news-engine

Top U.S. military leaders warned Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that prolonging the six-month Iran war is unsustainable and leaves the homeland exposed, The Washington Post reported Saturday. The service chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with the four-star commanders overseeing U.S. operations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, laid out their concerns in the Aug. 14 edition of the Secretary of War Orders Book. The orders book is a classified, twice-monthly document that tracks the worldwide availability of American warships, aircraft, personnel, and weapons systems, according to people familiar with the assessment described it to the Post on condition of anonymity. One source characterized the overall tenor as "too much for too long." The commanders of U.S. European Command, U.S. Pacific Command, and U.S. Southern Command, along with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, formally logged a "non-concur" in the document, meaning they oppose the extension orders but will still carry them out. Army and Air Force leaders signed off on the extensions but flagged significant risks. President Donald Trump has kept more than 50,000 U.S. Central Command troops on alert for months as he presses Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and accept U.S. conditions for ending the war, which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Washington reimposed its naval blockade of Iranian ports in early August after Iranian attacks on commercial shipping collapsed a June memorandum of understanding, according to a Congressional Research Service report posted this month. The Aug. 14 orders book directs some Middle East forces to remain through September and others into 2027. Adm. Samuel Paparo, the U.S. Pacific Command chief, objected to continually supplying an aircraft carrier strike group and destroyers to the fight against Iran. European and Southern Command leaders warned Hegseth that lending ships and surveillance aircraft to CENTCOM has degraded their homeland-defense missions. Caudle told Hegseth that the Navy cannot sustain its current pace without a defined end date and that only about one-quarter of the destroyer fleet is ready to deploy, a sharp drop from prewar levels. At a recent Norfolk, Virginia event, Caudle publicly called the extensions "very challenging for our sailors," saying he pushes back hard on them, "but the enemy gets a vote." The Army's 82nd Airborne Division, which mobilized 2,000 soldiers in March and would be central to any ground invasion of Iran, is expected to stay in the region at least through September, with further extensions anticipated. Deployments for Army Patriot air-defense crews, whose interceptors have been depleted by the Iran war and previous transfers to Ukraine, are also slated to be extended. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to the Post that force-commitment decisions rest on current threat assessments, presidential priorities, and advice from the Joint Chiefs chairman and combatant commanders. He added that the Department of War “does not discuss internal operational processes,” including the orders book or “specific concurrences, non-concurrences, or risk assessments.” The Trump administration has disputed reports of munitions shortages. Jim Thomas ✉ Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years. © 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.