Man who carried Clinton nuclear 'football' reveals what 'scares the hell out of me' about Air Force One story

A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who carried the nuclear "football" for former President Bill Clinton says the extraordinary Air Force One shell game departing Ankara, Turkey last month to protect President Donald Trump from a potential attack was hardly unprecedented.

"It was brilliant," retired Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson told Fox News Digital. "I wish I had been a part of it. That's how well done it was."

But Patterson is warning that exposing the vital national security secrets behind such operations could put presidents, military personnel and the White House press corps in danger for years to come.

Patterson served as Clinton's senior military aide for a period of two years and was responsible for the presidents emergency satchel, and in a 20-minute interview Wednesday, he explained how presidential decoys, aircraft swaps and other acts of deception are longstanding tools used to protect the commander in chief, his senior officials and the "privileged" Air Force One press corps.

TRUMP USED CATERING TRUCK, AIR FORCE ONE DECOY TO EVADE IRAN THREAT: REPORT

What alarms him, Patterson said, is not that Trumps security team used the tactic – including the catering truck sleight of hand he was intimately a part of during the Clinton administration – but that details of how it was done are now spilling into public view.

"I hope that they prosecute this to the fullest," Patterson said. "Whoever leaked that, in my opinion, and having been involved in this, was highly placed in that process."

"Theres only a few people who actually know exactly whats going down, and thats by design," he added. "So if somebody leaked it, it was somebody involved in the process, and that scares the hell out of me."

'DECOY' AIR FORCE ONE WAS PROTECTED BY US FIGHTER JETS, OFFICIAL SAYS

His warning comes as Fox News reported Wednesday that the legacy presidential 747 used as a decoy after Trump secretly switched planes in Ankara, Turkey, last month was not sent into the sky unprotected.

A senior Trump administration official told Fox News that U.S. fighter jets protected the aircraft on its flight to the United Kingdom. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were also aboard with members of the traveling press corps, according to the official. Reporters had been instructed to keep their window shades closed.

Patterson said the fighter escort was exactly the sort of protection he would expect in a high-threat environment.

TRUMP SAYS HE'S IRAN'S 'NO. 1' TARGET AS RENEWED CONFLICT RAISES ASSASSINATION FEARS

"Yes, especially into war zones," Patterson said, when asked whether presidential aircraft are customarily escorted by fighter jets in such circumstances.

"We damn sure always do when were going to a theater of high threat," he said. "We did it with President Clinton in 97. And we did it with Trump just a couple weeks ago, and well do it with whoever the next presi