Summary

A month ago, the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury, a combat operation laser-focused on destroying Iranian offensive missiles, missile production capability and navy; and ensuring Iran will never have nuclear weapons. Hegseth visited with troops engaged in Operation Epic Fury, March 28-29. After visiting the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, he said he was beyond impressed with their performance, their dedication, their pride and the speed with which they carry out their mission. "The trip was an honor," he said during a briefing today at the Pentagon. "I had a chance to bear witness, and I witnessed the best of America. I witnessed sheer competency." Among the most competent, Hegseth said, was an Army private first class responsible for calling out enemy missile trajectories to a room full of military officers far senior to him. He also noted the Air Force and Navy pilots who drop bombs inside Iran and who also shoot down drones. "I witnessed ingenuity, American ingenuity," Hegseth said. "I met the young Army officer who figured out how to neutralize maneuvering enemy missiles, saving countless lives. His commander confirmed that whoops and cheers erupted in the tactical operations center when his new approaches were successful." Hegseth said he gave his card to an Air Force intelligence analyst who was "refining target packages faster than the enemy can adapt." Telling him, "Keep me posted on the ground truth." The secretary also saw where lethality was brought to bear, including an Army targeting team that was responsible for finding and sinking what he described as "the pride and joy of the Iranian Navy." Hegseth also recalled meeting a junior airman, who, when asked, wanted nothing for herself but instead asked for what was needed to advance the mission. "I met a junior airman — as the sun was going down and a chill was setting on the tarmac — who, when asked what [she] needed, she simply looked up at me with a sly smile on her face and said, 'more bombs, sir; and bigger bombs,'" Hegseth said, adding, "We will happily oblige." Hegseth said he was impressed with the speed at which troops did their duty and how quickly things got done. "I witnessed urgency," he said. "Right when we landed, another C-17 landed just minutes after us. And within 30 seconds of the aircraft coming to a full stop, a team on the ground pulled up and the cargo was being uploaded — wartime speed. To a man and to a woman on the ground, in the air, on the flight line and in the [tactical operations center,] I heard, 'We want everything faster, higher [operational] tempo, wartime speed.'" Above everything, Hegseth said the troops executing Epic Fury were mission-focused and driven to get the job done and to get it done quickly and completely. "What I witnessed was motivation," he said. "It was sheer mission-focus; it was the American warrior unleashed. It was the kind of warfighting American spirit that comes with a clear mission against a determined enemy." Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the troops the secretary met with, and thousands of others, have been successfully executing President Donald J. Trump's objectives since the first bombs were dropped over Iran, Feb. 28. "The joint force continues to destroy Iran's ballistic missile and [unmanned aerial system capabilities]," Caine said. "We remain focused on interdicting and destroying the logistical and supply chains that feed these programs, and this remains a truly joint effort prosecuted around the clock from air, land, sea, space and cyberspace." He added that the joint force continues to deliver precision strikes against manufacturing nodes, component storage sites and research facilities deep inside Iranian territory. "Over the past ... 30 days, we've struck more than 11,000 targets," Caine said. "Given the increase in air superiority, we've successfully started to conduct the first overland B-52 missions, which allow us, as we've said before, to continue to get on top of the enemy." He noted that focus areas for Epic Fury remain Iran's missile, drone and naval production facilities and its navy. "We continue to assert dominance over the Iranian navy," Caine said. "We remain focused on targeting their mine-laying capability, their naval assets, and we've now, as I mentioned briefly last time, started to work attack helicopters and other close-air support assets into the naval domain." The chairman said taking out Iran's defense industrial base is also a focus for Epic Fury, with targets that include factories, warehouses, nuclear weapons research and development labs, as well as the infrastructure required for Iran to reconstitute its combat capability.