Additional troops to deploy to Middle East as Gen. Caine says to expect ‘additional losses’

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine announced that additional military personnel were on their way to Iran hours after the U.S. military announced a fourth service member had died during combat operations there.

Speaking to reporters at a Pentagon media briefing Monday in Washington, Caine, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, provided details and updates regarding Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign launched on Feb. 28 that targeted Iranian missile sites and air defense sites, among other targets.

“This is not a single, overnight operation,” Caine said. “We expect to take additional losses.”

Four service members have been killed in action so far, U.S. Central Command officials announced Monday.

During his remarks, Caine expressed his condolences to the families of the troops who died during combat.

The Joints Chief of Staff did not relay the specifics of how many additional troops were on their way, but said that there was more tactical aviation flowing into theatre.

However, according to Caine, the military was close to where it wanted to be for total combat capacity and combat power for Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM.

Cooper will continue to consistently assess the trajectory of the military campaign, deciding whether it is on or off that line, Caine said.

The Joint Force would then develop options for consideration by the defense secretary and the president that would increase or decrease the amount of combat capability.

“It won’t happen overnight,” Hegseth said. “This is a big battle space with a lot of capabilities, that’s part of the reason why it’s such a threat to us.”

The U.S. is aggressively pushing into Iranian airspace to destroy anything attempting to target the U.S., according to the defense secretary.

“Think of it as shooting the archer instead of the arrows,” Hegesth said.

Within the first 24 hours of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. struck more than 1,000 targets, with Hegseth reiterating this morning that the overall objective is to protect and defend the U.S. and prevent Iran from being able to project power outside its borders.

Three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle jets also went down after an incident of friendly fire involving Kuwait air defenses, CENTCOM said.

The six aircrew on board the jets ejected safely.

“This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change,” Hegseth said during his remarks.

The U.S. and Israeli military have killed 555 people in Iran so far, according to a Monday statement from the Iranian Red Crescent Society .

“To those who would test our resolve, or threaten the United States, our allies or our interests — understand clearly, we can reach you, we can sustain the fight, and we can scale the fight and we will prevail,” Caine said.

Riley Ceder is a Navy reporter at Military Times, where he covers issues directly affecting service members and their families, as well as breaking news.

美国参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩将军宣布，在美军宣布第四名军人在伊朗的战斗行动中丧生数小时后，更多军事人员正在前往伊朗的途中。

周一，凯恩在华盛顿五角大楼举行的新闻发布会上与国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯一起向记者介绍了“史诗狂怒行动”的细节和最新情况。该行动是美国于2月28日发起的军事行动，目标是伊朗的导弹基地和防空设施等目标。

凯恩说：“这不是一蹴而就的单一行动，我们预计还会遭受更多损失。”

美国中央司令部官员周一宣布，目前已有四名军人在战斗中阵亡。

凯恩在讲话中向在战斗中牺牲的士兵家属表示慰问。

参谋长联席会议主席没有透露有多少增援部队正在赶往现场的具体细节，但表示有更多战术航空力量正在向战区输送兵力。

然而，据凯恩称，对于中央司令部司令、海军上将布拉德·库珀而言，军方在全面作战能力和作战力量方面已经接近其目标。

凯恩表示，库珀将继续持续评估军事行动的走向，决定它是否在既定路线上。

联合部队随后将制定方案，供国防部长和总统考虑，这些方案将增加或减少作战能力。

“这不会一蹴而就，”赫格塞斯说。“这是一个幅员辽阔、作战能力强大的战场，这也是它对我们构成如此巨大威胁的原因之一。”

据国防部长称，美国正积极进军伊朗领空，摧毁任何企图袭击美国的目标。

“你可以把它想象成射击弓箭手而不是箭，”赫格斯说。

在“史诗狂怒行动”开始后的24小时内，美国打击了1000多个目标。赫格塞斯今天早上重申，总体目标是保护和捍卫美国，并阻止伊朗将力量投射到其境外。

美国中央司令部表示，在与科威特防空部队发生的友军误伤事件中，三架美国F-15E“攻击鹰”战斗机也被击落。

机上六名机组人员安全弹射逃生。

“这不是一场所谓的政权更迭战争，但政权确实发生了改变，”赫格塞斯在讲话中说道。

根据伊朗红新月会周一发表的声明，美国和以色列军队迄今已在伊朗造成 555 人死亡。

凯恩说：“对于那些企图试探我们的决心，或威胁美国、我们的盟友或我们的利益的人——请清楚地明白，我们可以与你们交战，我们可以持续战斗，我们可以扩大战斗规模，我们必将取得胜利。”

Riley Ceder 是《军事时报》的海军记者，他负责报道直接影响军人及其家属的问题以及突发新闻。