Downed Airman's "Allahu Akbar" Message Sparked Confusion Before Massive Rescue Operation

When an Air Force weapons officer's F-15E jet was shot down over Iran on Good Friday, the badly wounded colonel limped more than a mile up a mountain to boost his radio signal and sent a message that threw US military officials into confusion: "God is great."

The phrase translates to "Allahu Akbar" in Arabic, raising immediate red flags among rescue coordinators who feared the airman had been captured and his captors were setting a trap.

"What he said on the radio sounded like something a Muslim would say," President Trump told Axios, describing the tense moments as officials tried to determine whether their own pilot was still in control of his communications.

The confusion deepened when the colonel followed up with a four-digit number that officials initially didn't recognize. "We said, 'What is he talking about?'" one official told CBS News.

Eventually, the team realized the number was a police code signaling an officer in distress or in urgent need of assistance, similar to the NYPD's 10-13 code. But even that wasn't enough to confirm the airman's identity and rule out an Iranian trap.

US forces then asked the colonel a personal question about his father that only he would know. He answered correctly, allowing military officials to verify his identity and confirm he hadn't been taken hostage.

What followed was one of the largest and most complex rescue operations in recent memory. The tough-as-nails weapons officer spent approximately 36 hours hiding in a mountain crevice in Iran's Zagros Mountain range, an area Trump described as "teeming with terrorists." He was nursing serious injuries while evading capture, with a $60,000 bounty on his head. His pilot had already been rescued hours after the crash.

The Pentagon deployed a staggering array of assets for the rescue: 100 special operations forces led by SEAL Team 6, with Delta Force commandos and Army Rangers on standby. More than 150 aircraft supported the operation, including 64 fighter jets, four bombers, 48 refuelers, 13 rescue aircraft, and 26 intelligence and jamming aircraft, according to CBS News.

The CIA reportedly assisted by planting fake intelligence suggesting the soldier had already been rescued and was being driven out of Iran. This diversionary tactic helped clear the way for the actual retrieval mission. The agency also helped track and locate the colonel to his hiding spot in the mountain crevice.

By midnight on Easter Sunday, the weapons officer was flown out of Iranian airspace.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly invoked the phrase "God is good" while describing the rescue at a White House press briefing, framing the operation's timing as an Easter miracle.

"Shot down on Good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday," Hegseth said, standing alongside Trump and top administration security and military officials. "Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn. All home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. God is good."

The rescue operation underscores both the extraordinary risks US military personnel face in hostile territory and the massive resources the Pentagon will deploy to bring them home. It also highlights the split-second decisions special operations forces must make when verifying the identity of personnel in enemy territory, where a single wrong move could turn a rescue mission into an ambush.

Both airmen are now safely back in US custody, though the Pentagon has not released details about the extent of the weapons officer's injuries or the circumstances that led to their aircraft being shot down over Iran.