The Pentagon is sending more firepower to the Middle East as part of the joint operation against Iran, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Monday morning press conference.
Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, “will receive additional forces even today,” Caine said. “This rapid buildup of forces demonstrated the Joint Forces’ ability to adapt and project power at the time and place of our nation’s choosing.”
For weeks, the U.S. military has been solidifying its presence in the Middle East ahead of “Operation Epic Fury.” The USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln, two large aircraft carriers, were involved in the coordinated attack on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.
Caine declined to discuss specific details about the current and planned number of U.S. troops taking part in the operation as “that would tip the enemy off,” the top-ranking general said.
“We have more tactical aviation flowing into theater just based on the time it took to get it out there,” he added. “We’re just about where we want to be in terms of total combat capacity and total combat power for Adm. Cooper … [who will] consistently assess the trajectory of the campaign.”
At least four U.S. troops have died so far in the campaign, according to CENTCOM. Caine said “additional losses” should be expected.
“This is not a single overnight operation,” he told reporters. “The military objectives that CENTCOM and the Joint Forces have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and in some cases, will be difficult and gritty work.”
President Donald Trump said the operation is expected to last up to four weeks, although Secretary of War Pete Hegseth noted there is a chance the timeline could shift.
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“President Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take — four weeks, two weeks, six weeks,” Hegseth said. “It could move up. It could move back. We’re going to execute at his command the objectives we’ve set out to achieve.”
Operation Epic Fury commenced early Saturday morning after Trump approved the mission the day before. According to Caine, Trump gave the order while stating, “Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck.”
