Operation Ivory Coast

Operation Ivory Coast

Operation Ivory Coast was the first joint military operation in U.S. history conducted under the direct control of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The objective of the operation was the recovery of 61 American prisoners of war thought to be held at the camp. It was found during the raid that the camp contained no prisoners as they had previously been moved to another camp. Despite the absence of prisoners, the raid was executed with a high degree of success.

About Operation Ivory Coast in brief

Summary Operation Ivory CoastOperation Ivory Coast was the first joint military operation in U.S. history conducted under the direct control of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The objective of the operation was the recovery of 61 American prisoners of war thought to be held at the camp. It was found during the raid that the camp contained no prisoners as they had previously been moved to another camp. Despite the absence of prisoners, the raid was executed with a high degree of success, incurring only two wounded and the loss of two aircraft, one of which had been part of the plan from the start. The concept of a rescue mission inside North Vietnam began on 9 May 1970. An Air Force intelligence unit concluded through analysis of aerial photography that a compound near Sơn Tây, suspected since late 1968 of being a prisoner of war camp, contained 55 American POWs and that at least six were in urgent need of rescue. The second phase, Operation Ivory Coast, began on 8 August 1970, when Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, the new JCS Chairman, designated Brigadier General LeRoy J. Manor as commander and Colonel Arthur D. Simons as deputy commander of the mission task force. All personnel were recruited from interviews of 500 volunteers, most of whom were Special Forces from the 7th Special Forces Groups at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Personnel selection proceeded over the objections of the Marine Corps, which was excluded from participation. The force was chosen for mission needs, highlighting combat experience in Southeast Asia and operational specialty skills, and not rank or branch of service.

All were then asked to volunteer for a temporary assignment without additional pay and being told the mission’s nature. The task force operated from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, with 219 airmen, 219 groundmen, and 219 planners and planners operated for the project, including ground force members, ground crew members, and ground support members. The mission ended on 21 November 1970, with the capture of 56 U. S. Army Special Forces soldiers by helicopter at the Sỉ Nhà prisoner-of-war camp, 23 miles west of Hanoi, North Vietnam. The raid was followed by the invasion of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in 1973 and the fall of the Ho Chi Minh City regime in 1974. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in 1973 to end the war in Vietnam, but the resolution was not fully implemented until 1975. The United Nations Security Council voted in 1975 to end its involvement in the war, and the United States withdrew its troops from Vietnam in 1973. The UN Security Council Resolution of 1973 was the last major vote on the war. The resolution was passed by a vote of the Security Council on July 28, 1973. It also called for an end to the use of force by the United Nations against North Vietnam, and for the establishment of a no-fly zone over the South China Sea. The North Vietnamese government agreed to a cease-fire, but it was later terminated by President Richard Nixon.