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.

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