Extended Interview: Air Force officer shot down in Iran on surviving behind enemy lines

There was an Iranian search party that. had assembled at the base of the. mountain to come find you. You knew that. the Iranians were trying to find you as. well, right? >> I knew that they were coming. I saw. I knew for a fact that they were looking. for me. >> Were you armed? >> I was. In April, five weeks into a costly and.

unpopular war, an American fighter jet. was shot down over Iran, leaving two. American aviators stranded behind enemy. lines. The officers on board, the pilot, Mission Call sign Alpha, and the weapons. systems officer, Mission Call sign. Bravo, had ejected from their F-15E and. landed miles apart in a mountainous. desert region. >> [crying]. >> They would both soon have Iranian. bounties on their heads.

>> What unfolded was one of the largest. search and rescue operations in US. military history. In his first. interview, Bravo told 60 Minutes his. harrowing story of survival and provided. new details about the 50hour operation. to rescue him and his crew mate. Thank. you so much for doing this. Bravo. First, let me ask you, how are you. doing? >> Overall, very well. Thank you for. asking. There's some things I'm still. recovering from, but I'm receiving.

tremendous care and and continue to. recover. >> How grateful are you to be here safely. on American soil? >> It's hard to describe the depth of my. gratitude, not just for those who came to get me, but for the millions of Americans that. were supporting them. I really do thank each and every one of. them. >> We've heard from the president and from. the chain of command about your rescue.

and about Alpha's rescue, but is this. the first time you are publicly sharing. your story? >> It is. The only times I've talked about these. details or any of this is either with. medical professionals or with close. personal uh friends that are helping me. recover. But I think it's important for America. to hear what we're capable of and. remember that there are.

thousands of Americans that are out. protecting us and defending us every. day. And I want to make sure that they. get their due credit. Often people will. say, "Thank you for your service.". And I don't think they realize just how. much harder it is on our families that. we're leaving behind as we go to do. what's necessary to defend America. >> The whole family serves. >> That's right. >> I think it would be helpful to just. start with the basics and go through. chronologically. what happens. Walk me through that day.

on April 3rd. What was it like? That day. was just another day in the war for us. until. the moment where we got hit by an. Iranian weapon. >> You were flying in an F-15. >> Yes. F-15 is, in my biased opinion, America's greatest waror. It's a two-tailed TW uh two engineed, two crude, can carry an enormous amount.

of weaponry. It also has uh the ability. to fly greater distances than most of. our uh our force and I'm really proud to. be part of that at 15e community. >> Why was it called Dude4? >> So when deployed each type of airframe. have call signs that are associated with. some of those things. uh in this. particular case that uh our airframe the. F-15 was called DUDE and we were the.

fourth F-15 uh in that particular. formation thus dude 44 rather than say. 41. >> Had you and your crew mate flown. together before? >> We'd never flown together before. In fact, that's not necessarily uncommon. because we're all trained to do a. particular job and you don't want to. give yourself artificial constraints in. only flying with the same people over.

and over again. And yet, as a community, we build trust knowing that the person. that you're flying with is an expert at. their craft, and you do that your best. to uphold your half of that bargain. >> You're on a nighttime mission, correct? It was a nighttime mission uh that we. were flying. Specific details of the mission I may. not be able to get into just for. security risks. >> While the war plane was flying over a. mountainous area south of the city of.

Isvahan, it was struck by an Iranian. shoulder fired missile. When did you. know something was going wrong? It is. without a shadow of a doubt it was. evident that we'd been impacted by an. Iranian weapon uh when it happened. The. it's difficult to describe because you. think about these scenarios as part of. our training and how we would react. given each of them. And yet when it. happened, it was perfectly clear to me.

that we'd been hit because of the. violence of that impact. Can you describe it or what you and your. crew mate were able to say to each. other? >> I think the best way I've been able to. describe that moment was getting hit by. a freight train. We do all we can to try. to save the aircraft. It was evident. that that wasn't possible and soon. thereafter we ejected and found. ourselves floating over the heart of.

