U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heaped praise on U.S. Central Command in Tampa on Thursday during a visit to MacDill Air Force Base, pledging, “we have only just begun to fight,” as American strikes against Iran continue through the sixth day.
Hegseth thanked CentCom members and their commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, calling Cooper the “right man for this moment.” The command is responsible for war planning in the Middle East and surrounding region and employs 11,000 people in Tampa.
“CentCom’s authorities through the president and myself are maxxed out,” he said. “Our capabilities are overwhelming and gathering still.”
“America’s War Fighting Headquarters,” as Cooper called CentCom, is “full speed ahead” leading Operation Epic Fury with 50,000 service members involved in executing it.
Cooper said U.S. forces have decimated Iran’s navy, destroying 30 ships. Thursday afternoon, the U.S. hit an Iranian drone carrier ship, he said.
“As we speak, it’s on fire,” he said.
Iranian drone attacks have decreased by 80%. The operation is also destroying Iran’s ballistic missile industrial base, with those missile attacks decreasing by 90%, Cooper said.
“We are destroying their ability to rebuild,” Cooper said.
Ballistic missiles are rocket-propelled, self-guided vehicles that travel through the air to deliver bombs to a target. Ballistic missile systems can travel a variety of distances and can easily hit other countries in the Middle East. Weapons experts have disputed whether Iran had ballistic missile systems capable of hitting the U.S.
But Iran has the largest stock of such weapons in the Middle East and has hit several other countries with U.S. bases in the region this week, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. On Thursday, Iran also hit Azerbaijan in a drone attack.
Instead of widening the conflict further, Hegesth said those attacks draw those countries closer to the U.S.
“It’s actually firming up the unity of the resistance,” he said.
Hours before Hegseth and Cooper spoke, President Donald Trump urged Iranians to take their country back but said the U.S. should have a say in who leads it.
“Whoever leads the country next, Iran will not threaten America or its neighbors,” Trump said at a White House event honoring soccer player Lionel Messi and his team, Inter Miami.
CentCom launched Operation Epic Fury on Saturday with targeted strikes in coordination with Israel. Since then, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials have been killed.
Six U.S. military members were also killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait, including a Floridian.
Earlier this week, Hegseth said the conflict could last up to eight weeks.
