CNN – The US bombing mission that targeted three nuclear facilities in Iran over the weekend was a massive undertaking that required its B-2 bomber pilots to test the limits of human endurance during a 37-hour mission.
Seven stealth bombers carrying two crew members each flew nonstop halfway across the world and back in one of the longest air raids in modern military history.
Melvin G. Deaile is one of few people who understands what it is like to be in the cockpit during a marathon operation like the one carried out over the weekend.
The retired Air Force colonel was part of the B-2 crew whose 44-hour bombing mission over Afghanistan in 2001 still holds the record for the longest. …
The B-2, made by Northrop Grumman, is one of the most expensive and sophisticated bombers in use.
But the toilet situation was primitive. There was a chemical toilet on the plane, but the airmen used it only for what Deaile described as “more pertinent emergencies” to not overfill it.
There was no divider between that toilet and the pilot seats.
“Privacy is the guy looks the other way,” he said.
But high altitudes and pressurized cockpits can dehydrate pilots, and drinking water was crucial. Deaile estimated he and the other pilot drank about a bottle of water an hour. They would urinate in “piddle packs” — essentially Ziploc-like bags filled with kitty litter.
Both pilots also packed a lunch and were given meals designed for pilots to eat in flight. But sitting stationary for dozens of hours — there was room to walk around in the cockpit a bit, but not enough to exercise — doesn’t burn much energy, and Deaile doesn’t recall eating much.
They flew their aircraft across the Pacific and south of India before turning north heading toward Afghanistan. The plane was refueled several times in midair. Once the sun started setting, Deaile took one of the amphetamines given to him by the flight doctor to stay alert …
