On Feb. 2, 2024, two U.S. Air Force B-1B aircraft, on direct order from the president, released thousands of pounds of precision weapons onto targets in the Middle East as part of a large-scale U.S. retaliatory mission. The B-1s flew approximately 17 hours and 7,000 miles enroute from the continental United States to strike their targets, then turned around and flew back to the United States, marking the 34-hour mission as America’s first-ever mission of its type.
While the mission itself was unprecedented in duration and execution, its true significance lies in what was signaled. By launching bombers from U.S. soil to conduct precision strikes thousands of miles away, the United States demonstrated not only its ability to retaliate decisively but also its capacity to do so without relying on forward bases — a capability with far-reaching implications for deterrence. This was more than a military response. It was a strategic message to Iran and other adversaries that attacks on U.S. personnel will not go unanswered, and that American power projection remains unmatched, even in an era of evolving threats and contested airspace. As tensions in the Middle East escalated, this mission served as both retaliation and a warning: U.S. forces are never beyond reach, and neither are those who seek to harm them.
Precursors to the U.S. Retaliation
On Jan. 28, five days before the B-1 strikes, an Iranian-aligned militia group targeted Tower 22, a U.S. logistical support base located in Northeast Jordan. According to the Department of Defense, this attack resulted in the death of three U.S. service members and injured more than 40 others. The weapons used to kill and injure these U.S. personnel were one-way attack drones, which hit base housing units when most of the service members were asleep. Intelligence services quickly determined the drones were produced and supplied by Iran.
Due to the crash of a B-1 on Jan. 4, a small detachment of 250 personnel and B-1 aircraft from Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, temporarily relocated to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. This relocation facilitated Ellsworth’s personnel to continue flying training operations while the airfield was closed for the accident investigation. The relocation movement to Dyess occurred around Jan. 26, only two days before the Tower 22 attack, and one week prior to the unforeseen mission. Despite the challenges Ellsworth personnel faced due to the short-notice relocation of operations to a different location, the transition to Dyess was a set up for success. Dyess is not only a primary B-1 base with all of the support capabilities necessary for operations, but it is also the primary hub for B-1 formal training, the B-1 Weapons School, B-1 Operational Test, and a B-1 combat squadron. The temporary relocation put personnel from all three B-1 combat squadrons together, alongside the best and brightest in the B-1 community. When the unexpected orders from the president were received, the combined team went to work. Like never before, personnel from both Ellsworth and Dyess operated seamlessly to plan the complex mission, ready aircraft, and load weapons — while working with a very short timeline and no room for failure.
On the evening of Feb. 1, 2024, crews from the 34th Bomb Squadron launched their B-1s into the dark night sky over West Texas. That night, the crews knew the challenge that lay ahead of them and the significance of what they were about to do. With overwhelming support from the entire B-1 community and other organizations throughout the U.S. military, the crews likely felt a sense of distinctive confidence as their heavy aircraft lifted airborne and pointed East.
The B-1B jets and crews were ready and bound for a mission they had practiced several times. For several years, the Air Force has conducted long-range missions where bombers take off from the United States, execute a mission thousands of miles away, then land back in the U.S. The Department of Defense uses these missions for strategic “deterrence and assurance,” which seeks to deter conflict with adversary nations, while also increasing interoperability with coalition partners throughout the world. These missions span thousands of miles and can last more than 24 hours. Though the process for the mission was familiar to the crews, this time was markedly different as they were now flying B-1s loaded with live Joint Direct Attack Munitions bound for enemy targets in the Middle East.
Iranian Provocation
For years, Iran has indigenously produced one-way attack drones and other weapons, then intentionally supplied them to extremist militia groups throughout the Middle East. Using Iranian-aligned militia groups like Kataib Hizballah as proxy forces, Iran is able to fulfill its own regional interests, while also minimizing attribution or association. Prior to Oct. 7, 2023, militia group attacks upon U.S. forces were rare, but after Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel, that all changed. After U.S. political and military leadership vowed support to Israel, the Iranian-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria made a clear shift to targeting U.S. forces, likely at the behest of Iran.
Between Oct. 18, 2023, and Jan. 28, 2024, U.S. forces in the Middle East were attacked with Iranian-produced weapons 166 times, averaging over one attack per day for more than three months straight. These attacks resulted in the injuring of 186 U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. Despite the high number of attacks in such a short period of time, the first publicized deaths of U.S. personnel due to these attacks occurred at Tower 22. U.S. military air and ground forces had conducted retaliatory strikes over the prior three months, but militia group attacks against U.S. forces were unrelenting. The U.S. needed a stronger response. It was time to call in the heavy-hitting B-1.
America’s Retaliation
According to a Department of Defense statement released immediately following the strikes, U.S. military forces attacked 85 targets throughout Iraq and Syria with a total of 125 precision munitions. These targets included command and control centers, intelligence facilities, and weapons storage facilities used by Iranian-aligned militia groups to attack U.S. forces in the region. The strikes were executed by multiple aircraft, including B-1s. While the exact number of B-1 targets and weapons released during the strikes is not public knowledge, the two B-1s with the largest weapon payload in the Air Force inventory likely played a key role in the destruction of the 85 total targets. Notably, the timing of the strikes in the Middle East appeared to be aligned with the timing of the dignified transfer service of the three U.S. service members killed at Tower 22. In attendance for the service at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, were President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff C.Q. Brown.
