You’ve probably heard of the Entebbe raid or maybe the bin Laden strike, but the Night of the Eagles—properly known as Operation Feathers—is one of those gritty, high-stakes stories that feels like it was ripped straight from a Tom Clancy novel. Only it wasn't fiction. It was 1979. Two American executives from Electronic Data Systems (EDS) were rotting in a Tehran prison, caught in the chaotic gears of the Iranian Revolution. Ross Perot, the billionaire who later ran for President, didn't wait for the State Department to file more paperwork. He went private.
History is messy.
The Iranian Revolution wasn't just a political shift; it was a total collapse of the old world order in the Middle East. When Paul Chiapparone and Bill Gaylord were arrested on suspicion of bribery—charges that were basically a shakedown for $12.7 million—the U.S. government was essentially paralyzed. They didn't have a plan. Ross Perot did. He hired Colonel Arthur D. "Bull" Simons, a legendary Green Beret, to lead a group of EDS employees on a rescue mission.
It was ballsy. It was arguably illegal. And it actually worked.
Why Night of the Eagles Still Matters Today
People get obsessed with this story because it represents a specific kind of American "can-do" spirit that feels almost alien now. In the late '70s, the "Night of the Eagles" (a term popularized by Ken Follett’s dramatized account On Wings of Eagles) became a symbol of individual action over bureaucratic stagnation. You have to remember the context: the U.S. was feeling weak. The economy was a mess, and the subsequent hostage crisis at the embassy would soon traumatize the national psyche.
Perot’s team was a bunch of corporate guys. They weren't active-duty SEALs or Delta Force. They were computer guys trained by a retired commando. They landed in a country on fire, navigated a revolutionary mob, and broke their friends out of a fortress.
Honestly, the sheer logistics of it are terrifying.
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Imagine trying to navigate Tehran in February 1979. The Shah has fled. Khomeini is returning. The streets are controlled by "komitehs"—armed revolutionary groups who are basically making up the laws as they go. This wasn't a surgical strike with satellite imagery. This was a ground game.
The Prison Break: Chaos as a Tool
Most people think the rescue was a "guns blazing" movie scene. It wasn't. The brilliance of the Night of the Eagles mission was how they used the revolution's own momentum. Bull Simons realized that a direct assault on Gasre Prison was suicide. Instead, they helped stir up a pro-revolutionary mob that was already heading toward the prison to free political prisoners.
The mob did the heavy lifting.
When the gates were breached, Chiapparone and Gaylord walked out into the cold Tehran air, lost in a sea of thousands of fleeing inmates. This is where the real danger started. They had to trek 450 miles across the Turkish border. They weren't in armored vehicles; they were in Range Rovers and local transport, bluffing their way through checkpoints. If they’d been caught, they wouldn't have been deported. They would have been executed on the spot as CIA spies.
The Role of Bull Simons
Arthur Simons was the heart of the operation. He was a man who didn't care about corporate optics or international law. He cared about the mission. He had previously led the Son Tay raid in Vietnam—a mission that failed to find POWs but proved that Americans could strike deep into enemy territory.
Perot trusted him implicitly. That trust is why the mission succeeded. There was no "management by committee." There was just a commander and his team.
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Some critics argue that Perot’s actions were reckless. They say he endangered more lives and could have triggered a wider diplomatic incident. Maybe. But if you’re the guy in the cell, you’re not thinking about the nuances of international law. You’re thinking about the man coming to get you.
Misconceptions and the Follett Effect
Ken Follett wrote On Wings of Eagles about this event, and while it’s a great read, it’s a thriller. It smooths over some of the grubbier realities. The "Night of the Eagles" wasn't a clean victory. It was a desperate, seat-of-the-pants escape.
- The "Mercenary" Myth: People think these guys were paid killers. They were EDS employees—accountants, managers, and tech guys. They volunteered because of a sense of corporate loyalty that simply doesn't exist in 2026.
- The Government Help: Some theories suggest the CIA secretly ran the whole thing. The evidence says otherwise. The CIA was actually blindsided and frustrated by Perot’s interference. They thought he was going to get everyone killed.
- The Bribery Charges: Were the EDS execs actually guilty? Most independent reviews suggest the charges were trumped up to extract money from a wealthy American firm during the transition of power. It was a ransom disguised as a legal proceeding.
The Long-Term Impact on Private Security
The Night of the Eagles essentially laid the groundwork for the modern Private Military Contractor (PMC) industry. Before this, "mercenaries" were usually shadowy figures in African bush wars. This was the first time a major American corporation bypassed the State Department to conduct its own foreign policy through force.
It set a precedent.
It showed that if you have enough money and the right leadership, the borders of a sovereign nation are "negotiable." In the decades following, we saw the rise of Blackwater, Executive Outcomes, and others. They all owe a bit of their DNA to what happened in Tehran in 1979.
Tactical Breakdown: How They Got Out
The escape route was the most harrowing part. They didn't fly out of Mehrabad Airport—that was a death trap. Instead, they drove through the snowy mountains toward Turkey.
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They faced:
- Revolutionary Guards with itchy trigger fingers.
- Blizzards that nearly pushed their vehicles off mountain roads.
- The constant fear that the new Iranian government would realize who they were.
When they finally crossed the border into Turkey, they weren't greeted by a brass band. They were just exhausted. Simons reportedly walked into a hotel, ordered a drink, and acted like he’d just come back from a business trip.
Lessons from the Mission
If you're looking for the "why" behind the success of the Night of the Eagles, it comes down to three things: decentralized command, local intelligence, and sheer audacity. Simons didn't wait for permission from Dallas. He made calls on the ground. He used an Iranian employee of EDS, Rashid, who was the real unsung hero. Rashid knew the backstreets. He knew how to talk to the guards. Without local insight, the Americans would have been dead in a ditch within three hours of leaving the prison.
Actionable Insights for Modern Risks
While you probably aren't planning a prison break in a revolutionary state, the Night of the Eagles offers some very real lessons for modern crisis management and international travel.
- Establish a "Red Line" Plan: If you or your employees are in a volatile region, know exactly what trigger event means "leave now." Don't wait for an official evacuation order. By then, it’s usually too late.
- Invest in Local Fixers: No amount of technology replaces a local who understands the cultural nuances and can negotiate through a checkpoint.
- Corporate Duty of Care: The EDS story is an extreme example, but it highlights a company's responsibility to its people. In a world of remote work and global expansion, having a robust extraction and security protocol is a necessity, not a luxury.
- Redundancy in Communication: The team in Tehran lost contact with Perot multiple times. They had to rely on pre-set "dead drops" and meeting points. Always have a non-digital backup for your travel plans.
The Night of the Eagles remains a polarizing chapter in history. To some, it’s a heroic tale of loyalty. To others, it’s a dangerous example of billionaire overreach. Regardless of where you stand, it proves that in the middle of a historical collapse, a small, dedicated group can change the outcome of a story that seemed already written. It reminds us that "impossible" is often just a word used by people who are waiting for someone else to tell them what to do.
The story didn't end with the border crossing. It changed how corporations view risk and how individuals view their own agency in a world that often feels out of control.