40th Anniversary Operation EAGLE CLAW 🇺🇸

[chuckman]

It’s amazing what a smaller place the world is now compared to then.

We can project massive or surgical force in a matter of hours over vast distances.
Communication virtually anywhere in real time.

Even fifteen years ago I was thinking the roles of forward deployed CIFs and ambassadors were very much just a remnant of the original purpose.

Yes..."everything old is new again."

[SteyrAUG]

And Eagle Claw demonstrated in a fireball and unneeded deaths and international embarrassment the costs of it. Typical of the US, we don't do anything small so when the changes took place, at least they went big and all encompassing to do it, at least how it appeared to the outsider like myself.

Ironically, the dominoes led directly to Reagan outspending the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. What most people don't know is Carter actually successfully negotiated the end of the hostage crisis, but Reagan got credit for it because the Iranians waited until he was sworn in as a final FU to Carter. Of course the negotiation included the unfreezing of Iranian assets so Carter was among the first to buy off the Iranians, even if it was with their own funds.

But the perception of Carter's dismal failure is a huge part of what got Reagan elected and the debacle of Eagle Claw specifically is what put us on a path to rebuilding our military capacity.

[Slater]

In 1981 (IIRC) the military got a pretty substantial pay raise. We all subscribed that to Reagan's pro-military attitude.

[Larry Vickers]

In 1981 (IIRC) the military got a pretty substantial pay raise. We all subscribed that to Reagan's pro-military attitude.

I joined in 1981 and after long careful reflection I think Reagan as President and the emphasis he put on the military and in returning pride to this country is the most significant event post WWII. For those who did not live thru it it is hard to explain the attitude of the country during the Carter years and what Reagan did when he took office. The effect it had on those who joined the military and the benefits that has had up to today is immeasurable. Ending the Cold War is one piece of it; setting the military up for success with quality people who joined for the right reasons has literally changed the world we live in. Words can’t describe the significance of this.

[Artos]

amen

I was born in the late 60's...if members haven't seen the documentaries on the 80's I think on the History channel, it is well worth your time as they start off with the end of the Carter years & how The Miracle on Ice / Reagan spring boarded our entire outlook as Americans in general. Proud Gen X'r here & kinda surprised how forgotten the said significance seems to be on how the actual tide turned on our general inward pride as Americans. We are somewhat a forgotten generation in many aspects to those behind & in front.

[Slater]

the 1983 Grenada and 1989 Panama operations, although they certainly had their share of snafus, helped the US military shake off some of the Vietnam and Eagle Claw vapors. Public confidence in the military started to return. Desert Storm in 1990/1991 cemented that confidence.

[SteyrAUG]

I joined in 1981 and after long careful reflection I think Reagan as President and the emphasis he put on the military and in returning pride to this country is the most significant event post WWII. For those who did not live thru it it is hard to explain the attitude of the country during the Carter years and what Reagan did when he took office. The effect it had on those who joined the military and the benefits that has had up to today is immeasurable. Ending the Cold War is one piece of it; setting the military up for success with quality people who joined for the right reasons has literally changed the world we live in. Words can’t describe the significance of this.

I watched it in many people. We went from military service being something that happened to you like getting arrested and many people believed a draft existed until the late 70s to the military becoming an opportunity "to serve."

Part of the blame was Jane Fonda and the John Kerry crew with their world view that veterans are sad sack losers on par with those who scrub toilets for a living and at best were drug addicted victims of war that needed to be pitied but only if they denounced how evil the US military was.

And while it is still Hollywood with their own perspective, you even saw it in films which went from things like "The Deer Hunter" to "Stripes", "Top Gun" and even "Red Dawn." Even if you weren't in the military, Reagan changed the way most viewed the military.

[OH58D]

I was a Reagan supporter before I could vote. I worked his 1976 campaign and even ate dinner with him in a private home here in New Mexico. I signed my college ROTC contract 16 months later. I didn't want to be an Army Officer for altruistic reasons - I just wanted Out. I saw too many of my peers in rural New Mexico who just vegetated during and after high school, and I didn't want that same fate. I had to see the world, let the DOD pay for college and do neat stuff.

