Hung Cao said Iranian forces “blew the hell out of Bahrain” after repeated attacks on Naval Support Activity Bahrain between February and June. The acting Navy secretary made the remark while awaiting Senate confirmation, putting a blunt public label on damage that had already changed how the USS Abraham Lincoln crew could use the base.
The damage left the crew aboard USS Abraham Lincoln with “no place for them to pull in.” A analysis said the attacks pummeled the command headquarters, at least a dozen other buildings, and two satellite communications terminals at the U.S. Navy base.
Naval Support Activity Bahrain damage
No one was killed at the base. That detail sits alongside the physical damage because the base’s operational value depended on more than the walls and antennas that were hit. When a command headquarters and two satellite communications terminals are damaged together, the problem is not only repair work; it is also whether ships can keep using the site as a working stop for crews and communications.
Cao also said, “I have a task force that’s looking at that,” when asked whether U.S. forces should return to the base. That leaves the practical issue with a narrow frame: the base was attacked, the damage was extensive, and the response now sits with a task force rather than a public repair plan.
Tim Hawkins in June
Capt. Tim Hawkins offered a different emphasis in June. He said CENTCOM rightfully prioritized the protection of people over buildings and added, “CENTCOM rightfully prioritized the protection of people over buildings, and our strategy of protecting people worked. Iran shot more than 8,000 missiles and drones and only two hits resulted in U.S. fatalities.” He also said, “The U.S. inflicted more damage than it received from Iran.”
That contrast matters because Hawkins described the same fight through force protection, while Cao described the base itself as badly damaged. Both accounts can stand together: one focuses on surviving the campaign with few deaths, the other on what was left damaged on the ground in Bahrain.
Brad Cooper and CENTCOM
Over the weekend, CENTCOM said on social media that it destroyed two Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for an attack on two U.S. Navy warships. Admiral Brad Cooper said, “If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost—taking out three of yours,” and, “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”
That sequence shows the response moving beyond the base in Bahrain to retaliation at sea. For sailors and commanders tied to USS Abraham Lincoln and Naval Support Activity Bahrain, the immediate question is not whether damage happened; it is what repairs, access changes, or recovery steps will follow at the base itself.
