Arooji receives receives Bull Bull Arooji

Simons Award Award ... ... 16 16 Simons

Tip of the Spear

Adm. William H. McRaven Commander, USSOCOM CSM Chris Faris
This is a U.S. Special Operations Command publication. Contents are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense or USSOCOM. The content is edited, prepared and provided by the USSOCOM Public Affairs Office, 7701 Tampa Point Blvd., MacDill AFB, Fla., 33621, phone (813) 826-4600, DSN 299-4600. An electronic copy can be found at www.socom.mil. E-mail the editor via

Command Sergeant Major

unclassified network at public.affairs@socom.mil. The editor of the Tip of the Spear reserves the right to edit all copy presented for publication.

Army Col. Tim Nye

Public Affairs Director Mike Bottoms

Marine Corps Master Sgt. F. B. Zimmerman Staff NCOIC, Command Information

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Heather Kelly Staff Writer/Photographer

Managing Editor

Air Force Master Sgt. Larry W. Carpenter, Jr. Staff Writer/Photographer

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Angelita Lawrence Staff Writer/Photographer

(Cover) Retired Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Fred Aroojis stands sihlouetted in front of an MH-47. Arooji received U.S. Special Operations Commands highest honor when he was awarded the 2012 Bull Simons Award in Tampa, Fla., May 15. unconventional warrior. Courtesy photo. This lifetime achievement award, named for Army Col. Arthur Bull Simons, honors the spirit, values, and skills of the

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Retired

(center) sits with his teammates in Iraq. Arooji was selected as this years Bull Simons Award recipient Simons Arthur contributions to Special Operations. The Bull achievement values, and Award award, skills is named the USSOCOMs honoring for Army the lifetime Col. for his more than 30 years of

Chief

Warrant

Officer

Fred

Arooji

Bull

Simons, of

warrior. Courtesy photo.

unconventional

spirit,

By Mike Bottoms

USSOCOM Public Affairs

Special Ops guys come in all shapes and sizes.

inches, weighing maybe 160 pounds and sporting gray hair that has long resided on his scalp. Arooji is all that, but he is also a guy who entered

Iran ahead of an American hostage rescue attempt in mission was aborted, escaping only by his wits.

looking at a kindly grandfather. Standing about 5 feet 6

When you look at Fred Arooji, you think you are

April 1980, survived on his own for two weeks after the A guy,

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who would become a Special Ops pilot, help pioneer night vision goggle technology, and fly hundreds of years in Special Operations. Special Operations missions during his more than 30 The hostage rescue mission in Iran became known

Americans were being held hostage, we quickly found the need to have some Farsi speakers or Iranian Eagle Claw participant, said. Americans, retired Army Lt. Col. Bucky Burruss, an one of the ones we interviewed was a young Airman that he was someone special.

We searched DoD and

as Operation Eagle Claw and the mission planners

would have to bring in unique talent from throughout for was Farsi language speakers.

named Fred Arooji and pretty quickly we recognized Born in Iran, Arooji immigrated to America as a

the Department of Defense. One skill they were looking Shortly after the embassy in Iran had been overrun

child and enlisted in the Air Force in 1971. He served as an avionics mechanic for RF 4 Phantom jets when the call came out for Farsi language speakers. Intrigued,

by so-called students, and at that point some 60

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Arooji went through the interview process not knowing

the reason DoD was looking for Farsi speakers. Making Eagle Claw.

it through the interview process, Arooji was selected for I went through all kinds of training, and months

later General James Vaught (overall Eagle Claw mission commander) called me in his office and asked me Are you ready to travel? Arooji said. I said yes and he said OK son, go and get your tickets to Tehran. It was decided that we needed to send in an

advance party to do last minute reconnaissance and

Fred, as a native Iranian, had the tongue, had the eyes, so we asked him to be part of the advanced party, planner said.

the ears, and had the sense of things happening in Iran, retired Army Capt. Wade Ishimoto and Eagle Claw Vaught would be the overall commander, but the

commander on the ground would be Special Operations legend Army Col. Charles Beckwith. Aroojis first meeting with Beckwith was testy.

Colonel Beckwith walks in the room, big guy, huge, he had a real raspy voice, Arooji said. He looked at me beard. and said That beard, that looks good, dont shave that Colonel Beckwith turned to walk away, stopped
Fred Arooji holding a stick of dynamite early in his career. Courtesy photo.

