Originally Posted by B Fraser
Can someone please explain why it was necessary to land a couple of C-130s as part of the rescue. What was their purpose other than a rather large distraction to what may have been happening somewhere else.
The main reason was to bring in the MH-6 helicopters which were required to extract the WSO from the mountain top where he had hidden himself.
Too small a site for a larger helicopter such as a CH-47 which would also have been too vulnerable to attack*. So they had 4 armed MH-6s, one for the extraction the others for escort/covering fire.
(* Remember there were a large number of Iranian ground forces in the area and 2 M-60 Blackhawaks had already been damaged by ground fire and an A-10C damaged and later lost when the pilot had to eject near Kuwait).
The other reason is in the term FARP - Forward
Arming and Refueling Point. An airborne tanker can refuel larger helicopters with probes, but it can’t rearm them, and the MH-6 is too small to have a probe anyway. Depending on the threat and the firepower needs to suppress it around the extraction point they may have needed to rearm as well as refuel.
Lastly they carried a large number of SF as well as their equipment, both to defend the FARP whilst the MH-6s were assembled and the operation was ongoing and in case they were needed to be inserted to help locate the WSO and set up a defensive perimeter around the extraction site.