This Day in History: June 8, 1995

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by Simonov

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This Day in History

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On June 8, 1995, United States Air Force (USAF) pilot Captain Scott O'Grady is rescued from Bosnia-Herzogovina by US Marines. O'Grady had been shot down by a 2K12 Kub surface-to-air missile (SAM) battery operated by the Army of Republika Srpska (also know as the Bosnian Serb Army or BSA). Having successfully ejected from his stricken F-16C fighter, he utilized training he had received in a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) course to avoid capture by hostile forces and alert friendly NATO forces that he was still very much alive. Early in the morning of June 8, O'Grady made contact with a USAF F-16 and short thereafter a rescue mission consisting of two CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters and 51 Marines departed the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge. This force was accompanied by two AH-1W SuperCobra attach helicopters and two AV9B Harrier jets with further support provided by EA-6B Prowlers, EF-111A Ravens, F/A-18D Hornets, and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs plus a NATO AWACS aircraft. With the order to execute the operation given at 4:40 AM, O'Grady was on board the aircraft and on his way back to the USS Kearsarge by 6:42 AM. Though engaged by another SAM battery as well as small arms fire, the force returned to the ship by 7:30 AM with no casualties sustained.

Captain Scott O'Grady transferred to the USAF Reserve following his rescue, attained a master's degree in biblical studies in 2007, and ran for the Republican nomination for Senate District 8 of the Texas State Senate in 2012. O'Grady's experience also served as the inspiration for the film Behind Enemy Lines, though rather loosely.

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