The hijacking of Air France Flight 139 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine culminated during a hostage-rescue mission, where Israeli special forces successfully rescued the majority of the hostages.

JAMES LONGHOFER'S new job had its origins in the April 1980 failure of the first Iranian hostage-rescue mission, known as Desert One.

He rejected the charge of overambition, which dates to his daring - and usually successful - hostage-rescue missions when he was an otherwise little-known member of the House.

Some critics have contrasted Shultz's behavior with that of Cyrus R. Vance, Secretary of State during Jimmy Carter's ill-fated hostage-rescue mission to Iran in 1980.

General Shani, a pilot in the Israeli Air Force since 1965, served as squadron commander in the 1976 hostage-rescue mission at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda.

President Jimmy Carter attended ceremonies for troops killed in the failed hostage-rescue mission in Iran.

Operation Entebbe was a hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on July 4, 1976.

Sayeret Matkal - The IDF's principal special operations/commando unit, used mainly to obtain strategic intelligence behind enemy lines and to perform hostage-rescue missions on foreign soil.

It is a constant, rigorous, and demanding training schedule that prepares the highly dedicated troops for operations that include deep-penetration raids, intelligence gathering, hostage-rescue missions, and VIP protection.

Clearly, there has been a mellowing of his take on the abortive hostage-rescue mission.