I was with Captain Bucky Burruss one day and

and looked at me and said Ill tell you what son, while youre here, you keep your mouth shut, you understand? I said yes I do. He looked at me again and

sun again.

said No, you dont understand, this is my country, I bitch destroy it, so you keep your damn mouth shut

love my country, and I am not going to let any son-of-awhile you are here and if I ever find out you are talking too much Ill put you in a jail, or you will never see the

toward Colonel Beckwith, I looked him straight in the

Arooji continued, I stepped two or three feet

eye and told him, sir, you know what the difference is difference is you were lucky, you were born in this

between you and me? He said What is it? I said, the country as an American, I earned mine and I love it just as much as you do. He looked at me and said, Well to faint. Bucky turns to me and says Hey Freddy, he really likes you. see, and turned and walked away. I thought I was going

approach him in the chow hall and give him a big hug Arooji joined another Special Operations legend,

Later that day, according to Arooji, Beckwith would

and tell him You know what, you are a true American. Army Maj. Dick Meadows, for the reconnaissance

mission in Iran ahead of Eagle Claw and where they ingenuity would prove to be invaluable.

encountered significant challenges for which Aroojis The mission was supposed to occur on the night of

April 24th and 25th, 1980. That particular day, the 24th of April, Dick Meadows and Fred went by the warehouse where the vehicles were stored and Fred That was significant and there was no way those

detected that a ditch had been dug across the driveway.

Fred Arooji finishing a parachute jump. Courtesy photo.

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vehicles could be driven out, Ishimoto said.

10 or 15 feet away there were kids playing soccer, so said to Dick we need to give these kids a basket of

I said, man what are we going to do? and about

oranges and I then asked them to help me move some concrete chunks into the ditch and they did, Arooji said.

the rescue mission to unfold. Unfortunately, the hostage rescue mission was aborted when a helicopter collided with a C-130 killing eight servicemen at the Iranian staging area known as Desert One.

The ditch repaired, Meadows and Arooji waited for

made, the media splashed that there were Americans of Iranian descent involved with the mission this put Fred under great danger, Ishimoto said.

After it was detected, that in fact an attempt was

off at his hotel and I got back to my hotel and I turned individuals that got burned and the crash site burning, so I am in deep trouble at this point, Arooji said. took him to the airport. Arooji then went back to Meadows hotel and We had a Mercedes someone had bought us,

We had no idea what took place. I dropped Dick

the TV on and I see they are carrying the bodies of the

so Dick told me, Take the Mercedes and head to the Turkish border and well contact you keys to the Mercedes were in the pocket of there, Arooji said. Well as it turned out, the another gentleman and he was on his flight through Tehran.

home. The only way in and out of Iran now was We had no contact with him after the mission was After

aborted, Ishimoto said. I frankly thought I would never see Fred Arooji alive again.

I had received my award

for the mission, President Carter asked me military pilot, Arooji said.

the constant pressure of being caught before he safely made his way back to the United States. When Fred got back he was still an Airman in the

Arooji would spend a harrowing two weeks under

what my wishes were and I said I wanted to be a Vaught would work to ask the Air Force to grant

Arooji an inter-service transfer to the Army where he would become a Special Operations helicopter and and born to fly. fixed-winged pilot. Time would prove he was a natural Fred is the only

United States Air Force, said retired Gen. Richard Cody, former vice U.S. Army and 160th Special chief of staff of the commander of the Operations Aviation

We had no contact with him after the mission was aborted. I frankly thought I would never see Fred Arooji alive again.

one in the world to go special mission unit, stay 24 years and serve with distinction said

from flight school to a

Regiment. When he States President

got back to the United Carter wanted to meet

Retired Army Capt. Wade Ishimoto

him, and at that meeting President Carter said, Young man, I believe I have just met one of the bravest of young men in uniform.

Officer 5 Ned Hubard, fellow Special Operations aviator.

retired Chief Warrant

again, a perfect safety record, never aborted a mission, he is to be admired.

Hes a legend, shoes that will never be filled

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Retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Fred Arooji (5th from left) poses with his family after receiving the Bull Simons Award May 15. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Angelita Lawrence.

were assigned to test and teach the use of night vision goggles to the big Army. If you think about the 1980s and the type of the

Arooji and his colleagues in the special mission unit

systems, Cody said.

procedures for the entire Army and that is part of his Gen. Eldon Bargewell, a 2010 Bull Simons Award

Fred helped develop tactics, techniques and

night vision devices we had back then, you were pretty much going from 20/20 vision to

legacy he can be very proud of, said retired Army Maj. recipient. Fred is not this 6-foot-5, 250 pound guy that everybody looks at and thinks that is a bad guy, but he is in the sense the a bad guy, he can do a lot of things with a helicopter and with a fixedhave never seen

about 20/200, said Cody. He was one of the pioneers working out approaches to

Fred is not this 6-foot-5, 250 pound guy that

everybody looks at and thinks that is a bad guy, but he is in the sense the way I say it he is a bad guy, he can do a lot of things with a helicopter and with a fixed-wing aircraft that I have never seen anyone do before and that to me epitomizes a Special Operator.

buildings at night, flying low-level at a time under missions for hours these conditions.

way I say it he is

out one particular

Cody pointed

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell

wing aircraft that I anyone do before

mission during the

Iraqi war where night vision goggle technology and Aroojis mastery of it saved a special mission unit. During the height of the Iraq war, there was a unit

and that to me epitomizes a Special Operator. Operator, Arooji summed it up.

