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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine revealed that the military successfully beat back Iran’s retaliatory strikes on America’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar with “a minimum force posture.”
Having anticipated retaliation from Iran over President Trump’s weekend strikes on Iran’s nuclear facility, the US moved personnel out of Al Udeid, the largest US base in the Middle East.
“We assumed a minimum force posture. Most folks had moved off the base to extend the security perimeter out away from what we assessed might be a target zone,” Caine said during a Thursday press briefing.
Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine revealed Thursday how the pilots reacted during the historic strike. Anadolu via Getty Images
A poster of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is displayed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hold a news conference at the Pentagon on June 26, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Getty Images“The oldest soldier was a 28-year-old captain. The youngest was a 21-year-old private who’d been in the military for less than two years,” he said of the soldiers who remained on the base.
Caine called the defense by the US and Qatar the “Largest single Patriot engagement in US military history.”
“They absolutely crushed it,” he continued.
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