Pentagon Told Officers to Drop 'Operation Epic Fury' Name in August
An internal Air Force email shows public affairs officers were instructed last month to stop using the operation's name, three months after officials said it had ended.
The Pentagon instructed senior military public affairs officers in August to stop referring to "Operation Epic Fury," the name for U.S. military action against Iran, three months after the Trump administration said the operation had officially concluded, according to an Air Force email obtained by CBS News.
The email, dated August 7, shows officers were told to use broader language — "overseas operations in the [U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility]" — instead of the operation's formal name. The guidance came from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's public affairs office, led by chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, and was distributed across the entire Defense Department, according to military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon told CBS News this week that Operation Epic Fury officially ended May 5 — the same day Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at the White House, "The operation is over ... we're now on to this Project Freedom." Rubio did not specify an end date at the time, and he appears to be the only administration official to have explicitly said the operation had concluded.
The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command had previously declined for months to disclose a formal end date. The disclosure raises questions about how the military has categorized service members killed or wounded after May 5, since a Defense Department website in July initially listed a service member who died that month as killed in action during Operation Epic Fury — two months after the operation's stated end date.
The U.S. and Iran have continued exchanging fire since May 5, including strikes this week that drew Iranian counterattacks. President Trump told Congress on July 7 that "military action" against Iran had resumed after ceasefire talks collapsed. A Defense Department official said subsequent activity has included "Freedom of Navigation operations and strikes" against threats from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Pentagon did not explain why it took three months to instruct officers to stop using the operation's name.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
