{"id":223973,"date":"2026-09-12T23:31:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T23:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/acting-navy-secretary-says-iran-blew-the-hell-out-of-us-bahrain-base-usatoday-com\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T23:31:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T23:31:32","slug":"acting-navy-secretary-says-iran-blew-the-hell-out-of-us-bahrain-base-usatoday-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/acting-navy-secretary-says-iran-blew-the-hell-out-of-us-bahrain-base-usatoday-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting Navy secretary says Iran &#039;blew the hell out of&#039; US Bahrain base &#8211; usatoday.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The civilian head of the Navy has confirmed that a key <a href=\/story\/news\/world\/2026\/07\/07\/us-iran-strikes-strait-hormuz-ceasefire\/90840721007\/ rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>U.S. Navy base<\/a> in the Middle East was damaged in recent <a href=\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/08\/31\/castle-breaker-missile-havoc-iran-us-war\/91496889007\/ rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>fighting in the Iran war<\/a>, according to a new report.<br \/>&#8220;They blew the hell out of Bahrain,&#8221; acting Navy Secretary <a href=\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/09\/01\/donald-trump-hung-cao-navy-secretary\/91570610007\/ rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>Hung Cao<\/a> told <a href=https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/world\/navy-evaluating-future-at-key-middle-east-base-following-iran-war-damage-acting-secretary-6085663 rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|z|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>The Epoch Times<\/a> on Sept. 9, referring to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. Fifth Fleet.<br \/><a href=\/story\/graphics\/2026\/08\/17\/uss-abraham-lincoln-traveling-supply-cases-maps\/91335944007\/ rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>Satellite imagery<\/a> and <a href=\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/02\/28\/iran-us-military-bases\/88919457007\/ rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>news reports<\/a> previously verified that <a href=\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/08\/31\/castle-breaker-missile-havoc-iran-us-war\/91496889007\/ rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>Iranian missiles<\/a> have caused extensive damage to the base dating to the start of the war in February, but Cao&#8217;s comment offers a stark new confirmation of the scope of destruction.<br \/>Cao also told the outlet that he has &#8220;a task force that&#8217;s looking at&#8221; whether the Navy needs to repair the base to sustain forces in the region.<br \/>USA TODAY has reached out to the Navy Central Command for comment.<br \/>In response to Cao&#8217;s comments, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/araghchi\/status\/2098271377241379111?s=20\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|z|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>wrote<\/a> on social media, &#8220;We appreciate the candor of Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao.&#8221;<br \/>&#8220;Our powerful Armed Forces did indeed &#8216;blow the hell out of the 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain,&#8217; as well as other bases supporting U.S. aggression,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;The American people deserve better than footing the bill for Israel\u2019s wars.&#8221;<br \/>The comment from Cao comes after Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, at an <a href=https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/video\/1021284\/cno-mcpon-host-worldwide-town-hall rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=_blank data-t-l=:b|z|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>Aug. 31 town hall<\/a>, told a sailor who was displaced from the base not to expect to return in the near term.<br \/>&#8220;We&#8217;re not getting back in there anytime soon,&#8221; Caudle said.<br \/><em>Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X <a href=https:\/\/x.com\/melinakh data-t-l=:b|z|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>@melinakh<\/a> and Instagram <a href=https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bymelinakhan\/ data-t-l=:b|z|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>@bymelinakhan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMimwFBVV95cUxPNmN1dzNIT1pkejVsVTdUbWhuamI4U1hEbHF1eGNuS2R1dVRoNHBlSDBlSm1DMnNUTV9TMHltVWFtM0JvS2p6TGlCbWhQZjZpamE0Zm5RaERGREh5ajhVekdSenhxWDI0LWN0VklUUktLTlBCalg0bjBac05haXdPNkgzSzJYNFRnVzlUZHF2SmtkcjVkLS1zV1BUMA?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The civilian head of the Navy has confirmed that a key U.S. Navy base in the Middle East was damaged in recent fighting in the Iran war, according to a new report.&#8220;They blew the hell out of Bahrain,&#8221; acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told The Epoch Times on Sept. 9, referring to Naval Support Activity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}