"Radio chatter was pure chaos," Air Force Captain John "Jack" Carkeet recalled about the 1983 invasion of Grenada. "If there was ever the fog of war, Grenada was it." He orbited his EC-130 aircraft above Point Salines airfield, watching as the operation appeared to be coming unraveled.
The lead C-130 Talon, carrying the commander of a Special Mission Unit (likely SEAL Team Six) that had to be inserted, had turned around halfway through the mission due to an onboard electrical failure. Carkeet had the deputy commander and some of his men on his aircraft.
"So, how’s the war going? Can we go home yet?" Carkeet joked over the internal comms system to his crew members. An exasperated crew member replied, "It’s chaos. I don’t know who’s who, where’s where, or what’s going on!"
Since the aircraft wasn't configured for airborne (parachute) operations, and the special ops team needs to get on the ground, Carkeet has to make a gamble by making a dangerous daytime landing on an enemy-contested airfield.
As he lands the EC-130, tracer fire cuts across the tarmac. As quickly as possible, the special ops teams exit the aircraft ,and Carkeet spins the plane around and takes off.
Operation Urgent Fury was now fully underway, the mission to rescue some 200 American medical students and deny Cuban-backed communists from controlling the island nation.
Once back in the air, the EC-130 resumes its primary mission as a flying command and control node, enabling forces on the ground and air to communicate. They then refueled in Barbados and returned to continue the mission until the conclusion of the operation.
"In the end, it was worthwhile," Carkeet said about the big risk he took that day." If we hadn’t done it, the students would still be there on Grenada."