tjwds5d ago

F-15E jet shot down over Iran

https://theaviationist.com/2026/04/03/iran-f-15e-debris/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/03/us-fighter-jet-confirmed-shot-down-over-iran

Iranian Media Posts Debris From USAF F-15E Claimed to Have Been Downed Earlier Today

Although Iranian media claimed an F-35 has been shot down, images from the crash site clearly show debris belonging to an F-15E Strike Eagle. On Apr. 3,

The Aviationist
Show threadMarkMarine5d ago
Military aviators train for this, being alone behind enemy lines (look up SERE school if you’re curious, one of the craziest training courses outside of special forces) and there is a special force just for aviator recovery behind enemy lines, US AirForce Pararescue. Hopefully they’ll get the aviators back quickly, the last thing our country needs is American hostages making this ridiculous war harder to stop.
Show threadpram

TBH I went through SERE school (aircrew) and I questioned its value, since the training is in eastern Washington/northern Idaho area mountainous woodland environment and all the evasion they showed us relied on that kind of cover and "bushcraft"

And you know, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran are definitely not eastern Washington lol

Apr 3 at 6:35pmWeb
Show threadcactusfrog5d ago
Eastern Washington has a lot of hot desert
Show threadpram5d ago
Washington indeed has a giant desert but it's in the middle fwiw, the SERE school is in Spokane
Show threadManuel_D5d ago
Spokane is in the Eastern arid region of the state.
Show threadpram5d ago
What an absolutely pointless thing to get pedantic about. Put "spokane washington" into Google images and tell me if that looks like a desert to you.
Show threadhedgehog5d ago
They're also wrong. The geographic center (around Ellensburg or so) is also in what is known as Eastern WA (east of the Cascades).
Show threadcbron5d ago
Spokane is Eastern Washington, the college in Cheney is literally called Eastern, its just not a desert.
Show threadManuel_D5d ago

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Yud6EFprZeaVDaeQ6

This is the view outside of Fairchild AFB, which runs the training course in question.

Wikipedia reports that Spokane has a Mediterranean climate, as does Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province where this F-15 is reported to have been shot down.

Bevor Sie zu Google Maps weitergehen

Show threadcbron5d ago
Spokane is not desert. Even surrounding territory is more plains. Some desert military training happens at Yakima much further west.
Show threadericmay5d ago
You'd get additional specific training for deployments and the skills are transferrable. But obviously they can't train everyone in every biome that we have, otherwise you'd spend a whole year just flying around to different areas of the country to train and on a 4-year contract it's just not going to work time-wise.
Show threadambicapter5d ago
If you're doing SERE school you're probably not on a 4 year contract. Pilots have 10 year contracts.
Show threadbudman15d ago

some enlisted air crew go to SERE. loadmasters, airborne intelligence, and SMA (Special Mission Aviators).

As an added benefit, enlisted air crew have no restrictions on mustache length or on professional wear of the uniform.

Show threadMarkMarine5d ago
Add Huey crew chiefs to this list
Show threadeddieh5d ago
Iran isn't just central Tehran. Look up the Zagros Mountains and the Alborz Mountains. Or just look at a picture of the northern Tehran skyline, it is at the foot of the Alborz, a huge mountain range. There's plenty of woodlands and forest too. Some parts of the Hyrcanian forests get over 50 inches of annual rainfall, which isn't Forks, WA, but it is substantial.
Show threadoverfeed5d ago
You're reinforcing parents point by highlighting the variety: at most, just 1 of the areas is a close match to the terrain at the training grounds.
Show threadeddieh5d ago
Not really, if you're entering Iranian airspace from the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, or Europe, you're flying over either the Zagros Mountains or the Alborz Mountains. Unless you crash/eject in a city, you're almost certainly going to be in the mountains. Look at a map.
Show threadboogieknite5d ago
far from pc but i grew up hunting along the snake and the old guys always called those hills "Bin Ladens" bc it looked like the pictures of where news reported he was hiding