WASHINGTON — The surprise, complex operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was the result of long-term planning between the US military and its intelligence agencies, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine said today.
“The word integration does not explain the sheer complexity of such a mission, an extraction so precise it involved more than 150 aircraft launching across the western hemisphere in close coordination, all coming together in time and place to layer effects for a single purpose, to get an interdiction force into downtown Caracas while maintaining the element of tactical surprise,” he said. “Failure of one component of this well-oiled machine would have endangered the entire mission.”
Speaking after President Donald Trump announced the results of what was termed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” Caine laid out details of the operation while noting he would only speak in generalities because “there is always a chance that we’ll be tasked to do this type of mission again.”
For several months, the US has been building up its military capacity in the region. The biggest arrival came in mid-November, when the USS Gerald Ford carrier strike group arrived in the region.
By “early December,” Caine said, the intel community had provided enough information — including details on Maduro’s daily habits down to the names of his pets — that the Pentagon felt it could execute the operation when called upon. However, the weather proved to be a factor, which delayed launching the effort.
However, the weather cleared enough that at 10:46 pm ET last night, Trump gave the go order. At that point, aircraft began launching from 20 different bases around the Western Hemisphere, Caine said.
“In total, more than 150 aircraft — bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance [aircraft], rotary wing — were in the air last night,” the chairman said. “Thousands and thousands of hours of experience were airborne. Our youngest crew member was 20 and our oldest crew member was 49.”
Among those in the air were the extraction force, made of an unidentified number and type of helicopters flying 100 feet above the water. Caine indicated non-kinetic effects from US Space Command and US Cyber Command were used to suppress Venezuelan defenses — at least, ahead of kinetic strikes from an escort force began.
“Those forces were protected by aircraft from the United States Marines, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard,” he said of the helicopters. The protection force included F-22s, F-35s, F-18 E/As, B-2s, B-1s “and other support aircraft, as well as numerous remotely piloted drones.”
By 1:01 AM eastern, the helicopter force arrived at Maduro’s compound. The “apprehension” team “descended into Maduro’s compound and moved with speed, precision and discipline towards their objective,” Caine said.
While Caine didn’t dive into details of what happened during the capture, Trump said that he watched the operation in real-time and said Maduro was attempting to flee to a safe room when US troops grabbed him. While this was going on, Caine said, “the helicopters came under fire, and they replied [to] that fire with overwhelming force and self-defense.” One aircraft was hit but all aircraft involved in the operation were able to return home.
That would not be the only exchange of fire: “There were multiple self-defense engagements as the force began to withdraw out of Venezuela,” Caine said. “The force successfully exfiltrated and returned to their afloat launch bases, and the force was over the water at 3:29 am, Eastern Standard Time, with indicted persons on board” the USS Iwo Jima.
At the end of the day, no American personnel or vehicles were lost in the operation. Caine marked that down to the joint training the US force maintains.
“What we’ve witnessed today is a powerful demonstration of America’s joint force. We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again, not to get it right, but to ensure that we cannot get it wrong,” Caine added. “Our forces remain in the region at a high state of readiness, prepared to project power [or] defend themselves and our interests in the region.”