March 1980: Delta rescues hostages in Thailand

[Sir Zach of R.]

http://www.specialoperations.com/Arm...operations.htm

It's under the 1980 section. Has anyone else heard of this? It's new to me. I've always thought that Delta's first successful hostage rescue mission was the rescue of Kurt Muse, but I guess you learn something new everyday. If anyone can provide some more information, it would be great. I'm also trying to get in touch with some former SF soldiers. I'm working on a school project and need some actual in depth perspective.
If any of you could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. :P

[-=TFN=-Karab]

I'm almost sure everyone has been to that site one time or another...

[MetalBoy]

Yeah I've beem wondering about that operation too. I researched it a little over the internet and all the reports say an Indonesian special ops team executed the rescue. Of course, that's what you'd expect the governments involved to say, deny American involvement, give credit to the host nation to keep things hush hush. Also this was before Delta was even heard of outside the military, before the whole Iran fiasco so one wouldn't expect the US to come out and reveal that its nice new ultra secret counterterror unit was involved.

Here's one of the rare sources of info I've found about the incident off the net.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yester...d=20030217.C04

Elite Indonesian troops freed all passengers from a Garuda flight that was hijacked and diverted to Bangkok in 1980 in an operation hailed by many as one of the country's most successful antiterror missions

Thing that makes me suspicious: Indonesia is not really known for having a great counter terror force, and carrying out a successful rescue aboard a commercial jet is said to be one of the most diffcult forms of hostage rescue, so many things can go wrong. Yet the "Elite Indonesian troops" freed all the passengers without a problem. Very sneaky D-Boys, very sneaky.

[Rilence]

Yeah I've beem wondering about that operation too. I researched it a little over the internet and all the reports say an Indonesian special ops team executed the rescue. Of course, that's what you'd expect the governments involved to say, deny American involvement, give credit to the host nation to keep things hush hush. Also this was before Delta was even heard of outside the military, before the whole Iran fiasco so one wouldn't expect the US to come out and reveal that its nice new ultra secret counterterror unit was involved.

Here's one of the rare sources of info I've found about the incident off the net.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yester...d=20030217.C04

Elite Indonesian troops freed all passengers from a Garuda flight that was hijacked and diverted to Bangkok in 1980 in an operation hailed by many as one of the country's most successful antiterror missions

Thing that makes me suspicious: Indonesia is not really known for having a great counter terror force, and carrying out a successful rescue aboard a commercial jet is said to be one of the most diffcult forms of hostage rescue, so many things can go wrong. Yet the "Elite Indonesian troops" freed all the passengers without a problem. Very sneaky D-Boys, very sneaky.

yeah i bet its delta seems like them

[soetopo1]

Sorry for the late comment on this thread.

The March 1981 Garuda raid was performed by an Indonesian army special forces team, with Thai air force commandos holding the outermost ring around the aircraft. There was no Delta involvement, though the CIA did provide sophisticated listening gear and a single bullet proof vest.

The raid has been fairly well documented, though in the Indonesian and Thai languages. I know of at least two books about the raid in Indonesian. It was also fairly well photographed, as Don Muang international airport was crawling with journalists during and after the operation.

One reason why the raid did not get more coverage is because it took place on the same day Reagan was shot, relegating the operation to the back pages of the U.S. papers.

While it is true that the Indonesians did not have a past history of counter-terrorism to that time, I think their success was due in part to the poor weaponry of the terrorists, as well as a dash of pure luck. The pilot and one SF member died in the raid due to friendly fire. All five terrorists died, three of them in the plane on the way home.

Though this is a shameless plug, I wrote a chapter about the Garuda raid in the book Kopassus (Equinox, 2003).

[MetalBoy]

Thanks for the info, that book sounds very interesting.

[Spud]

Though this is a shameless plug, I wrote a chapter about the Garuda raid in the book Kopassus (Equinox, 2003).

Damn ... I was just about to give (what I now know as your book) a plug

Bought it a couple of months ago.

Must say I'm looking forward to sequel even more.