Who Is “Bravo”? 60 Minutes Iran Rescue Interview Identifies F-15E WSO as Colonel Jonathan Bott

The open-source identification of “Bravo”

Following the 60 Minutes broadcast, open-source investigators began examining the public record surrounding senior F-15E Weapons Systems Officers.

The name Jonathan Bott emerged prominently.

Bott’s professional history is unusually distinctive.

Publicly available information identifies Jonathan W. Bott as an experienced F-15E Weapons Systems Officer with more than 2,200 flight hours and more than 600 combat hours. Brown University’s Watson Institute lists his experience primarily in the F-15E Strike Eagle and identifies his previous leadership positions within the Air Force.

The same biography says Bott served as commander of the 333rd Fighter Squadron and chief of staff for the 4th Fighter Wing.

Those details are independently supported by U.S. Air Force material.

A DVIDS record from April 2021 identifies Lt. Col. Jonathan Bott as the outgoing commander of the 333rd Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

The combination of these records makes clear that Jonathan Bott is not simply an internet-created identity.

He is a real and publicly documented senior Air Force officer with extensive F-15E experience.

The unresolved question is whether he is specifically the officer CBS calls “Bravo.”

September 15, 2026 | 9:19 am