Operation Epic Fury

Operation Epic Fury ran from February 28 to May 5, 2026. The opening wave killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a slate of senior Iranian security officials in Tehran, Iran fired back at U.S. bases across the Gulf within hours, and 38 days of major combat operations followed before the ceasefire took hold on April 8. More than 50,000 U.S. service members were in the CENTCOM AOR for it. This collection is for them, and for the families who waited it out.

Operation Epic Fury timeline

• February 28, 2026. Joint U.S. and Israeli strikes open the campaign. Khamenei and senior Iranian officials are killed in Tehran. Iranian missiles and drones hit U.S. installations in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain within hours.
• March 1. B-1s strike deep inside Iran against ballistic missile infrastructure.
• March 13. U.S. forces hit more than 90 military targets on Kharg Island and leave the oil infrastructure standing.
• April. The Abraham Lincoln, Gerald R. Ford, and George H.W. Bush strike groups operate in the Middle East at the same time, the first three-carrier presence there since 2003. CENTCOM's strike count passes 13,000.
• April 7 to 8. A two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan takes effect April 8. Iran launches 38 ballistic missiles and 131 drones across the region in the first two days of it, so the air defenders in Kuwait and Bahrain did not get the night off.
• April 21. The ceasefire is extended indefinitely.
• May 4 to 5. Operation Project Freedom escorts merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz, then pauses. The White House declares Epic Fury concluded on May 5, the date the Pentagon now uses as the operation's official end.
• September 16, 2026. The Navy authorizes the Combat Action Ribbon, the Strike/Flight Air Medal, and the V, C, and R devices for Operation Epic Fury, effective from February 28, 2026.

Who was there

Carrier sailors and air wings on the Lincoln, the Ford, and the Bush. Destroyer crews on ballistic missile defense. Army Patriot and THAAD batteries and the counter-drone teams across the Gulf bases. Marines of the 31st MEU on the Tripoli ARG. B-2 and B-1 crews, tanker and airlift crews staging through Europe, and the maintainers, medics, cooks, and gate guards who kept all of it running while the sirens went off. If that was your spring, this page is yours.

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