WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE (NewsNation) — It took more than 4,000 men and women for the U.S. military to execute an undercover assault on Iran’s most advanced nuclear facilities, marking the largest B-2 bombing mission in American history.

Seven B-2 bomber planes — with a price tag of $2.2 billion apiece — dropped fourteen 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in an effort to wipe out the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, a heavily fortified nuclear site buried deep below a mountain near the holy city of Qom, and two other facilities.

This was the first time the MOPs, known as bunker buster bombs, were ever used in combat by the U.S. NewsNation was given unprecedented access to military officials who recounted the planning and execution of the mission. Those officials said thousands of disparate players had to play their parts perfectly for the attack to go smoothly.

“Think about it like a football team, everybody’s got their different roles to play,” Col. Josh “Half” Wiitala, who was the overall commander of the mission, told NewsNation in one of his first interviews since completing “Operation Midnight Hammer” on June 22. 

“I have medics, mission support, maintenance, munitions troops, along with the operations folks, the pilots, the intelligence that go into it. So, getting them all moving in the right direction to accomplish a mission like this, under strict operational security, that’s one of the biggest challenges we face,” Wiitala, Air Force Commander, 509th Bomb Wing, said.

President Trump declared the attack had led to the “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, though an intelligence report cast some doubt on those statements, and Democrats have criticized the assessment.

Regardless of how far the operation set back Iran’s capabilities, the fact that the B-2s were able to get in and out of Iran safely while completing their mission was a remarkable first-time achievement for the weaponry, military sources told NewsNation.

Wiitala and other officials said stealth went well beyond the fleet of B-2 bombers that day.

The Pentagon deployed deception tactics, including decoy planes soaring West toward Guam to divert attention while the actual mission was beginning East. 

How B-2 bomber pilots prepared for Iran mission 

The pilots were airborne for 36 hours straight, flying from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to Iran and back. The pilots managed their sleep cycles and nutrition before takeoff to ensure they had the physical and mental fortitude needed to carry out the mission.

“It’s not just the consequential nature of the mission, but it’s also the grueling physical nature,” Wiitala told NewsNation.

Each cockpit was equipped with a microwave, chemical toilet, survival gear, and an abundance of snacks. Next to the hatch, there was enough space for a crew member to lie down on the ground. 

Before the launch, the explosives were loaded by some of the youngest members of the crew. Those filling this important job averaged just 18 to 22 years of age.

“(There are) over 500 steps that they have to memorize in order to get that bomb into the bay,” said Chief Master Sgt. Frank Espinoza, the 509th Maintenance Group wing weapons manager. “You can only get it right one time.”

“If you don’t do it right, or if you hit the aircraft, that mission is done,” Espinoza added.

Iran mission shows there’s still a need for manned aircraft: Colonels

Unpiloted drones are quickly becoming one of the most consequential weapons on the modern battlefield.

But the commanders of “Operation Midnight Hammer” said their mission to Iran demonstrated the need for the B-2. 

“The ability to go from where we are, in the middle of the United States, to anywhere in the world, deliver a 30,000-pound weapon to destroy a deeply buried target, that’s only going to happen with the B-2 and the B-21 in the future,” Wiitala emphasized. “It shows that the United States is capable of defending itself at the time and place of our choosing.”

Col. Jared “Evel” Kennish, Air Force Commander, 131st Bomb Wing, underscored the mantra of Trump’s second administration, “peace through strength,” before concluding: “The impact of that strike I think will make some of our adversaries second guess their planning going forward.”