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Steady in the Storm — Grey Bull Rescue’s Standing Presence in the Middle East
OLIVE SHIELD’s anniversary. A new deal with Iran. Americans remain in jeopardy. The world is still dangerous. Here’s where we stand.
Olivia Smith
June 19, 2026
READY. POSTURED. FORWARD.
No matter what happens in the Middle East — peace, war, escalation, deal, no deal, or anything in between — The Grey Bull Rescue team has been boots on the ground since the attacks on October 7th. Boats, planes, buses, borders, evacuations, hostages, and more have all been part of this regional conflict. Thousands of American lives saved from Iran and terrorists.
We have been and always will be ready, postured, and forward. Regardless of these new developments, Grey Bull Rescue is not going anywhere.
OPERATION: OLIVE SHIELD, ONE YEAR LATER
This week's peace deal coincides with the anniversary of Operation: OLIVE SHIELD, where we conducted mass evacuations out of Israel under fire from Iranian hypersonic missiles, rockets, and drones — marking the second time Grey Bull Rescue partnered with Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida Department of Emergency Management, building on the partnership first forged in 2023.
In June 2025, Iran's hypersonic missiles and deadly Shahed drones were raining down on Israel.
Our advance team was already on the ground in Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus — Field Operators and Case Managers launched and raced into theatre, sheltering in bunkers and bomb shelters during active missile attacks causing widespread destruction.
Grey Bull conducted dangerous precision rescues as well as large-scale evacuations by sea to Cyprus, land to Jordan and Egypt, and air to AMERICA — executing these complex movements, evacuees in tow, under constant ballistic missile, rocket, and drone attack from Iran, HAMAS, and Hizbollah.
During Operation: OLIVE SHIELD alone, Grey Bull rescued more than 2,300 American lives from the war zone.
Since October 7th, we have conducted operations in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and even inside Gaza.
When Americans are in trouble, we save lives at the SPEED OF NEED, anytime, anywhere.
To Governor Ron DeSantis, Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, Kevin Guthrie, and the Florida Division of Emergency Management: thank you.
To our Star Spangled American Awesome donors and Mission Partners — THANK YOU! These American lives would not have been saved without YOU.
THE NEXT MISSION IS ALREADY ON THE HORIZON.
810 missions. 44 countries. None of it is possible without donors who choose to live our ethos “Don’t be a spectator”.
This Wasn't One Mission.
It Was a Region-Wide Promise.
Operation: OLIVE SHIELD was not a single operation in a single country. It was part of a sustained, multi-country presence throughout the most volatile region on earth… the Middle East. It was one chapter of an ongoing regional conflict, starting on October 7th, that is hopefully ending with this new agreement between the U.S. and Iran.
Our work speaks for itself, but louder still, are the thousands of testimonials of the innocent Americans of all faiths…Muslims, Christians, Jews, even a few Buddhists.
Operation:PROMISED LAND ISRAEL | 2023 | When Hamas launched its surprise attack on October 7th, 2023 — murdering civilians and taking hostages — Israel's airport closed within hours and thousands of Americans were suddenly stranded inside an active war zone. The Grey Bull Rescue team deployed immediately and partnered with Governor Ron DeSantis and the State of Florida, establishing a state-side operations cell to process thousands of incoming requests and synchronize field team movements across the region. Over three days, the team evacuated more than 300 Americans to safety in Florida. |
Operation:BOOMERANG GAZA | 2024 | A Florida mother's five children were kidnapped into Gaza just as the Hamas-Israel war exploded into full-scale conflict. For months, every door closed — the State Department, the FBI, Senators' offices, all some version of we can't reach them. Congresswoman Laurel Lee (R-FL) referred Bryan and the team as a last resort. Our team built an "Ocean's 11" style extraction plan and executed a carefully designed deception operation to secure the children from their captor, navigating a full-scale war zone from Gaza to Tampa to bring all five home. They are home with their mother in Florida today. Watch her tell it in her own words: |
Operation:THREE BOOKS LEBANON | 2024 | As Hezbollah attacks intensified and Israeli airstrikes responded across southern Lebanon, an American couple was trapped deep behind enemy lines, out of reach of the U.S. Embassy. Our team executed a unilateral extraction through dozens of checkpoints teeming with terrorist fighters while Israel bombed from the sky — 23 hours from contact, the radio crackled with JACKPOT JACKPOT JACKPOT. The family is alive and living their best life in Nevada. |
Operation:SAFE PASSAGE LEBANON | 2024 | In August 2024, the security situation between Israel, Iran, and its proxies deteriorated by the hour. Grey Bull Rescue had already deployed to Lebanon weeks earlier, establishing ground, sea, and air infrastructure for large-scale evacuations — boots on ground in Beirut and Israel, with staging areas in neighboring countries. As the region moved closer to open war, our team evacuated American citizens, lawful permanent residents, and allies out of Lebanon and Israel. |
Operation:CHESS MASTER ISRAEL | 2026 | When the Israel-Iran war erupted into open conflict, Grey Bull Rescue sustained missions every single day for more than a month under active attack— evacuating over 400 Americans, including a 155-person extraction in a single mission and an 88-person charter flight into Washington Dulles. |
Operation:BULL DOG ISRAEL | 2026 | Congresswoman Nancy Mace traveled to assist a stranded South Carolina family trapped in Northern Israel — directly in the path of missiles from Iran and Hezbollah — and was referred to Grey Bull through a Special Operations network. By the time she landed, our team had already pulled nine Americans out of a bomb shelter, and Mace embedded with Grey Bull Rescue for nearly two weeks, riding with our Field Operators through active missile and rocket fire to see firsthand what this team does when nobody else can reach them. |
SOMEONE OUT THERE DOESN’T KNOW OUR NAME YET.
Your donation today is the reason an American mother or father or sister or brother or son or daughter can make that call of desperation and get the answer they prayed for…“ Grey Bull is on the way.”
The Iran Deal: Cautious Optimism
This week, the United States and Iran inked a deal to end this deadly regional war. While many will argue the terms, this is only a first step… and as a lifesaving organization that operates in war zones, Grey Bull Rescue will always support the pursuit of peace and stability, provided that Americans, our interests, and our security are prioritized.
The Iranian regime has been a devious and constant threat for decades. Trust will need to be earned and verified by their actions, not words. We've operated in this region long enough to know that a signed deal and actual lasting peace are two very different things — our team of career Special Operations and Intelligence Community veterans, and our civilian volunteers, have paid for that knowledge through the blood of our friends and ourselves on the streets of these war zones.
Grey Bull Rescue prays for peace but will be ready, as always, for war to save American lives any time, anywhere.
This week, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation raised a serious concern: at least five Americans remain wrongfully imprisoned or barred from leaving Iran, including two designated by the Department of State as wrongfully detained, held in Iran's notorious Evin Prison.
They are notably absent from the current agreement.
Until every American is home, the work remains unfinished. When the next call comes for one of them, Grey Bull Rescue needs to be ready to answer it.