ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
Nearly six months ago, Iranian missiles targeted a key U.S. base in Bahrain, forcing military families there to evacuate. In a recent virtual town hall, those displaced military families asked Navy leaders what comes next. NPR has reviewed audio of that meeting. In it, Navy leaders admit they did not expect the war would go on this long. Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia, joins us with more. Welcome.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: Hi, Adrian.
FLORIDO: Tell us more about this virtual town hall, Steve.
WALSH: So roughly 580 people were on the call, which lasted about an hour. It was an attempt by the Navy to answer questions - and families had a lot of them. The Navy says that they evacuated 1,300 dependents from Bahrain, beginning March 2. Navy Support Activity Bahrain (ph) is home to the Navy's 5th Fleet. It's also the main supply hub for the Navy in the region.
It was hit early on in the war. And I talked to one spouse who asked not to be named because she feared the impact on her husband's Navy career. She recalls watching a drone fly by their window and land nearby. She and her two small children repeatedly ran to the basement. Within a few days, they were evacuated. She's been living out of a suitcase ever since.
FLORIDO: Wow. So that was nearly six months ago. What answers did the Navy have for families?
WALSH: So, you know, families are spread out between Europe and the United States. Vice Admiral Curt Renshaw, the head of 5th Fleet, conceded that the Navy thought this would be a short conflict. When a temporary ceasefire began in April, Navy planners thought that families might return to Bahrain relatively soon. Here he is speaking at the virtual town hall.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CURT RENSHAW: We literally have been making up - this up as we go because nothing is conceived to go on, you know, this length of time. So these are complex problems, and the solutions have not been exactly obvious. And then the solutions become very confusing because there's a number of policies and overlapping guidance.
WALSH: So many families were sent to the safe havens they designated for emergencies. Others have been moved several times, often living in hotel rooms and short-term rentals. Renshaw told the families that the Navy now wants them to pick a more permanent location while the military figures out the future of Bahrain.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RENSHAW: Unfortunately, this has just stretched on and on and has evolved into something - a greater and a bigger challenge. We've delayed making some hard decisions because we didn't want to close the door on getting people back into Bahrain.
FLORIDO: Do we have a sense, Steve, of how bad things are in Bahrain?
WALSH: We have some idea. Satellite images show three warehouses were hit on the base itself. NPR has talked to families of sailors who are still in Bahrain. And so the base continues to have some sort of function on at least some level, but it's near Iran, so the U.S. is no longer using Bahrain as a logistics hub.
It's not the only U.S. base that was hit during the war. In April, the American Enterprise Institute estimated that Iran inflicted roughly $5 billion in damage to 11 U.S. bases in the region. This is one of the reasons why the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln didn't make port stops and had to remain at sea. It is going to be - continue to be a challenge to keep ships supplied during an extended blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
FLORIDO: And so what about the families, Steve? What's going to happen to them?
WALSH: So they're still waiting to find out what will happen with all the belongings they left behind. Nothing seems to be moving out of Bahrain at this point. The Navy estimates that it will be four to six months before anything arrives. Families are already paying for other living expenses, even though they expected to be living in the Middle East with their sailors.
FLORIDO: Well, I've been speaking with Steve Walsh with WHRO. Thanks so much, Steve.
WALSH: Thanks, Adrian.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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