60 Minutes Iran rescue segment draws Pentagon propaganda criticism

Pentagon denies CNN report of pressure on downed airmen

A US air force colonel identified only by his codename “Bravo” appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday night in a segment some critics have labeled Pentagon propaganda to boost public perception of Donald Trump’s unpopular war with Iran, according to The Guardian. Bravo, the weapons system operator aboard an F-15E shot down by an Iranian shoulder-fired missile in April, recounted to interviewer Norah O’Donnell the moment he realized his parachute was damaged after he and his co-pilot ejected.

“When I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” Bravo said. “So I paused, right then. And I prayed: ‘Lord, your will be done. But if I’m getting through this, I need help.’” He said he was unable to fully untangle his chute and hit the ground hard. “Based on my description and the injuries that I had, the professionals think I hit the ground, going somewhere between 70 and 100 mph,” he said.

Bravo, who was reportedly also initially hesitant to take part in the 60 Minutes segment, said he sustained a broken back, broken arm, broken shoulder, a sprained ankle, and serious wounds to his head and face in the landing. “I had injuries, but we all train to adapt and overcome the things that we’re faced with,” he said. “I moved as quickly as I could, despite the injuries, away from the place that I landed.” Armed only with a pistol, a communication device, and a tracking beacon, Bravo climbed a 7,000-foot ridge.

The airmen were recovered in April in an operation the 60 Minutes segment said involved thousands of military personnel, including Army Delta Force, Navy SEAL Team Six, and a CIA decoy operation designed to distract and deceive Iranians chasing a bounty for their capture. US bombers and drones struck Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces nearby during the operation, according to the segment.

Declassified video broadcast by the show showed a daytime raid to extract Alpha, the co-pilot, who had landed about five miles from Bravo. More than 20 helicopters took part in that operation, and the footage showed two of them under fire. “It was a gun fight all the way in and all the way out,” Hegseth told O’Donnell. “But they got Alpha back. And then we began to, immediately, I mean you’re celebrating that Alpha’s back, but you realize the job’s only half done.”

While Alpha was retrieved about six hours after the aircraft was shot down, Bravo’s ordeal lasted about 50 hours. “As soon as I found a spot that I felt provided some concealment, I started working toward communication,” Bravo said. “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.” Cooper, the Central Command head, said the rescue plan was accelerated once Bravo’s survival became clear. “There was a: ‘I’m hurt, I’m moving,’ and there was a ‘God is good’ message that came in there,” Cooper said. “Now we knew he was alive. He’s moving. OK, let’s keep planning.”

Two large search-and-rescue planes carrying special forces troops and small helicopters landed on a makeshift desert airstrip several miles from where Bravo was hiding. His first glimpse of the US soldiers was, he said, “one of the greatest moments of my life” — and came with about 1,500 Iranian personnel inside a 10-mile radius, Cooper said. One rescue plane became lodged in desert sand, was abandoned, and then bombed to avoid its falling into enemy hands. Cooper said more than 90 Americans were involved on the ground, supported by several hundred more in the air, and up to 5,000 people overall. “What you need to know is we would have sent more to go get the back-seater,” he said.

CNN reported Saturday that getting the airmen to appear on television was a priority for Hegseth, who was eager to present a success story in Trump’s ongoing war that has killed 18 US troops, wounded more than 800, and sent oil and gasoline prices soaring, according to the network. In a statement, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called the reported pressure “a complete lie” and said the decision about whether to participate in the 60 Minutes interview “was each pilot’s alone, because it is their story.” “As CNN notes, one pilot decided to participate and one did not,” Parnell’s statement said. “Additionally, the [Pentagon] took great care to ensure operational security, sources, and methods were protected. To suggest otherwise is to denigrate every member of our military who participated in and supported the interview.”

CNN further reported that Bari Weiss, CBS News’s editor-in-chief, who has been criticized for perceived favoritism toward the Trump administration, put pressure on Hegseth for exclusive access to the story. A backlash to the airing of the segment was reported Monday by the Daily Beast. One analyst, Zeteo News media commentator Justin Baragona, posted on X that a CBS staffer told him: “Norah [was] absolutely willing to play the part of dimwit reporter used as a propaganda tool.”