First on 60 Minutes: U.S. Air Force officer shot down in Iran details his rescue

He spent two days behind enemy lines in Iran. This Sunday, on the season premiere of 60 Minutes, the U.S. Air Force officer shot down in Iran speaks for the first time about his harrowing experience.

Norah O’Donnell interviewed the weapon systems officer, with the mission call sign Dude 44 Bravo, about his two days on the ground in Iran back in April. Bravo was part of the two-man crew shot down over Iran, which prompted one of the largest and most complex rescue operations in U.S. military history. 

The fighter jet’s pilot was rescued within hours, but Bravo remained alone in the mountains of Iran for two days. In his first public account of what happened, the colonel describes surviving a harrowing ejection and being injured, how he evaded Iranian forces, and what he said to his rescuers when they arrived. 

O’Donnell also spoke with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and head of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, the operational commander of the war with Iran. 

Watch the season premiere of 60 Minutes on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and Paramount+.

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