{"id":8159,"date":"2026-08-14T13:40:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=8159"},"modified":"2026-08-14T13:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T13:40:34","slug":"sailors-and-their-families-have-lives-on-hold-uncertain-if-theyll-return-to-mideast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=8159","title":{"rendered":"Sailors and their families have lives on hold, uncertain if they’ll return to Mideast"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shortly after the war with Iran started in late February, one military spouse was about to go back to Bahrain with her husband. Then they got a call from the U.S. Navy.<\/p>

Read more Ro Khanna lays out progressive agenda as he \u2018seriously\u2019 considers presidential run<\/a><\/p>

“A day before we were supposed to leave to be stationed at Bahrain together, we were told we need to go somewhere else for a short period of time, and then here we are five months later,” she said.<\/p>

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Middle East conflict <\/h3>\n

Evacuation of U.S. troops from Mideast base sends community groups scrambling to help<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

NPR has agreed to withhold their names and location. The Navy spouse is concerned about the potential impact on her husband’s career. The two of them are now living out of three duffel bags, in their seventh hotel room.<\/p>

“We were at one location for a while and then, spur of the moment, sent to another location for what ended up being 10 weeks,” she said. “So it’s a lot of moving with very short notice, and you can’t really unpack or own too much because you never know when you’re going to be going somewhere else.”<\/p>\n

They’re on what’s called temporary duty status, so they aren’t eligible for base housing or money for rent to pay for housing in the community.<\/p>

U.S. bases in the region remain targets for Iran. Bahrain is less than 130 miles from Iran by sea, and ships have to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. After a first story ran on NPR in April, the Navy conceded that at least 1,500 troops and their families had been ordered to evacuate the Navy base in Bahrain.<\/p>

Home to the Navy’s 5th Fleet, the base has been the Middle East hub for the Navy and U.S. international partners. On Jan. 12, just over a month before the evacuation, the base began a $15.8 million overhaul of the barracks for junior sailors.<\/p>

Some evacuees remain in what’s called their “safe havens” \u2014 places that military members and their families have designated as the place they will return to if there’s an emergency overseas. Others are still moving from base to base. Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of the Fleet Forces, told NPR that the Navy hasn’t released an overall plan, but reopening Bahrain to families seems unlikely in the near future.<\/p>

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National Security<\/h4>\n

As Iran war reignites, military families face the challenges of lengthy deployments<\/h2>\n
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As Iran war reignites, military families face the challenges of lengthy deployments<\/h4>\n
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