Commanders Warn Hegseth: Iran War Strains Readiness

Several senior US military leaders have told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that keeping large-scale operations against Iran going is unsustainable and risks weakening the military's ability to handle threats elsewhere, including defense of the homeland, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

The objections were filed in the Secretary of Defense Orders Book, an internal document published roughly twice a month that lays out where US forces and assets are and includes input from senior defense officials, according to the Post's account as summarized by The Independent and The American Conservative.

The Pentagon rejects the report. "This fake news, poorly sourced reporting is full of inaccuracies," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to The Independent.

What the Report Says

According to the Post, the mid-August orders book said some US troops would stay in the Middle East into 2027 — and that is what prompted the pushback.

The heads of US Pacific Command, US European Command and US Southern Command responded with a "non-concur," meaning they formally opposed keeping forces in the region but would carry out the order anyway, The Independent reported.

The commanders responsible for Latin America and Europe warned that sending their ships and aircraft to the Middle East "has degraded their ability to fulfill homeland-defense obligations," per the Post.

The chief of naval operations wrote that roughly one-quarter of the destroyer fleet is currently prepared to deploy — a steep drop from before the war — and said that if the pace continues, the fleet's ability to respond to another conflict would be jeopardized.

One source told the Post the general feeling among military leadership is that the force has faced "too much for too long."

The American Conservative, summarizing the same report, said the Army and Air Force agreed with extending the deployments — some groups into 2027 — while noting the risks to other theaters from diverting assets.

A note on who is speaking: the reporting identifies these officers by their commands, not by name, and describes them as serving military leaders — the Navy's top admiral and three combatant commanders. It does not name individual generals or admirals.

The Pentagon's Answer

Parnell's full statement went further than the "fake news" line.

"Secretary Hegseth is actively engaged with the Services, the Joint Staff, and Combatant Commanders to ensure that U.S. forces are postured to deter conflict, respond effectively when required, and maintain acceptable levels of readiness," he said.

"Decisions regarding the scope and duration of specific force commitments to any Combatant Command are made based on the current threat assessment, strategic priorities established by the President, and the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Combatant Commanders. However, the Department of War does not discuss internal operational processes."

The Cost So Far

The war began in February, when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran. It is now six months old, with several rounds of negotiations having failed.

Hegseth told Congress last month the conflict had cost $37.5 billion, and argued another $67 billion was needed. Pentagon officials told lawmakers in March that the first six days alone cost more than $11.3 billion.

Eighteen US service members have been killed and hundreds wounded, the Pentagon has said.

CBS News reported this month that the US military has expended nearly all of its stockpiled long-range precision missiles. President Donald Trump has insisted the US still holds "massive amounts" of weapons.