Seaspray
When word was received
that Operation Eagle Claw, the mission to rescue American
hostages in Iran in 1980, went awfully wrong, and had
no chance of proceeding, a new plan was immediately
set into effect. Code-named Operation Honey Badger,
it would be a repeated attempt at rescuing the hostages.
One issue that bothered the planners was that there
was no dedicated aviation unit to transport counter-terrorist
commandos to their objectives. The first step was in
creating this unit, and eventually two were formed.
One, a "white," or open unit was code-named
Task Force 160, and the other one, the "black,"
or covert unit was named Seaspray. Seaspray was a joint
Army-CIA aviation unit, that would quickly and secretly
transport Delta Force operators, materials and agents
during covert operations. It was formally created on
March 2, 1981. Due to the fact that the CIA was the
only one "allowed" to conduct covert operations
under a 1978 law, an Army clandestine unit was illegal.
By joining with the CIA, the Army could have its unit,
and the CIA would be half-owner even though it didn't
have to pay a single dollar.
At first, Seaspray's
fleet consisted of fixed-wing Cessna and Beechcraft
King Air airplanes, and Hughes MD500 helicopters,
upgraded with the latest electronics and detection
systems. The helicopters were purchased "off
the books" and would not show up on the annual
Army inventory, and were also kept secret from Congress.
The helicopters had state-of-the-art night-vision
systems allowing them to fly in the dark, could fly
at extremely low altitudes, could carry up to 9 Delta
Force operators on collapsible skids, were armed with
machine guns and rocket pods, and were the quietest
helicopters in the world. They were also equipped
with the then-new Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR)
radar.
At first, the
unit had 10 pilots, the best flyboys out of the Army's
4,000. Hundreds were evaluated by the CIA, and the
best of the best were chosen. Finally, a commercial
cover was devised, so that the unit could engage in
covert operations, and not be identified as a part
of the military. The cover was a CIA company, Aviation
Tech Services, which let the helicopters appear as
they were privately owned. The unit itself was headquartered
at Fort Eustis, Virginia, and was named the First
Rotary Wing Test Activity. Another secret headquarters
for Seaspray was located in Tampa Bay at MacDill AFB,
to support operations in Central America.
Seaspray would
be involved in countless covert operations, most of
which the public will never know of. They conducted
intelligence missions, transported foreign leaders,
and participated in counter-terrorist exercises and
missions with Delta Force and other CT units. A few
times, Seaspray helicopters were loaned to the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) to combat drug smuggling.
In one particular incident, a Seaspray pilot observed
as a tanker off the Florida coast, unloaded "cargo"
to high speed boats. Eventually, the Seaspray force
grew to nine fixed-wing aircraft and five helicopters.
Seaspray could get things done quickly, and they were
generally well-liked in the special operations community.
When Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) needed
a Boeing 737 airplane for a counter-terrorist exercise,
the Air Force told them it would take three months
to get one. Seaspray delivered the 737 in 3 days.
Information
provided courtesy of Peter Tomich
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