Why the F-16 Flew Into Iran | Operation Midnight Hammer | Weapons Officers "Cash" and "Ghost"

Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the F-16 Wild Weasel fighter pilots who flew into Iran. Ghost" Trembly and "Cash" Croghan were the wing and squadron weapons officers for the 55th Fighter Squadron, the F-16 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 They planned the F-16 portion of the strike package. In this conversation, they explain why a fourth-generation fighter flew into Iran alongside the B-2s and F-35s, how the squadron reconfigured from the Yemen fight in a matter of hours, and why nobody in the squadron believed the mission was real until it was. 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 Preparing the Squadron for Deployment 5:16 New Equipment: AESA Radar and the F-16 Block 50 8:52 Operation Rough Rider: Counter-UAS Over Yemen 15:31 Mission Planning on a Folding Table 21:14 Five Days Out: Nobody Believed It Was Real 28:49 Reconfiguring the Jets From Rockets to HARMs 31:45 The Night "Glitch" Shot a SAM in 8 Seconds and saved "Cash" 41:21 Why the F-16 Was the Only Jet That Could Do It 46:38 The 15-Minute Brief Before Flying Into Iran 49:47 A 300 Mile Ingress Into Iranian Airspace 1:05:50 Is That a Missile Coming Off the Ground 1:12:41 How Tight the Fuel Really Was 1:20:40 Bunker Diving and Life on the Base Please leave us a review on Apple/Spotify Podcasts: Apple - https://apple.co/3dLradT Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3SAeSUr Afterburn Podcast Links: Website – https://www.theafterburnpodcast.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/theafterburnpodcast Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rainwaters27/?hl=en 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.