This is an INTERESTING story. I was right in the middle of it...both at A&M, then flying in the Navy. This will be a log post. I'm doing this from memory, a long long time ago, so if something is incorrect, feel free to correct me.
In the fall of 1972, I was a fish in N-1 Neanderthals. We were the first class of of NROTC at A&M. Hard to believe, but yes, A&M didn't have NROTC until 1972. Certainly there were plenty of Aggies that served in the USN and USMC, but they got their Commissions via OCS or PLC.
I'm fairly certain the the first Iranians showed up my Zip year, fall of 75. Talk about so much change!!! in the fall of 74, Girls in the Corps. Now, Iranians??!! WTF!
They were good kids, scared to death, and I looked out for them as I could relate. I wasn't from Iran, but PA, as were alot of our N-1 fish, and I remember encountering some hostility..that we were gonna ruin the Corps somehow. So I looked out for those guys, kept the Corps crap at a minimum, taught them how to play the game. One guy asked me to explain American football to him, so I gathered a few of them in my room and explained football. I diagramed the field, explained offense and defense, the concept of down and distance. Why a team would punt. All the different penalties. They caught on quick, and it made going to Kyle a million times more enjoyable when they actually knew what was going on.
As far as I know, the NROTC outfits were the only ones with Iranians. Why the Navy? Simple. After a bitter sales fight between the Air Force and the Navy, the Shah bought F-14s instead of F-15s. And the US Navy would train those Iranian Pilots. So I assumed that these fish would eventually wind up in Pensacola where I was headed.
Here's where it gets interesting. These Cadets were gonna be future Officers for the Shah, so we can assume they were loyal to him. I don't remember discussing the Shah or Iranian politics with them. I didn't know anything except that it was assumed that the Shah was an American ally. Hey...the Oil! Well that changed one day when I was in the MSC. There were some Iranian Students, non-regs, who had a table set up, schooling everybody about what an SOB the Shah was. His secret Police, the SAVAK. And they weren't the only ones telling me this. I had a classmate, an American, non-reg, who's father was an Oil Exec in Tehran. He hated the Shah, and warned me that that place was a simmering cauldron and someday was gonna explode. Now I'm hearing this in 1976. By late 1978, when Khomeini took power, I was one of the least surprised. As we used to joke in the Navy....I crawled...I walked..Iran!!
When I got to Pensacola in Sept 1976, there were tons of Iranian Student Pilots being trained, first on the T-2 (1000 hours for yours truly) then the A-4, then on to Miramar in San Diego for F-14 training. Because there was so many of them, very few USN/USMC Jet guys got to stay in P-Cola. We all had to go to Meridian (puke) Kingsville, or lovely Beeville where I wound up. Them Iranian guys had MONEY...lots more than we did. First thing they did when they got to P-Cola was buy a C-Vet or a Van. They paid Sticker, and they paid cash. Nobody was sadder about the Shah leaving town than the car dealers in P-Cola.
I was deployed when alot that crazy was going on. After I got home, I asked my dad, who knew some people at the Trigon, "what happened to those Iranian Cadets"? He said it was sad. Their money of course stopped. They sure as hell were not gonna go back home. They scattered to all point of the Compass.
Who knows? Remember that in Sept 1980, Iran and Iraq started a horrific 8 year war. Iran needed Pilots, Engineers. (F-4 and F-14 parts were embargoed by us because of the Hostage Situation). I heard that some of them may have returned to serve against Iraq.
Again. This is one of the more interesting, but largely unknown stories in Corps of Cadets history. I was just a small part of it. If anybody out there has more info to add or point out something I may have gotten wrong, feel free to add or correct.