Reflecting on his career and what makes a Special The strongest part of your body has to be your

getting overrun, they couldnt get anyone there to pick

them up, there was no real landing zone, but there was

a small dirt road. Fred heard the call, turned around and said, Ill take the mission and actually landed a rather up and got them out of there - all under night vision
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heart. It puts my heart in a different dimension to know all the years of my military service I served with the best, Arooji said. We dont look for pats on the back, we dont live for what we did 15 or 20 years ago; we live for how well we accomplish the mission today.

large fixed-wing aircraft on the road, picked these guys

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By Mike Bottoms

USSOCOM Public Affairs

USSOCOM presented its highest honor, the Bull

against NV A units. The recon teams ran long range patrols scouting the trail but also snatched prisoners when the opportunity arose. 1966, but he returned four years later as the Deputy Commander of Joint Simons left Vietnam in

Simons Award, to retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Fred Arooji on May 15. The Bull Simons Award was first awarded in 1990 and has since become an annual tradition. The award recognizes recipients who embody the true Col. Arthur Bull Simons, whom the award is named after, is the epitome of these attributes. spirit, values, and skills of a Special Operations warrior.

Contingency Task Group

Ivory Coast the Son Tay

Raiders. The task force, commanded

World War II and Vietnam. Born in New Y ork City in

A career Soldier, Simons led Special Operations in

by Air Force Brig. Gen. Leroy Manor, was formed in the spring of 1970 after American intelligence had identified Son Tay Prison, near Hanoi, as a prisoner of war detention force deployed to Thailand Nov. 18.

1918, Simons graduated from the University of Missouri in 1941 with a degree in journalism and served in the Pacific theater in World War II. He rose to company commander in the 6th Ranger Battalion and participated in several

camp. After six months of planning and rehearsals, the task Two nights later, the task force flew into North

amphibious landings in the Philippines. On one noteworthy occasion, he and his men scaled a steep oceanside cliff Japanese soldiers at the Suluan lighthouse. under cover of darkness and overwhelmed a garrison of Simons left the Army after World War II but returned

Vietnam. The assault group, led by Capt. Dick Meadows, landed in the prison compound and killed approximately abandoned. Meanwhile, Simons had landed with the 50 NV A guards, but found the compound to be otherwise support group in an adjacent school compound, which was teeming with Russian and Chinese soldiers. Simons and his team killed or repelled eliminating the principal The raiders executed the entire operation in 28 hundreds of these soldiers, threat to the assault group.

to duty in 1951. He completed the Special Forces Officers Qualification Course in 1958 and took command of a detachment in the 77th SF

H. Ross Perot, Army Gen. Edward Shy Meyer, The Honorable John Marsh Jr., Army Col. Aaron Bank, Army Lt. Gen. Samuel Wilson, Air Force Lt. Gen. Leroy Manor, the Honorable Sam Nunn, the Honorable William Cohen, Army Gen. James

Previous Bull Simons Award recipients are: Mr.

Group (Airborne). From 1961 to 1962, as head of the White served as the senior military advisor to the Royal Lao Star Mobile Training Team, he

Lindsay, Air Force Maj. Gen. John Alison, Army Heinie Aderholdt, Army Command Sgt. Maj.

minutes, successfully faced an enemy force of approximately 350 men, and left with only two injuries. Although the raid at Son Tay failed to accomplish its principal objective, it sent a clear

Army. His familiarity with the region would prove useful a few years later.

Col. Charlie Beckwith, Air Force Brig Gen. Harry Ernest Tabata, Army Maj. Gen. Richard Scholtes,

to Southeast Asia as a member of Military Assistance Command Vietnams Studies and Observations Group. Serving under then Col.

In 1965, Simons returned

Army Maj. Richard Dick Meadows, Air Force Col. John Carney, Army Maj. Caesar Civitella, Army Col. Chuck Fry, Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, Army Scott Fales. Maj. Gen. John Singlaub and Air Force Master Sgt.

message to North Vietnam,

and the treatment of American prisoners improved somewhat

Donald Blackburn, Simons commanded OP-35, one of three operational directorates within SOG . For approximately two years, he led OP-35 on an interdiction campaign against the North Vietnamese Army along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Cambodia. OP-35 interdicted the trail by inserting hatchet teams and

thereafter.

was to conduct one more special mission. In 1979, Mr. H. Ross Perot asked Simons to rescue two of his employees; the Iranian revolutionary regime was holding them in a In April of that year, Simons led a civilian rescue party Tehran prison and was demanding a $13 million ransom. into Iran and safely extracted the American hostages. Just one month later, Simons suffered a massive heart attack and died.

Simons retired from the Army in 1971, but he

reconnaissance teams. The hatchet teams, composed of noncommissioned officer, conducted hit-and-run raids

Nung or Montagnard tribesmen led by a Special Forces

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