CBS News reports that the Pentagon officially ended Operation Epic Fury on May 5, but an Air Force email dated Aug. 7 instructed military leaders to stop using the operation’s name when referring to ongoing U.S. military activity against Iran. Instead, personnel were told to use broader language such as “overseas operations in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility.”
The guidance reportedly went beyond the Air Force and was disseminated across the Defense Department. The Pentagon says subsequent activities included Freedom of Navigation operations and strikes against IRGC threats to commercial shipping, Gulf countries and U.S. forces. Trump formally notified Congress on July 7 that U.S. military action against Iran had restarted after the April ceasefire collapsed.
The timing has also created questions about casualty accounting. Four service members killed in July were initially categorized by the Defense Department as killed during Operation Epic Fury, despite the Pentagon now saying the operation ended May 5. They were subsequently moved into a new “overseas operations” category, reducing the recorded Epic Fury deaths from 18 to 14. The Pentagon attributed the earlier classification to a “temporary data disruption,” while the current casualty system still contains apparent inconsistencies, including June wounded and a July death listed under Epic Fury.
The broader issue is that the Pentagon now acknowledges a May 5 end date that it previously declined to provide publicly, even though U.S. and Iranian forces continued exchanging fire and U.S. military operations related to the conflict continued afterward.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/military-operation-epic-fury-may-5/
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1September 3, 2026 1.6K 2
