As they did on Sunday, early on Thursday morning, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan "Razin'" Caine held a Pentagon press conference to further address details of the recent U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
While Hegseth focused on the leak of the improper (and preliminary/incomplete) Defense Intelligence Agency assessment of the damage done by the strikes and the media's fervor to run with it, Caine presented a thorough, detailed description of the actions taken.
Independent journalist Catherine Herridge shared a nice rundown of the information shared at Thursday morning's briefing on X:
Pentagon Assessment Operation Midnight Hammer : Planned Over 15 Years #Iran
Chairman Joint Chiefs GEN Dan Caine @thejointstaff
Strike at Fordow exploited two ventilation shafts
Days before, Iran tried to cover shafts with concrete cap
First US weapon removed concrete cap
Weapons 2, 3, 4, and 5 entered main shaft, traveling at 1000 feet per second to Iran’s underground mission center
Weapon 6 “flex” capability
The “kill” mechanism was the combination of blast and overpressure on the target
Officer from DTRA (Defense Threat Reduction Agency) began the mission 15 years ago when the underground target was identified and the officer recognized the US did not have a weapon to counter it.
Years of highly classified (likely special access program) development and testing followed.
Caine said he talked with the two DTRA officers who “lived this single target” for years.
Post mission, they described hearts “ filled with pride to be a part of this.”
Leaked DIA record was preliminary assessment and low confidence. He accused some media of amplifying the report to create doubt, search for scandal, division and to “cheer against Trump”
NOTE: In the hierarchy of intel reports, a preliminary assessment with low confidence would not carry much weight. It’s an early snapshot that concedes the picture will likely change as more intelligence is developed.
IRAN RETALIATION
44 service members defended the Al Udeid base from Iran retaliatory strikes
Ranged in age from 28 year old captain to 21 year old private
Had “2 minutes to succeed or fail”
Single largest Patriot engagement in US history
GEN Caine “they absolutely crushed it”
BOMBER CREWS
Active Duty Air Force and Guard said goodbye to their families Friday, not knowing the outcome, when they would return.
On Sunday, teams returned, tears flowed with families, said it “felt like the Super Bowl”
Silly Legacy Media Question Has Pete Hegseth Cracking Up
As noted in Herridge's summary, there was high praise for the mission's success and the crews who helped make it happen. Caine spoke first of the troops who defended Al Udeid from Iran's retaliatory strikes. Then he turned his attention to the B-2 crews.
When the crews went to work on Friday, they kissed their loved ones goodbye, not knowing when — or if — they’d be home. Late on Saturday night, their families became aware of what was happening, and on Sunday, when those jets returned from Whiteman, their families were there — flags, flying, and tears flowing. I have chills, literally, talking about this.
The jets rejoined into a formation of four airplanes followed by a formation of three, and came up overhead Whiteman, proudly in the traffic pattern, pitching out to land right over the base, and landing to the incredible cheers of their families who sacrifice and serve right alongside their family members. Like I said, there were a lot of flags and a lot of tears.
One commander told me, "This is a moment in the lives of our families that they will never forget." That, my friends, is what America’s joint force does. We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we test, we evaluate every single day. And when the call comes to deliver, we do so.
I could not be more proud, standing up here today, of our joint force. I’m filled with gratitude that I get to tell their story. And as we stand here right now, our forces remain on a high state of readiness in the region, prepared to defend themselves.
And one last thing, our adversaries around the world should know that there are other DTRA team members out there studying targets for the same amount of time and will continue to do so.
Clearly, Caine takes great pride in what the U.S. military was able to accomplish with this mission and all those who worked to make it such an incredible success. I'd say rightly so.
Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.
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