Iran. >> So within seconds you're ejecting. That's how quick the decision is. It is. I will be thankful to my dying day for. my pilot and crewmate Alpha for saving. our lives and injecting us. >> So, it was at the same time. >> We eject slightly different in an F-15. so that it will keep the two of you. safe. And so, there's a minor amount of. of time between the ejections. That. extra couple of seconds will mean that. there's some distance between the two of.

you uh at at the ejection moment. How. did that explosion impact to the plane. affect the cockpit where you were? >> It damaged catastrophically. many of the systems on the aircraft. That also includes my ejection seat. And. I want. the airmen that work diligently on the. seat uh and on the equipment for our. survival gear there to know because I.

haven't had a chance to talk to them. directly that they did an incredible job. because despite the damage to the. aircraft to include the damage to my. ejection seat, it outperformed the. design specifications and I call that a. testament to their professionalism. That gives actually gives me the chills. >> I am incredibly proud of the men and. women I serve with and I'm proud of the. job that they do every day. >> You believe it saved your life? >> I do.

without their professionalism and their. work, the work of the maintainers that. work on those that aircraft that allow. it to survive even for that extra minute. because the systems that they keep in in. uh working order for us to employ mean. that it's going to work that much longer. even under that much damage is more a. testament to them than I would say just. the every day of getting that jet into. the air. They're doing so under. incredibly difficult circumstances right. now. So, your seat was damaged by.

Iranian fire and yet you still were able. to eject safely. >> I was. >> Did your parachute deploy? >> My parachute was damaged in the the. initial attack at one point when I. looked up and saw no parachute. That was the most. It was the most terrifying thing I've. ever seen.

So, I paused right then and I prayed, "Lord, your will be done, but if I'm getting through this, I need. help.". >> While you're in the air. >> Yeah. >> Is that like almost like freef falling. or how would you describe that? free. falling is a good way to put it. Uh I. wasn't focused on the speed at which I. was falling. I was instead focused on. trying to correct the problems that were.

in front of me and doing anything I. could to unfurl or pull pieces of the. parachute loose. In SEAR training, uh, so survival, evasion, resistance, escape, we're. trained to work through problems, not. only through the ejection sequence, but. any survival scenario. And under. considerations for parachute. malfunctions, I never want to become a. victim of my circumstances. And so I'll. take the circumstances for what they. are, and then I'm going to keep moving.

forward in them. And that's what I tried. to do in those moments. >> So, how fast do you think you were going. when you hit the ground? professionals. based on my description and the injuries. that I had. The professionals think I. hit the ground going somewhere between. 70 and 100 miles an hour. >> How did you survive that? >> A modern-day miracle. I believe that it's a testament to God's. provision in my life to bring me through. that moment in a way that didn't prevent.

injuries, but prevented any catastrophic. injuries that would have affected my. ability to survive. And. I'm grateful. eternally. for knowing that he was there with me. because you don't see any other. explanation for how you survived. >> I don't think there can be. And I think. the facts around my survival uh the. facts proven out by my medical records,

the facts proven out by the equipment. that uh was still there, I think they. all determined that that is true. The. fall broke Bravo's back. He also. sustained a broken arm, broken shoulder, sprained ankle, and was bleeding from. cuts and scrapes to his head and face. >> I had injuries, but we all trained to. adapt and overcome the things that are. that were faced with. I moved as quickly. as I could despite the injuries away.

from the place that I I landed. Soon after the crash, an Iranian news. anchor announced a bounty for the. capture of the Americans. Videos emerged on the internet of armed. groups hunting for the down crew. >> I can tell you for a fact that they were. looking for me. >> According to US military sources, Iranian forces got to within a few. hundred meters of Bravo. walk me through. what's going through your mind and what.

you have to do to. evade capture or Iranian fire. >> Those SEIR professionals trained me over. 20 years ago in my case. on setting priorities. So it's not just. what you need to do, it's the time frame. that you need to do them in. So for me, I was focused on things like getting. away from the enemy, finding the right. place uh to communicate, getting uh a. finding the the way to hide or or defeat.

the ways the enemy might track me. >> It's dark, right? And can you tell me. what you what you see around you? It is. dark, but much like early morning. hunting trips, you know, the sun starts. to come up and you can start to perceive. uh elements of the environment around. you. Iran is the size of Alaska. And in. the heart of Iran, where we were, there. are high desert valleys, but also. amazing craggly cliffs. And so I find.

myself in one of those valleys with. cliffs on either side. Why did you. decide to make the decision to seek. higher ground? >> Our training. gives us indications of what we should. do, but not necessarily what we should. do in the circumstances we find. ourselves. And so for me, I thought. higher ground was going to give me the. best chance of survival. >> Are you able at that point to. communicate back to central command?

I had communication equipment with me, but I did not immediately take the. opportunity to communicate. I thought. the priority should be getting away from. that spot before someone else started. showing up to look for me. >> Bravo told us the safest place for him. to go was up. So, he quickly made the. decision, despite his broken bones, to. hike and climb up a 7,000 ft rgeline.

