Naval postgraduate school monterey, california thesis

F. 
BIORHYTHM OF OPERATION EAGLE CLAW 
Intelligence, Surprise + Deception, Operator’s Skill for Hostage Taker
Intelligence, Surprise + Deception, Operator’s Skill for Rescue Force
Mission
Success
Mission
Failure
St
ar
t o
f C
ris
is
St
ar
t o
f C
ris
is
Time
(months)
0
25 Apr 1980:
25 Apr 1980:
O peration 
Operati on 
EAGLE CLAW
EAGLE CL AW
DISASTER
50% 
50% 
probability 
probability 
of success
of success
1
3
4
5
2
4 Nov 1979:
4 Nov 1979:
U.S. Embassy in 
U.S. Embassy in 
Tehran is taken over
Tehr an is taken over
9 Nov 79:
9 Nov 79:
JTF 1
JTF 1
-
-
79 i s formed
79 is formed
6 Dec 79: Delta 
6 Dec 79: Del ta 
and helos move to 
and hel os move to 
Yuma and begin 
Yuma and begi n 
rehearsals
rehearsal s
22 Nov 79: USS 
22 Nov 79: USS 
Kitty Hawk is 
Ki tty Hawk i s 
deployed to the 
depl oyed to the 
Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
19 Nov 79:
19 Nov 79:
three 
three 
hostages 
hosta ges 
released
released
20 Nov 79: 20 
20 Nov 79: 20 
hosta ges released
hostages r eleased
10 Dec 79: Terror ists conduct 
10 Dec 79: Terrorists conduct 
televi sed press conference with 
tel evised press conference with 
some of the hostages
some of the hosta ges
Vehi cles ar e 
Vehicles are 
staged in 
staged in 
Tehr an by U.S. 
Tehran by U.S. 
asset for 
asset for 
exfil trati on
exfiltration
Desert One site 
Desert O ne site 
sur vey conducted
survey conducted
6 Mar 79:
6 Mar 79:
Terrorist false 
Terr orist false 
alarm to r elease 
al arm to release 
hostages
hostages
25 Mar 79: Embassy and MFA 
25 Mar 79: Embassy and MFA 
si te survey team conducted by 
site survey team conducted by 
Dick Meadows and CIA
Dick Meadows and CIA
10 Apr 79:
10 Apr 79:
Terrorists thr eaten 
Terr or ists threaten 
to ki ll the hostages
to kill the hosta ges
14 Apr 79: Red Cross is 
14 Apr 79: Red Cross is 
allowed inside the U.S.
all owed i nside the U.S.
Embassy 
Embassy 
Weather window of 
Weather wi ndow of 
oppor tunity cl osing
opportu nity closing
Navy helo pilots are 
Navy helo pilots are 
r epl aced by Marines
replaced by Marines
Fuel bl ivet opti on 
Fuel blivet option 
dropped
dropped
President Carter 
Presi dent Carter
enforces economic 
enforces economic 
sanctions on Iran
sanctions on Iran
Figure 41.
Author’s Representation of Operation EAGLE CLAW’s Biorhythm 
Operation EAGLE CLAW did not follow the principles proposed in this thesis, 
nor did it track the operational biorhythm for the crisis as it related to intelligence, 
surprise, operator’s skills, and deception; these factors were not understood or tracked by 
anyone in the JTF. In the end, the failure at DESERT ONE helped expose some critical 
shortcomings in the U.S. Armed Services and its organizations regarding combating 
67
“To you all from us all for having the guts to try”
was the note left on two cases of beer given to the 
JTF 1-79 personnel by British mercenaries serving in the Omani Air Force, after the disaster. 

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151 
terrorism operations. The organization of JTF 1-79 gave birth to the concept of Joint 
Operations. In the fall of 1980, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) was 
created from the recommendations of the Holloway Board. In 1982, the 1
st
Special 
Operations Command (SOCOM) was created at Fort Bragg, fielding a third Ranger 
Battalion and a Ranger Regimental headquarters. In the following two years, TF 160
th
Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the 96
th
Civil Affairs and the 4
th
Psychological 
Operations Battalions, as well as other Special Forces Groups and USAF Special 
Operations Wing were activated, all as a result of DESERT ONE (Lennahan, 1998, pp. 
200-202). 

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IX. SHORT 
CASE 
STUDIES 
A. 
DE PUNT TRAIN HIJACKING; HOLLAND, MAY - JUNE 1977 
1. 
Background and Case Study 
On 23 May 1977, a group of nine South Moluccan terrorists seized a train 
traveling between Assen and Groningen, in northern Holland, while another four 
occupied a nearby school in Bovensmilde. Fifty-one people were held hostage on the 
train and 110 inside the school (Harclerode, 2001, p. 280). The terrorists demanded the 
South Moluccan independence from Indonesia; they also wanted the release of several 
South Moluccans held in Dutch jails as well, and they wanted an airplane. To emphasize 
their demands, they shot the train driver and dumped his body on the tracks. 
Negotiations lasted almost three weeks, in which time the South Moluccans 
released all but four of the hostages at the school and several hostages at the train. Dutch 
authorities devised an ingenious plan to gain the children at the school. They laced the 
food to be delivered to the children with a mild virus, causing an epidemic inside the 
school and giving all the children a terrible case of diarrhea. With the situation out of 
control, the terrorists were forced to release the children.
At the train however, the situation had deteriorated terribly. The terrorists were 
becoming very impatient at the lack of response to their demands. Meanwhile, members 
of the Dutch Marines of the BBE (Bijzondere Bijstandseenheden – Special Support Unit), 
swam across a canal near the train and placed technical surveillance equipment to 
monitor conversations and pinpoint the exact locations of the terrorists. They also placed 
explosives in the front of the train to be used as a diversion during the upcoming assault.
Police officers dressed as Red Cross personnel to deliver food to the train gained further 
intelligence. Intelligence was also gathered from the released hostages who were 
thoroughly debriefed by the police authorities. The BBE had a detailed picture on how 
many terrorists there were, what weapons they carried, how many were on guard at a 
given time, and the specifics on the train.
By 10 June 1977, negotiations were at a stand to, so the decision was made to 
launch a simultaneous assault on the train and at the school. At 0435 hours, F-104 star 

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fighters from the Royal Netherlands Air Force flew right over the train and kicked 
straight up, using their afterburners to create a distraction for the terrorists while the 
assault force moved in. The whole train shook from the vibration caused by the jets, and 
the hostages all went for some kind of cover. Snipers provided covering fires, acquiring 
selected targets as the assault force proceeded to blow the train doors and scale the sides 
of the train. The diversionary charges placed earlier on the front of the train were set off, 
and the BBE assault element stormed the train. Seven terrorists were killed and two 
surrendered. Two hostages were killed in the firefight accidentally when they disobeyed 
orders from the BBE marines to lie down. The whole assault lasted only minutes and 
was a complete success. Meanwhile at the Bovensmilde school, another contingent of 
the BBE marines assaulted the building in armored vehicles and successfully rescued all 
four hostages, capturing the four remaining terrorists (p. 282).