US deployed more than 50,000 troops during Iran war, inspector general report says

The US helped evacuate 9,000 US citizens in the first months of the war with Iran. In addition, Iran carried out 600 attacks in Iraq, either directly from Iran or using proxies.

A Lead Inspector General Report to the United States Congress regarding the US war on Iran has provided new details about the extent of the war effort and the challenges involved.

Although some of the details were known, such as the Iranian attacks on US bases around the region, the report provides new data on aspects of the campaign. It covers the period April-June 2026. Usually these kinds of reports are released several months after the period they cover.

One of the key pieces of information provided is the extent of the US deployment in the region.

The report says that “more than 50,000 US Service Members were deployed throughout the US CENTCOM area of responsibility (AOR) in support of OEF [Operation Epic Fury].”

Report details scale of US military buildup in region

The report noted that “force flows continued into the region in the days after major combat operations began. CENTCOM reported that force presence and disposition have changed throughout the conflict.”

During the conflict, more than a dozen fighter squadrons, along with a similar number of navy destroyers and air defense batteries, were in the region.

The US also deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense batteries. Some of these have already been deployed in the region over the years to counter missile threats. For instance, Iran launched large numbers of ballistic missiles at Israel in 2024 and 2025. The US also deployed the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and elements of the 82nd Airborne Division.

The new report provides some spotlight on the funding for the war. This has been one of those issues that has popped up in Washington during hearings. The report says that the “Office of the Under Secretary of War (Comptroller) Chief Financial Officer (OUSW[C]) estimated the cost of OEF to be $33.4 billion as of June 29.” This includes more than 20 billion in munitions. The costs do not include all the needs for repairs of various bases and sites. New photos have revealed some of the destruction caused by Iranian attacks since February.

One of the issues the US had to address because of the Iranian attacks was to shift some military assets around the region. For instance, it is known that the US has used Jordanian bases and also moved refuelers to Israel.

The report says that while “Bahrain had been US Navy Central’s (USNAVCENT) main logistics hub to sustain operations in the Persian Gulf region…during major combat operations, Iran targeted Bahrain with OWUAS [attack drones] and ballistic missile strikes.

US shifted naval resources amid Gulf base vulnerabilities

CENTCOM stated that it initially shifted naval sustainment resources from Bahrain to alternate hubs.” This illustrates a key theme that has been raised during the war regarding the vulnerability of bases in the Gulf near Iran. Iran has targeted US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and other places. It also targeted diplomatic facilities in Iraq.

The US supported local partners in the Gulf to counter the Iranian threats. “This has included the provision of military sales, training, and information-sharing to Gulf partners.” The US says that the Gulf partners demonstrated “significant air defense capabilities.”

This would likely refer to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

The battle helped cement cooperation. “US forces embedded in partner air operations centers across the region, which supported coordination, deconfliction, and synchronization of air defense efforts. The Middle East Defense Network, an integrated missile defense architecture in the region, intercepted more than 6,000 OWUAS and more than 1,500 ballistic missiles that targeted US and partner forces.”

CENTCOM likely learned a lot from this conflict, and this also impacts CENTCOM's work with the IDF. This work has been ongoing for years.

However, a real conflict situation, much like the conflict with Iran in 2025 and the missile barrages, helps militaries learn to fight in real time. US Central Command “reported that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict. In addition, dozens of US aircraft were destroyed or damaged during [Epic Fury].”

Iran also targeted US diplomatic facilities. This included 600 attacks in Iraq.

The inspector’s report notes that “the US Consulate General in Erbil’s new consulate compound suffered damage to multiple buildings. The US Embassy in Baghdad suffered damage but to a lesser extent.

The Baghdad Diplomatic Support Compound, located near Baghdad International Airport, suffered extensive damage, but the facility was already in the process of closing due to a decision that was made before the current conflict began.”

US evacuation effort moved thousands out of conflict zones

Due to the war, the US helped citizens evacuate.  In total, around 9,000 were evacuated, with 6,500 of those evacuating from Israel. While the cost of evacuating people from Israel was quite low, the US did pay millions to evacuate people from other places such as Jordan and Iraq.

It was not clear why it was so expensive to evacuate people from Jordan, but not Israel. Around 50 people were evacuated from Jordan, while 850 left Qatar and 16 were evacuated from Bahrain. These were people in contact with the US State Department.