Given your injuries, how did you find. the strength to make it up the mountain? >> Never let a lack of motivation put you. on Iranian TV. >> You were thinking that? >> Absolutely. Given the terrain that I faced, I think you'd find it surprising what I. was able to go to overcome. given those injuries. But I did it because of a warrior ethos.

that we talk about. My airmen. that we led. in theater. had months of hearing about the. importance of warrior ethos. and how we are going to apply it. And I. saw them apply that. in the leadup to the conflict during the. conflict night after night with. unprecedented threats against them. And. yet they're doing their job at a way.

that no one would have thought possible. I owed it to them to show the same. warrior ethos in my situation. and walk the same walk that I've been. talking for months. >> As much as you can tell me, did you you. started to find a place to hide inside. the mountain? What what was your. objective at that point? My objectives were to get away from my. landing site and then find the best. concealment I could in order to do the.

other things like communicate, consider. my equipment, move up. But the specific. elements of tradecraft or what I did, I'd rather not talk about given the. security concerns uh of an ongoing. conflict. >> Um, did you have food and water on you? Typically a survival kit which is. included in the seat uh has food, water, additional survival equipment, some. medical uh kit but due to the damage of.

my seat, I did not have one of those. with me. I did have a survival vest. which we all wear. So wearing what I you. see before you plus a harness and and. guit things to help me in the flying. aspect. Then on top of that as a. survival vest that includes some basic. signaling equipment, communication. equipment, a very minimal amount of. water, uh, and a couple of other tools. to help me survive. >> How did you deal with your injuries?

>> I did my best given the things that we. had. So. the internal ones there's not much to do. uh about other than make allowances for. them as I moved. the external ones that. I did my best to stop the bleeding once. there was an opportunity to do so. >> When were you first able to send a. signal? >> As soon as I found a spot that I felt. provided some concealment, I started. working on toward communication. At every opportunity that presented.

itself, I worked toward communicating. with friendly forces. I did not allow. that to be the priority over staying uh. over evading or dealing with the. environmental factors that were around. me. >> 6 hours in, the US was able to rescue. Alpha, the pilot. This is declassified. video of the risky daytime raid to pick. him up. Two helicopters of the 21. aircraft deployed.

Videos posted on social media showed. American helicopters taking fire. >> Were you able to see the rescue. operation of Alpha? >> I was. >> What was that like? >> It was the proudest dad moment of my. life. with apologies to my kids. I was deployed with those many of those. men and women on that rescue operation.

as part of my unit. I know they build a ethos around doing. an extraordinary activities so that. others may live. And to see it firsthand. made me incredibly proud of them and of. Americans like them that continue to. raise their hand and say, "Here I am. Send me.". >> It's incredible to think that you had. that vantage point to see your crew mate. being rescued.

>> I'm actually grateful for that. I would imagine that some would think. it would provide a negative feeling, but. instead it was only positive. It was a. boon to my survival to know that America. keeps its promise. And I get to see the. people that I'm closest to, my. teammates, doing the thing that they say. they're going to go do. And I get to see them upholding that. with someone who I was flying with and I.

care deeply about. Mhm. And why do you. call it a dad moment? Proud dad moment. >> At this point in my career, in a fighter. pilot career, I should be getting fitted. for my rocking chair right now. And so. I think um I feel a bit of. responsibility, not just my formal responsibility given. my duties in the deployed environment, but a responsibility to make sure that.

they have the equipment that they need, the the resources that they need, just. like you equip your children to grow and. be able to do the things that they want. to do and and follow their dreams. And. then when you get to see them doing the. thing that they have worked so hard. toward, I think the only appropriate description. is that it's a dad moment. >> The force that rescued Alpha also. attempted to locate Bravo, but were. unsuccessful and eventually withdrew.

Then, as night fell on that first day in. Iran, Bravo sent messages. I'm hurt. I'm. moving. God is good. When I got to the. moment where I could review and think. about all that I'd gone through, I sent God is good as a recognition. of all that he had brought me through, surviving the impact of the Iranian. weapon, surviving my impact to the.

ground, and successfully evading people. that were actively looking for me. I could only think of that as. miraculous. How important has your faith been in all. of this? >> I don't have this story without faith. >> I'm not saying faith is replacement for. training, but instead it is a boon to. training. Training helps us understand what we do, but faith is the backs stop of all of my.

actions during my time in Iran and the. way that guides what I do day in and day. out. Bravo would have to survive with. almost no water and no food in the wind. in the cold of the high mountain desert. for another full day. What was your. worst fear? >> My worst fear was letting the team that. was working so diligently to rescue me. down. I knew. that they were going to come. I knew.

that America, whether it was one day or. one year, was going to uphold its. promise and rescue me. I had to do my part. to give them time to affect that rescue. >> There was an Iranian search party that. had assembled at the base of the. mountain to come find you. You knew that. the Iranians were trying to find you as. well, right? >> I knew that they were coming. I saw.

