Navy Evaluating Future At Key Middle East Base Following Iran War Damage: Acting Secretary

Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Navy is evaluating what to do with its headquarters in the Middle East after the Bahrain-based installation sustained damage during recent months of fighting with Iran.

For years, the Navy has managed its Middle East fleet operations out of Naval Support Activity Bahrain. Iranian forces began targeting the base after U.S. and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

"They blew the hell out of Bahrain," acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in an interview with The Epoch Times on Sept. 9, as he concluded a visit to a shipyard in Philadelphia.

While open-source imagery had previously indicated the Bahrain naval base sustained damage, Cao's comment marked a direct and official acknowledgement of the ongoing conflict's impact on the facility.

Last month, following reports that the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln were facing strains after months supporting combat operations in the Middle East, the Navy told The Epoch Times that combat actions had disrupted traditional supply hubs in the region. Despite these disruptions, the service said the Lincoln's crew maintained continuous access to clean water, healthy meal options, and functional air conditioning.

At a Navy town hall event on Aug. 31, a sailor who had been displaced from NSA Bahrain asked Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle whether she would see the return of personal belongings she left on the base. Caudle said the service was working on a plan to reunite personnel with their belongings but said the service doesn't plan to return to the base "anytime soon."

When asked whether the Navy would need to repair NSA Bahrain in order to sustain its forces in the region, Cao said, "I have a task force that's looking at that."

The Iran conflict has fueled discussion over the continued utility of U.S. military outposts in the region.

Jim Webb, a U.S. Marine infantry veteran and independent national security consultant, said Cao's latest comments suggest that the current U.S. force posture in the Middle East "is unsustainable without continuing to be under attack."

"I don't think there's any way, you know, in the short, medium, or potentially even long term, that we can adequately defend a place like NSA Bahrain, or let alone the rest of the logistics bases there," Webb told The Epoch Times.

Webb said keeping U.S. troops at bases in the region makes those troops "constant targets."

In an interview with The Cipher Brief last month, retired Army Gen. David Petraeus similarly said the current U.S. military outposts in the region "are no longer viable."

Petraeus previously led the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

As he discussed the Iran conflict with The Cipher Brief, Petraeus said the current commander for U.S. forces in the region, Adm. Brad Cooper, has largely overseen recent combat operations from a distance, rather than from CENTCOM's forward headquarters at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

"This is a result of the Iranians having capabilities they didn't have before, in terms of the numbers of drones and the numbers of missiles with the range required to hold our facilities at risk and to strike them and to kill our soldiers and wound them," Petraeus said.

Throughout the Iran conflict, U.S. forces have worked to reduce Iranian drones and missile launchers, and destroy storage and production facilities for those weapons. Still, U.S. forces have had to contend with these threats in recent clashes.

In the past week, U.S. forces reported striking 10 Iran-linked tankers in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks targeting U.S. warships.