As American military families wait months — sometimes over a year — for their loved ones to come home, and as the financial and human costs of the Iran war continue to climb, the U.S. military’s top Middle East commander spent time this week discussing french fries on a new lifestyle podcast. The contrast has not gone unnoticed.
Operation Epic Fury, launched on Feb. 28, set off a cascade of consequences that continues to reshape the American military’s posture across the Middle East. Iranian drone and missile strikes have caused extensive damage to U.S. forward operating bases — installations that for over two decades were considered virtually untouchable. Damage estimates have grown significantly since the conflict began, forcing vulnerable assets to relocate and prompting family evacuations from long-established bases like NSA Bahrain.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle gave sailors a blunt assessment as recently as Aug. 31:
“We’re not getting back in there any time soon.”
The financial toll has been staggering. According to a recent Pentagon estimate, the U.S. military has spent more than $47 billion on the war — including $6 billion to replace military equipment and over $29 billion to replenish munitions. The U.S. Navy’s ongoing blockade in the Strait of Hormuz is expected to push that number higher. Back home, the conflict has cost an estimated average of $2,000 per household in the United States.
Beyond dollars, the human cost has been significant. Since Feb. 28, 23 U.S. service members have been killed and 866 wounded. Two more U.S. airmen died last week in what were classified as “non-hostile” incidents.
Adding to the controversy, the Pentagon has yet to publicly release its findings on a Feb. 28 missile strike on the Minab School in Iran, which killed more than 150 people — roughly 120 of them children. Bloomberg reported on Oct. 15 that the Pentagon planned to withhold its internal investigation until after the midterm elections, even as multiple independent investigations have already been pointing to U.S. involvement in the strike.
The political fallout from the war crystallized on Election Day, when Democrats took control of both the House and Senate in what observers called a historic midterm defeat for Republicans. U.S. Vice President JD Vance openly blamed the war for the losses in a lengthy social media post.
“The reason we lost is the war,”
Vance wrote.
“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. But everyone knows why we lost.”
A New Podcast Debuts Amid the Turmoil
Against that backdrop, U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper — one of the key architects of the Iran war strategy — appeared Thursday as the first guest on Inside CENTCOM, a newly launched lifestyle podcast. The debut episode’s topics included Cooper’s taste for french fries, basketball free-throw shooting, and favorite beach destinations.
Fleet Master Chief Lateef Compton, CENTCOM’s senior enlisted leader and the show’s host, opened by telling listeners,
“I’ll be asking the questions you want to know.”
Compton reflected on a shared memory with Cooper:
“You like french fries. Most people don’t know this, but … when we were stationed together years ago, my lunch would come, and I would always have french fries. You would see my french fries … and you would at least take one or two. … I don’t think you ever knew that I knew you took my french fries. Is that your favorite food? French Fries.”
Cooper’s response was lighthearted:
“We should let the world know: For years, I’ve been eating your french fries. The secret is now out. I never met a french fry I didn’t like.”
The podcast also covered daily workout habits, memories of past ship assignments, a shared admiration for San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice, playing basketball at sea, and the importance of patience. Questions about extended deployments, sailor mental health, or operational strain did not come up.
Sailors and Families Left Waiting
That theme of patience carries a different weight for the families of sailors currently deployed far beyond their expected return dates. The USS Spruance, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, set a post-World War II record for a U.S. Navy destroyer deployment, reaching 349 days at sea as of Nov. 5 with no confirmed return date.
Marie Bailey, whose husband serves aboard the Spruance, described the uncertainty her family has lived with for months.
“We are hearing they’re supposed to come home sometime next month. But we’ve been hearing about ‘next month’ for several months.”
The Spruance is not alone. According to Defense One, the destroyers USS John Finn, USS Mustin, and USS Rafael Peralta have all had their expected return dates pushed from 2026 into 2027, with some deployments potentially stretching beyond 14 months. One spouse of a John Finn sailor described a jarring situation awaiting some crew members when they finally do return home.
“There’s [deployed sailors’] cars that were left on base that have been stickered to be towed and then to be junked. So there’s sailors that are going to come back and have no cars.”
These extended tours come after the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln returned on Oct. 8 from a 322-day deployment. That deployment generated alarm over deteriorating mental health conditions, with multiple sailors reportedly attempting to jump overboard at sea. Families of Lincoln crew members face additional uncertainty as the carrier shifts its home port from San Diego to Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton in Washington state — a long-planned move that the prolonged deployment left many scrambling to prepare for once a return date was finally announced.
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