During the 1976 Watchtower operation, Tyree said that the pilots appeared to be mercenaries who spoke several foreign languages and had German, French, and English accents, while the pilots and lead personnel in the first 1975 operations appeared younger and acted as if they were U.S. Army or U.S. Navy personnel. He thought that British Special Air Service (S.A.S.) pilots were on some of the flights.
