OPERATION HOTFOOT (STFU, Jimmy Carter; here's what Perot/Green Beret Simons did about Iran hostages)

EDS was founded not only with the spirit of heroism but also with integral components to its business philosophy—teamwork, performance, and commitment. This year EDS celebrates the 25th anniversary of the singular event that defines this philosophy: the daring rescue of two of EDS' own employees imprisoned in Iran. On March 26, 2004, a panel discussion moderated by former TV newsman Murphy Martin marked the anniversary with laughter and much emotion. Taking part in the moderated session were Jeff Heller, EDS' president and chief operating officer; former hostages Paul Chiapparone and Bill Gaylord; company founder Ross Perot; and Jay Coburn, second in command of the EDS rescue team.

Many of the men hired in the company's formative years came to EDS from the battlefields of Vietnam. In those early days, the EDS family wore a uniform—a suit, a tie, and a sharp appearance, from a clean-shaven face to a well-polished pair of shoes. And they understood what it meant to take risks. Perot said, "I told the recruiters for years, I want people who are smart, self-reliant, people who have a history of successes . . . and bring me people who love to win. And we always had a bunch of smart alecks, no matter what I said, and they'd raise their hands and say, 'What if we run out of people who love to win.' So I'd say, 'Well, bring me somebody who hates to lose!'"

The year was 1978 and Christmas was drawing near. EDS was working on a contract with the Iranian government to put in place a new electronic social security system. Murmurs of unrest could be heard and crisis was coming. EDS evacuated employees and their families from Tehran. However, two remained behind to deliver on promises made to the client and keep the business going. Those two, Paul Chiapparone and Bill Gaylord, were taken hostage during the political turmoil.

After Perot appealed to both the US and Iranian governments on behalf of his colleagues to no avail, a more unconventional strategy began to form. EDS president and chief operating officer Jeff Heller recalls, "At that time in our history, we were more of a family than a big ol' corporation." The commitment to each other, the experience of the employees, and the family atmosphere made it seem logical to hatch plans for a rescue attempt. Operation HOTFOOT (Help Our Two Friends Out Of Tehran) was underway. EDSers Merv Stauffer and Tom Marquez visited Murphy Martin, a veteran newsman for a Dallas TV station and ABC News. Stauffer and Marquez were looking for a way to get Perot into Iran. Martin called some of his TV network contacts and learned that the news operations at ABC, CBS, and NBC used a rotating system of courier jets to get news film into and out of Iran. Martin passed the information to the EDS duo, who called a few days later to say, "It worked." "What worked?" Martin asked. "Ross got in. He made it into Iran."

Perot, then EDS chief executive, had slipped into Iran on January 13, posing as a film courier for NBC. Perot had recruited the legendary Arthur D. "Bull" Simons, retired member of the U.S. Army Green Berets, to plan and help carry out the rescue. Colonel Simons asked Perot to go to the prison and let Chiapparone and Gaylord know they should be ready to go. Perot fulfilled this perilous mission even while being sought by authorities in Iran because, "Colonel Simons told me to do it." While there, Perot delivered a few things to the captives such as Christmas cards from their families, magazines, some food, and clothing. "At first, it was amazing that Ross was walking across the courtyard," Gaylord said when asked what he thought when Perot arrived at the prison. "But on second thought it wasn't because he was the only man in the world who would have done that."

Perot asked men at EDS with military experience to volunteer for the rescue mission. He hoped that one out of five employees asked would join the mission. Instead, everyone said yes. "Most of these guys had been through Vietnam and had been in some really tough situations," said Chiapparone. "But they didn't have to do this. I mean, they had families to think about." The overwhelming response reinforced the idea of EDS as a family, a company whose employees are its biggest asset and whose leaders believe they have a responsibility to take care of their people.

"There was never any doubt in anybody's mind that we would pull it off," said team member Ralph Boulware. "We were a lot younger, a lot more assertive, a lot more confident. The concept of failing just didn't enter our minds. We rehearsed it, we talked about it, we thoroughly trusted each other and the thought of not succeeding was really not an option." Once the two were freed from the prison, their journey took them across Iran to the Turkish border. Perot recalls that luck played no small part in their successful escape. There were many close calls before the men crossed the border into Turkey and safety.

Two members of the rescue team are still EDS employees. Glenn Jackson is a service delivery executive in Rochester, New York. Bob Young is an enterprise client executive for the Dow Chemical account in Midland, Michigan. In 1979, Jackson was assigned to drive the getaway car after Chiapparone and Gaylord were freed from prison. Young was part of the EDS team negotiating with the Iranian government for the release of the two employees. They say the rescue mission exemplified how EDS did business. "This was something that needed to be done, so we did it," said Jackson. "We were encouraged to use innovation and creativity to get results. That was very much the EDS spirit."

Paul Chiapparone joined EDS in 1966 as a systems engineer. When he retired last year as vice chairman, he was EDS' longest-serving executive. Recalling his escape from the Iranian prison, Chiapparone said, "I have a tremendous sense of gratitude to Ross, Col. Simons and the entire rescue team. Here we are 25 years later, and we got to see our kids grow up. It wasn't at all guaranteed there for awhile."

Tragically, Col. Simons passed away a few months after leading the successful rescue mission. Col. Simons also served in Vietnam. While in Laos, Simons had made himself a gold ring with the figure of a bull as its crest. With permission from Col. Simons' family, Perot was able to have the ring cast, and each member of the rescue mission proudly wears a copy to this day. This symbol of their heroism embodies the successful rescue and "the same things we need to duplicate every day when we're out serving customers . . . Teamwork is essential to this. It was then and it is now," says EDS President Heller. "I am a believer that a culture that celebrates heroes and accomplishments can perpetuate itself on the good points."

