NPR has learned that hundreds of sailors were evacuated back to the United States from their base in Bahrain after the base was attacked by Iranian missiles and drones. In addition to the base in Bahrain, NPR has learned that there have been evacuations at other U.S. military bases in the region, though the exact details are unknown at this point.
Bahrain is the home of the Navy's 5th Fleet, making it a central hub for providing maritime security in the Middle East region, including protecting commercial shipping. The country is an island in the Persian Gulf that sits roughly 124 nautical miles away from the coast of Iran, which makes Bahrain well within range of Iranian drone and missile strikes.
Around 8,000 people were stationed at the base in Bahrain before the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
On the opening day of the war, the base, known as Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, was struck multiple times. Posts on social media showed a ballistic missile and Iranian drones slamming into the base. Satellite imagery from the company Planet shows that at least seven buildings in and around the base were struck between Feb. 28 and March 6.
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In response to an NPR request, a Navy spokesman acknowledged that 1,500 sailors, their families and several hundred pets were relocated back to the U.S. from NSA Bahrain.
Sailors have been arriving in Norfolk, Va., home to the world's biggest naval base, since at least the middle of March. Several groups that provide aid to military personnel say that the sailors arrived with very little. A call went out to community groups, asking for basic supplies like hygiene products.
"The base was asking for donations of toiletries and different things for the sailors coming back, because they were coming back with nothing," said Derrick Johnson, commander of American Legion Post 327 in Norfolk.
The post hosted a spaghetti dinner for some of the sailors, said Keith Shanesy, one of the post's vice commanders.
"They literally told them, 'Get what you can get in the backpack. You've got to go,'" he said. "They came with no uniforms, nothing. The three we met first, they came with the clothes on their back, what they could fit in that backpack."
The Navy has provided services including "crisis counseling, financial and legal assistance, relocation support, educational resources, coordination for child and youth programs," according to Lt. Cmdr. Kara Handley.
And the USO, which offers support to service members and families, has been providing aid to sailors in Norfolk as they arrive from various locations in the Middle East, according to David Carrier, with the national USO.
The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society has handed out $1 million to roughly 2,000 sailors and their families since the evacuations began, said the group's chief operations officer Dawn Cutler, a retired rear admiral.
"I saw one gal — she had a 2-week-old and a 2-year-old and a dog in a crate and a suitcase. So she was just at the moment, you know, looking to get out of danger, get to someplace safe. And now we're at the point where families are back and they're starting to ask the question: 'Well, what's next? Will we go back?'" Cutler said.
The money is mainly to pay for essentials and to provide bridge loans so families can pay basic living expenses while they wait for the government to reimburse them, which can take months, she said.
"The pet situation, I understand, was quite a challenge. We heard there was going to be no movement of pets. But then a change was made, but some were put on different flights. People didn't have carriers for a cat, so we helped scrounge up through our volunteers," she said.
When troops move overseas, they don't keep a home in the United States. The military requires service members to designate a safe haven where they will be relocated to in an emergency. Some of the sailors have gone to stay with relatives, while others remain on bases in the United States. MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., and Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina have also been hubs for returning flights.
On April 1, the Navy released updated guidance for sailors and families who were evacuated. The service has worked out how people can be reimbursed for living in hotel rooms, including families who were temporarily relocated to Italy and Germany before being transported back to the United States.
The Navy does not yet have an answer for what will happen to cars and furniture left behind in the rush to leave. The Navy is also not telling evacuees when or if they will be returning to their bases in the Middle East.
Geoff Brumfiel contributed to this story.
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