Iran’s attacks on the 5th Fleet’s base in Bahrain were severe, the acting Secretary of the Navy admitted this past week.
“They blew the hell out of Bahrain,” acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in an interview with The Epoch Times.
The military has largely been quiet on the extent of damage to Naval Support Activity Bahrain since the outbreak of the war, with Cao’s remarks being a rare admission of the severity.
At the outbreak of the war, Iran launched waves of attacks at U.S. installations around the Middle East, including deadly strikes in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, home to the Navy’s 5th Fleet, was attacked repeatedly with drones and missiles. The base was evacuated, with personnel moved to nearby hotels or other buildings in Manama, Bahrain, which were also targeted.
After the initial attacks, the Pentagon said that operations were not significantly impacted. Earlier this summer, the Wall Street Journal, citing satellite imagery and interviews with personnel, reported that the base had suffered “extensive damage,” with command buildings and satellites hit.
Cao’s comments come after the top officer in the Navy admitted that the Navy is “not getting back in [the base in Bahrain] anytime soon.”
“I just want to be completely honest with that,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said during a townhall on Aug. 31.
One of the few indications of the condition of the base came through the military families displaced by the attacks. More than 1,000 military family members were evacuated from Bahrain and have spent months not knowing if they will return. Stars and Stripes reported last month that military and civilian staff, as well as family, won’t return for “the foreseeable future,” citing a message to the families.
Iranian attacks have damaged installations in Jordan, Iraq and elsewhere in the region, but repeated hits to Bahrain presented other challenges to the Navy. Beyond being the headquarters for the 5th Fleet, the base is also a logistics hub for the Navy in the Middle East. Due to the damage, many of those supplies were shifted to Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, much farther away. That in turn led to issues with delivery of supplies to deployed ships in the region, such as the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Cao also said in his remarks that he has a task force “looking” at what steps to take with the base, but did not elaborate on that.
A Navy official said the Navy has “nothing additional to provide at this time,” with regards to Cao’s remarks.
