On Tuesday Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) proposed a hypothetical question to Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, regarding his willingness to conduct a search and rescue operation and subsequently put “boots on the ground” if an American plane were to be shot down.

“Yes and yes,” said Dempsey, the military’s top officer.

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While the Pentagon has remained silent on whether U.S. aircraft operating over Iraq have been hit by hostile fire, U.S. Central Command did confirm that two jets have been forced to make landings in Turkey due to mechanical problems. Though there were no injuries, but those instances illustrate the real risk of an aircraft crashing absent of hostile action.

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If a sortie were to go awry for whatever reason, U.S. or friendly forces would launch a Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP) mission, similar to one conducted during the Libyan conflict in 2011 when an Air Force F-15E crashed east of Benghazi.

The mission, carried out by aircraft and 30 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary unit, reached the downed aircraft’s pilot relatively soon after he had ejected, while Libyan rebels protected the co-pilot in a hotel.

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Because of the Marine unit’s position just over 100 nautical miles off the Libyan coast and the relative security at the F-15’s crash site, the TRAP mission went without incident. Yet, the operation still required multiple platoons of Marines, two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters, two MV-22 Ospreys, two AV-8B Harriers and a refueling tanker, according to Marine Corps Times.

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In the event that an aircraft goes down over Islamic State controlled territory in say, Syria, the recovery mission would be exponentially harder said an active duty Force Reconnaissance Marine who was deployed with the 26th MEU in 2011.

“You never know what’s going to happen when you hit the ground,” he said.

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The Marine, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not permitted to speak to the media, elaborated on the amount of equipment and resources needed to recover pilots from a downed aircraft.

“You have at least two aircraft that you’re going out on,” the Marine said, referring to the amount of transport helicopters needed to move a minimum of 30 Marines to the downed aircraft.

The 30 would be split into two sections, he said. Half would provide security, while the other half would recover the pilots and destroy or recover sensitive material left at the crash site.

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“While it’s a relatively small footprint on the ground, we always had an infantry unit nearby and a number of support aircraft in the overhead,” he said, referring to jets and other aircraft that could provide covering fire if the mission met any resistance.

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Staff Sgt. John Strobridge, a Force Reconnaissance Marine who had extensive training in TRAP missions before he left the service, highlighted the probable difficulty of getting recovery personnel deep into Syria in the event of a shoot-down.

“What type of aircraft has that kind of range and how available is it?” asked Strobridge, adding that airfields would need to be set up close to the Syrian border in order to facilitate recovery missions.

“Not to mention you need to think about the support for them.”

While American forces have gone into Syria before, most notably in a failed attempt to rescue captured journalist James Foley, it is unclear where those helicopters launched from and how much material was needed to support the mission.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds,” Strobridge said.