U.S. strikes against Iranian-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria are vastly more complicated than they may appear. Unlike U.S. operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Al-Qaeda, or other violent extremist groups, the Iranian-aligned militias can include members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force. U.S. senior political and military leaders have to carefully weigh the decision of target importance versus the likelihood of killing Iranians, which could increase tensions with Iran and potentially lead to war. A recent reminder of this heavy decision was the Jan. 2, 2020, killing of Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani and Iran’s direct retaliation upon U.S. bases.
Message Sent and Received
“Let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”
– President Joe Biden
With a significant U.S. military force posture already in the Middle East, there was likely already sufficient capability to strike the targets assigned to the B-1. So, why would the president authorize the use of U.S.-based bombers to strike targets in the Middle East? The clear answer is messaging.
After more than three months of continuous attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria, the large-scale retaliatory strikes on Feb. 2, 2024, were the beginning of America’s unambiguous message to Iran and its proxy forces — attacks against U.S. forces must stop. According to U.S. officials and other sources, attacks by Iranian-aligned militia groups targeting U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria ceased almost entirely. Over the subsequent months, additional attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria were minimal as the militia groups recovered and shifted their focus elsewhere. The U.S. message sent with the stamp of the B-1 was clearly received by Iran, resulting in de-escalation and reduced likelihood of war between the two nations.
If America’s power projection capability was ever questioned, the B-1 retaliatory strikes showcased a tangible consequence to others throughout the world, especially adversarial nations like China, Russia, and North Korea. The U.S. military proved unequivocally it could launch bombers from the continental United States, strike targets in unison with other forces, and then return home to safety. With stated resolve from Defense Secretary Austin, “the U.S. military can do this again at the time and place of its choosing.” This message has become even more crucial as the United States strives to deter China away from potential military conflict with Taiwan in 2027.
The U.S. strikes communicated a clear commitment to protect U.S. troops from attacks by foreign nations. Since 2001, over 7,000 service members have died during combat operations. However, these deaths were not directly linked to a nation-state, especially one considered an adversary in the U.S. defense strategy. With Iran’s direct connection to the Tower 22 attack, the death of 3 U.S. service members and injuring of over 40 others was clearly unacceptable.
History in the Making
Since the beginning of the U.S. Air Force in 1947 and even beforehand, bombers have conducted thousands of long-range strike missions. However, these missions have predominantly been executed from deployed locations, with only a small handful of these missions ever launched from the continental United States. Notably, U.S.-based B-2s struck targets in Afghanistan in 2002 and U.S.-based B-1s struck targets in Libya in 2011, but both missions landed elsewhere before returning to the United States. With due credit to these missions and all those beforehand, the B-1 mission in 2024 completed ground-breaking and important accomplishments for the U.S. military.
According to Air Force Global Strike Command, this B-1 mission was America’s first-ever combat mission where a U.S. military aircraft departed the continental United States to strike enemy targets, then landed back in the United States without stopping in between. For several years, the Air Force has generated similar long-range training missions, but the Pentagon proved they are for far more than just show.
This mission was the B-1’s longest-recorded combat mission. Although not the longest B-1 flight ever, the 34-hour combat mission surpassed the duration of any of the B-1’s astonishing 12,000-plus combat missions flown since its combat debut in 1998. As plans for the B-1’s retirement over the next decade move forward, this mission reaffirmed the B-1 still has a critical role to play in U.S. national defense.
The generation of this short-notice combat mission, made possible by the two B-1 bases of Ellsworth and Dyess, was likely the B-1 community’s greatest joint combat mission. Over the nearly two decades of B-1 combat operations in the Middle East, the two bases have undoubtedly worked together, but never like this. More importantly, this mission displayed to adversarial nations that the Air Force’s bomber fleet has resilience, flexibility, and readiness capabilities beyond simple numbers of aircraft or personnel.
The mission required perfect timing from the B-1 crews, from 17 hours away. As the B-1s and other U.S. forces were executing perfectly synchronized strikes in retaliation, the bodies of the three fallen U.S. soldiers were returned home through the dignified transfer service at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Through this, the Pentagon publicly showcased that U.S. bombers can execute precision from thousands of miles away while harmonized with U.S. strategic-level actions — a level of excellence unproven by any other nation.
Closing Thoughts
The U.S. military’s successful retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria conducted on the evening of Feb. 2, 2024, marked a significantly important moment in American military history. Underscored by the use of the U.S.-based B-1 and its supreme firepower, the United States displayed to the world it would not sit idly by as actions from foreign nations resulted in the death of Americans. Although the use of the B-1 was initially perceived as escalatory, tensions between the United States and Iran decreased, American lives were saved, and U.S. adversaries were put on notice. At the time and place of its choosing, the U.S. military can and will project power in defense of its troops, its citizens, and freedom.
Ross Hobbs is an active-duty Air Force officer and Air War College student completing a Senior Developmental Education Fellowship. He is a graduated Squadron Commander, USAF Weapons School graduate, and Joint All-Domain Strategy graduate from USAF Air Command and Staff College.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force or any other organization of the U.S. government.
Image: U.S. Air Force photo via William Lewis.
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