Bob Grim, who recently celebrated his thirtieth anniversary with EDS, recalls hearing on the news about his fellow employees being taken hostage. Everyone was talking about the situation, but all were as yet unaware that Perot was taking steps to bring the hostages home. It was only after the successful conclusion of the mission that the rest of the company found out how it happened. Bob remembers getting the call informing him that the hostages had been rescued and were flying home. Each EDS employee was asked to come celebrate and welcome the rescuers and former hostages home. This tribute took place on the steps of the EDS headquarters, then located on Forest Lane in Dallas. The team, still dirty and dressed in clothes worn during the mission, addressed the crowd from the steps with their families at their side. Bob recalls hearing Col. Simons say he received his reward for the mission when he witnessed the families running over to the plane to meet their loved ones. Details about the mission were still sketchy at this point but began to come out. In the book On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follett, the full story of dedication and courage was revealed.

In the young days of EDS, there weren't many rules. Perot always said, "Do what makes sense and think for yourself." Perot's vision for EDS and his true care for its employees were the cornerstones of the rescue.

One of the most amazing aspects about the rescue to Bob was that each of the employees who was asked accepted the mission to help their fellow EDSers, even with the realization they could be killed. Reflecting on this, Perot said, "I've always thought that as long as this country produces good people, it will remain great." Bob recalls when he joined the company and went through EDS School; 18 of the 19 members of his class were former military officers, including himself. Bob says, "EDS School was tough, sort of like boot camp," and believes this is another reason the feeling of camaraderie runs deep at EDS. The success of the rescue was due in part to this camaraderie but to something deeper as well, since most of the members of the team didn't know the men they were going to save. Bob says that Perot's actions and those of the rescue team reinforced what EDSers have long known. "Everybody knew we were working for the best company in the world. We knew together we could do anything."

I met Bull back in the day. I would of followed him into hell with a spit ball and a pompom. He was that kind of guy.

Simons was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery Branch in 1941, and was initially assigned to the 98th Field Artillery Battalion, a part of one of the Army's pack mule units (the 347 mules being used to carry the 75mm Pack Howitzer M1, the lightest American artillery piece in WWII). In his first assignment as a Platoon Leader, the new lieutenant was so quiet and reserved (he later said he wanted to learn from the sergeants that seemed to know their business well) that one of his sergeants came to believe that Simons was a mute. The unit was dispatched to Australia, but immediately diverted to New Guinea in the early stages of World War II, and Simons thrived in the harsh jungle environment. He was soon promoted to Captain and served as a Battery Commander in the battalion from 1942-43. The mules themselves did not prove suitable in the jungle, and the unit was dissolved in 1943. CPT Simons took his battery to the newly forming Ranger Battalion that would come out of the dissolution of his old unit. He would soon become the commander of "B" (Baker) Company and later the Battalion Executive Officer (XO) of the 6th Ranger Battalion under LTC Henry Mucci. Simons participated in several hazardous landings with the Rangers in the Pacific. He led a team of engineers and Navy personnel tasked to de-mine the Leyte channel before the invasion of the island began in earnest. On Luzon in the Philippines, he participated in the famous Cabanatuan Raid that rescued approximately 500 POWs who were mostly survivors of the Bataan Death March.[citation needed] (For his actions in the raid he was awarded the Silver Star.)[citation needed] He quickly rose to the rank of Major and continued to prove his worth as a combat leader. At the conclusion of the Second World War, Major Simons left the active Army for five years. Simons was recalled to active duty in 1951 to serve as an infantry instructor and Ranger trainer in the Amphibious and Jungle Training camp at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Other assignments included a year as a Public Information Officer (PIO, now "Public Affairs Officer" or PAO) at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, a job that he despised (he held a low opinion of the media, one that would prove itself in later years and assignments. "The press hasn't done very well for the American soldier," he would later remark.) Simons also completed tours with the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Turkey and XVIII Airborne Corps before joining the 77th Special Forces Group in 1958. In 1960 he served as Deputy Commander/Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Special Warfare Center. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1961, he commanded the 107-man Operation White Star Mobile Training Team in Laos from 1961 to 1962 and was the first commander of the 8th Special Forces Group, Panama from 1962 to 1964. From Panama, he was assigned to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACVSOG), which conducted numerous behind-the-line missions in Southeast Asia. In 1970, Simons was hand-picked to be the ground commander of Operation Ivory Coast, a joint special operations effort to rescue American prisoners of war from the Son Tay prison in North Vietnam. While the mission rescued no prisoners (due to an intelligence failure, the raiders were not notified that the prisoners had been moved a few months earlier), it did force North Vietnam to consolidate all of the prisoners into a few central compounds in Hanoi, resulting in a boost in the prisoners' morale and improved treatment. They were also heartened to know that a rescue effort had been attempted. While the mission did not accomplish its primary objective, the North Vietnamese were given pause at the ease in which Americans could invade so close to their capitol, and no American lives were lost in the operation (and only one minor injury, a sprained ankle). For his outstanding leadership, Simons was decorated by President Richard M. Nixon with the Distinguished Service Cross at the White House on November 25, 1970. Simons' nickname "Bull" was taken from a physical training game called the "bull pit," whereby one Soldier climbs down into a pit in the ground, and other Soldiers engage in trying to pull the first Soldier from the pit. Simon's large physical stature and great strength (even in his fifties, he did 250 push-ups every day) made him a formidable challenge to remove from the pit, and the name "Bull" stuck.

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