Launching the F-16s into Iran | Operation Midnight Hammer | Maintenance Chief CMSgt. Hilliard

Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the people who flew it. CMSgt. Hilliard was the senior enlisted leader for maintenance in the 55th Fighter Squadron, the Wild Weasels who flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran. Watch the three-part documentary series on Afterburn Defense: Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4 Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY This is the full interview. No jet flies without the people who fix it. In this conversation he talks about how the squadron decided which specific aircraft would fly the Iran mission, what it takes to generate a sortie that most people never think about, running a maintenance unit where many of the airmen had never deployed before, and the eighteen hours he waited after the jets taxied out. Before Iran, the 55th Fighter Squadron fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025. These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there. 0:00 From a One-Stoplight Town to the Viper 5:18 What It Actually Takes to Launch One Sortie 8:16 Spinning Up a Maintenance Unit for Combat 11:42 Leading Airmen Who Had Never Deployed 17:22 Flying With Fewer Jets Than You Need 21:16 A Week Out From Operation Midnight Hammer 23:27 Eighteen Hours of Waiting 26:06 A Different Kind of Battlefield 33:59 The Empty Break Rooms 39:05 How We Chose Which Jets Would Go Have a story? Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/ 🛫 Become a Fighter/Bomber/Cargo/Tanker/RPA Pilot 🎯 : http://bogidope.com/?bd=tappodcast 🛫 Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Prep with AFOQT Wingman https://afoqtwingman.com/Code: AFTERBURN for 10% off 🔺 Aviation & Defense Newsletter - https://bit.ly/AfterburnNewsletter 🔺 Become a Patron, Support the Show, & Gain Exclusive Benefits: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.