service members have done tremendous work. Unfortunately, our political leadership in this country at the commander-in-chief level is all over the map,” she said, pointing to the president’s expletive-filled social media post on Sunday.
“It’s unclear who we’re negotiating with in Iran, if anyone, and our president is sort of making no sense here,” McGrath added. “I think that the military members who are over there are just trying to focus on their tactical mission, but unfortunately, right now we have a president that’s tweeting out profanity and the secretary of defense evoking religious terms for the use of violence on Easter morning. I think it’s really unhinged.”
You can watch McGrath’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”