I knew for a fact that they were looking. for me. >> Were you armed? >> I was. >> Did you consider what would happen if. the Iranians had gotten close? >> I did. Yet the thing that I was most. focused on is what is next? I considered. moving forward in my circumstances. And. so there was a problem before me and. time and again I considered what is that. problem? How would I overcome it? What's.

the next decision I need to make? And. how would I take care of that? I did not. focus in the least on things that were. outside of my control. >> How cold was it at night? Were you were. you able to stay warm? >> This was a high cliff in a somewhat. deserty of environment with heavy ws. did the best to stay warm given the. circumstances and no additional survival.

equipment. It. >> was really difficult. >> What I went through is difficult, but I think no more difficult. In fact, less difficult than what millions of. Americans go through in difficult. situations that they own they they face. And it's made easier when there are. people that surround you and encourage. you and tell you to keep going because. we're coming. we're here to help you. And I had the exact same thing. >> In the end, it was the CIA that played a. pivotal role, launching a multi-pronged.

campaign, which included deception to. confuse Iranian forces and top secret. technology to pinpoint Bravo's exact. location. To clear the way for his. rescue, American bombers and drones hit. Iran's Revolutionary Guard forces. nearby, as seen in this newly. declassified video. Nearly 2 days after. Dude 44 went down, it was time to go in.

for Bravo. The force came in on two. large search and rescue planes and. landed on a makeshift desert airirstrip. They then unloaded small little bird. helicopters capable of reaching Bravo on. the rgeline several miles away. This is. Bravo on the Rgel line waiting to be. picked up. The Pentagon declassified. this video of the rescue. The two. service members on either side of Bravo. were elite Air Force par rescue. operators known in the military as PJs.

The moment a PJ showed up uh to me on. that RGEL line was one of the greatest. moments of my life and I don't know how. to say it any more clearly than thank. you for all that they did. >> What did your rescuer say when they got. to you? >> The specific conversation I think I'll. leave for another time as I don't want. to release anything that's not just my. story to tell. >> What did you say to them? >> Let's go.

Bravo was in American hands, but not out. of danger. Back at the makeshift. airirstrip, the rescue plane's landing. gear was stuck in the desert sand, and. the planes could not take off. It took a. clandestine unit of the US Air Force to. get Bravo and the 90 plus special. operators out of Iran. The US then bombed its own marooned. aircraft, so no technology fell into.

Iranian hands. 50 hours after being shot. down, Bravo was finally safe, rescued as. the sun came up on Easter Sunday. His. wife waited for a call back home in the. US. What was that call like? I was really. proud of her. and grateful for the strength that she. showed. and I looked forward to seeing her.

again. >> It's a reminder, as you say, about how. families serve the sacrifice of a whole. family. My wife is an incredible. example of what. spouses and families across this nation. go through when we send our sons and. daughters to defend the nation. And I count myself blessed beyond. measure to be married to such a. wonderful woman. >> What do you want the American people to.

know. about this rescue mission? This is not a. story about what I went through. Instead, it's a story of the teamwork, of the training, of the faith, of the. decisions and leadership to do something. that will live in history as an example. of what America's willing to do. in order to uphold our promise and leave. no man behind. >> Did you ever have any doubt that the US.

military was coming for you? Never a doubt. It's what we do. I have great faith in my creator. Second. only to that is my faith in the men and. women of the United States military to. do what we say we're going to do. >> You have put your life on the line to. serve our country. Would you do it. again? >> I intend to continue to serve in. whatever capacity I can. And when we.

swear an oath to defend this nation and. our Constitution, I think it's easier to do so knowing. that we're doing it as a team, that you. have warriors on the left and right of. you that are going to continue to fight. and answer the call when the goes out. I think about too the selfless. sacrifice and service of so many of. those you serve with and that came to. rescue you.

and Alpha. Can you talk about that. selfless sacrifice? The most important thing for me is that. all of those involved in this rescue. understand just how grateful I am for. their work. It doesn't happen on a whim. It is years of professionalism and. training that lead up to a moment like. this. It takes dedication beyond belief. And I don't believe Americans even. realize just how much of a lifetime of.

effort goes into accomplishing something. that seems like it happened overnight. It was a miracle that all of those. individuals chose to do what they did. for their lifetime and for their. profession. And I get to be the recipient of that. hard work. And now I sit here before you. as evidence of real life miracles. and the incredible professionalism of.

the United States military. Alpha's back flying for the Air Force. He declined our request for an. interview, but he provided us with a. statement. The statement reads, "I am. still in awe of the professionalism and. tactical prowess of the combat search. and rescue specialists and the joint. force who executed the rescue missions. of me and Dude44 Bravo. Both those in. theater and behind the scenes. Words. cannot capture how thankful my family.

and I are and how proud I am to serve. alongside each and every one of them.