Word: badgers
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...WHILE Reagan used symbolism to badger the Soviets into quiessence, he fell into the symbolic sand trap of selling arms to Iran. He failed to see that regardless of any strategic merits of selling arms to the Mullahs, the image of the U.S. supporting a bunch of American-hating fanatics was devastating...
...After the Desert One debacle in 1980, the Pentagon planned in considerable detail a second operation, code-named Honey Badger, to rescue the Americans held in the Tehran embassy; it was never carried out because of inadequate intelligence...
...White House direction, Vaught began planning Honey Badger, a second rescue attempt uniting aviation and intelligence in a predominantly Army operation. The Army developed special equipment: one-man satellite- communications radios, Black Hawk helicopters modified to fly longer distances, and what one source describes as "very small, very capable, very exotic" 500MD helicopters equipped with advanced navigation and communications capabilities. But by then, the U.S. could never pin down the location of any group of hostages long enough to mount a rescue...
...Army's top command -- particularly Chief of Staff General Edward Meyer and Vice Chief General John Vessey -- had become committed to secret operations. When the Reagan Administration took office, the generals made the new ad hoc groups permanent. In early 1981 Colonel James Longhofer, who had worked on Honey Badger, was assigned to head an expanded office of special operations to oversee various types of unconventional missions. One of its field units was Seaspray, jointly commanded by the Army and the CIA, which took over the special helicopters developed for the Iran rescue mission. The Pentagon dutifully briefed key members...
...nuclear-armed cruisers and 180 combat aircraft. On any given day, 25 to 30 Soviet ships are docked at Cam Ranh Bay, just 870 nautical miles from the U.S. bases in the Philippines. At an adjacent airfield is a squadron of 24 Soviet combat aircraft, including 18 TU-16 Badger reconnaissance jets...