After flight and air frame schools, my first long term assignment was at Fort Campbell. When I arrived in June 1983, I found my aviation unit to be in a building phase, but still rocked by several accidents and deaths. I got the feeling that Special Operations Command was still figuring things out, and was in a trial and error period. Certain units were well funded - other units were under funded. Even 8 years after the Vietnam War ended, the concept of providing small arms to pilots was overlooked. I have mentioned before that for Operation Urgent Fury, we were provided S&W .38 revolvers, and there wasn't enough for everyone. Instead of aviation sectionals for aviators, we were given civilian tourist maps of Grenada.

Reagan did a good job, but things always moved slow in big Army, and I think it still does.

I joined in 1981 and after long careful reflection I think Reagan as President and the emphasis he put on the military and in returning pride to this country is the most significant event post WWII. For those who did not live thru it it is hard to explain the attitude of the country during the Carter years and what Reagan did when he took office. The effect it had on those who joined the military and the benefits that has had up to today is immeasurable. Ending the Cold War is one piece of it; setting the military up for success with quality people who joined for the right reasons has literally changed the world we live in. Words can’t describe the significance of this.

[Grand58742]

Instead of aviation sectionals for aviators, we were given civilian tourist maps of Grenada.

Well, did you at least know where the nice beaches were once everything was all said and done?

[Grand58742]

I watched it in many people. We went from military service being something that happened to you like getting arrested and many people believed a draft existed until the late 70s to the military becoming an opportunity "to serve."

Part of the blame was Jane Fonda and the John Kerry crew with their world view that veterans are sad sack losers on par with those who scrub toilets for a living and at best were drug addicted victims of war that needed to be pitied but only if they denounced how evil the US military was.

And while it is still Hollywood with their own perspective, you even saw it in films which went from things like "The Deer Hunter" to "Stripes", "Top Gun" and even "Red Dawn." Even if you weren't in the military, Reagan changed the way most viewed the military.

On the same aspect of the Jane Fonda and John Kerry generation. By the time Desert Storm rolled around, I think you had millions of American parents that served in Vietnam that weren't going to allow their children to act the fool like they saw upon their return. As well as millions more that had seen what their brothers had undergone upon their return and weren't going to stand for it. They weren't going to allow their children to treat veterans like the generation before had been treated. I think that's when people really started to realize they can object to the war, but leave the warrior out of it.

You still have plenty of people that believe that nothing but talk can solve the world's problems, however, they go well short of spitting on military members or calling them baby killers. I think the Boomer generation had a lot to do with that as well by educating the Gen X like you and I to respect those who choose to serve. It's something we've passed along to our children too. We can disagree with the war, but we choose to celebrate those who serve.

The 60s were a turbulent time for American society across the board which started with the Cuban Missile Crisis and ending in the 1968 election riots. Toss in how society was rapidly changing with the implementation of the Civil Rights Act and you have a recipe for tearing a country apart. I think we entered the funk of the 70s because we were just weary as a nation. Weary of war, weary of fighting each other, weary of fighting the changing society and our nation really didn't have a path forward. We won the Space Race, the only national action of the 1960s that truly brought people together, and then said "okay, now what?" Nixon didn't have a path forward, Ford wasn't around long enough to chart a path and Carter, while a good man, had no idea where the nation should be focused and never made grand plans. He really was unsuited for the office, though again, a good man. Eagle Claw was just the culmination of a nation "wandering in the desert" for nearly a decade.

Enter Reagan who decided to refocus us on the Soviet threat and reestablished a national identity of a strong America. We remembered we were the America that had kicked the hell out of the Germans and Japanese, gone to the moon and done great things in the not so distant past. As a nation, we rolled up our sleeves and starting pushing forward towards that "shining city on a hill" we knew we should be.