It's more that at my new job I can't spend time posting when I should be working, and I really do not want to screw this up, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to change career fields while also fulfilling a lifelong passion. This website takes a backseat to that. I did inform one of the mods here via private message last month that I'd be online a lot less, so it's not like I dropped out because of world events or whatever.

The US continued to deploy assets from Fort Bragg and Pope Army Airfield (82nd Airborne, 3rd SF Group, Delta Force, etc) to the Middle East from April 14th to April 18th, most destinations hidden from open source tracking. Previously, over 30 C-17s were tracked to have arrived in Kuwait and the UAE for staging of the above forces. In addition to this, Marine Corps F-18C tactical fighter aircraft, an unknown amount, will also be deployed to the UAE to provide close air support for any potential Marine operations in Iran. They are in the process of crossing the Atlantic ocean. This is in addition to Marnie Corps F-35Cs headed to land bases in the region last month (unknown which to me, you can try figure it out) and and F-35Bs on the USS Tripoli and USS Boxer for the same mission, the Tripoli is already in the region, the Boxer is on it's way. The Boxer left Pearl Harbor on the 1st of April, at an average speed of 15 knots it could make it to the Strait of Hormuz before the end of April, 26 day voyage. Not a prediction, but an illustration of how long it'll take to arrive, and how close an earliest potential arrival is. The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier is also on it's way, going around Africa. The USS Gerald R Ford is in the Red Sea, just entered the Suez canal yesterday. The USS Abraham Lincoln remains in the region, about 250-300km from the coast of Iran.

Source on latest movements, Armchair Admiral on X/Twitter

There are now a total of 34 flights categorised as "Unknown Destination", meaning I was unable to determine a destination from either ADS-B or ACARS data. This is an increase of 17 from the 14th of April.

There have been a further 15 C-17s from Pope Army Airfield either in-transit or arrived in the Middle East - three have arrived at King Faisal Air Base.

There have been 10 Navy-coded flights from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, where a Coronet East towed F/A-18A/C Hornets to Lajes Field on the 18th of April. Six of these flights arrived at Al Dhafra Air Base [UAE].

The USS Tripoli doesn't have a well deck, meaning it lacks the full amphibious assault capabilities of ships like the USS Boxer, which has a well deck. This could explain the need for the Boxer. The USS Tripoli is often used as a mini aircraft carrier as the lack of a well deck means bigger hangars for aircraft, with over 20x F-35Bs on board, or an airborne assault force of tilt rotor and helicopter aircraft, or a mix of both.

This will probably be my last comment for a few weeks.

These numbers (1/3rd destroyed, one 1/3rd buried underground, 1/3 unharmed) are just the same numbers which have been put out by the Times of Israel war correspondent weeks ago. Everyone is just recycling them.

82nd Airborne is the premier airborne division of the US Army, it was the first airborne division in it's history. Paratroopers, light infantry. Parachute assualts to secure national key points.

With relevance to a potential ground operation in Iran, the 3rd SF group is trained for Special Reconnaissance/Commando operations behind the frontline, Information Operations including electronic warfare and psyops, and most notably, Counterproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Now will they actually deploy in Iran? Who knows. Typically, as a pattern, if Trump sends the military resources to an area, he uses them. But this is very, very different from previous military actions. It would be a multi week ground operation, to excavate and seize nuclear materials. Casualties and fatalities are guaranteed at a level not seen in two decades by the US military, even if successful. Not a two day operation to rescue a single pilot. Even in that rescue operation, the US used every tactical fighter aircraft in it's arsenal, and B-1B bombers, to provide close air support for the rescue operation. The US may decide not to do it, and try ceasefire shenanigans or try to negotiate a new nuclear deal, with regards to the nuclear materials.

Anyone pick this up? US using the ceasefire to stage the 82nd Airborne Division (and others) in the UAE and Kuwait. Information from a few days ago, April 14th.

Since the start of April [to April 14th] there have been 62 Army-related [C-17] flights, with 47 being from Pope Army Airfield, 11 from Dover Air Force Base, and 3 from Campbell, Robert Gray (2) and Henry Post.

Most of these flights from Pope have gone to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates (26), and Ali Al Salem Air Base (10) in Kuwait. A further 4 have gone to Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv, 4 to King Faisal Air Base and 3 to King Abdullah II Air Base, both in Jordan.

Source, Armchair Admiral on X/twitter

Fort Bragg and the associated Pope Army Airfield is home to the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Delta Force, and others.

No idea what will happen next. More ceasefire, more war, who knows. I have no time to follow this in detail.

Nothing's changed lol

I sent one of the moderators a message on the 29th or 30th of March explaining why I wouldn't be online anymore and said that they were free to tell people why (with less detail than the private message). In short, career change, and I really don't want to screw up this career change. So no time for posting.

@Tervell@hexbear.net you'll be very interested in this

US Forces at Saudi Air Base Suffer Iranian Attack March 27, 2026 | By Chris Gordon

Multiple American service members were wounded and some aircraft were damaged in a March 27 Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Around 10 service members were wounded, two seriously, according to initial reports.

An Iranian missile struck the base, injuring the service members. Multiple drones were also used in the attack.

A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command declined to comment.

Multiple refueling aircraft and an E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane are among the aircraft damaged, according to preliminary information. A photo showed significant damage to an E-3, but the image could not be independently confirmed.

Very interesting because the US sent 6x E-3G Sentries to the Middle East. These aircraft cannot be replaced immediately or even within years, that's impossible. The US cannot send more E-3Gs without compromising readiness elsewhere, the fleet is small and production ended in 1992. The US has been dilly dallying with its replacement, the E-7 Wedgetail, even wanting to cancel it and do the whole mission from space (also impossible in the short to medium term). The US will either have to repair the damaged E-3G, or pull an older E-3 from the boneyard and upgrade it to the E-3G standard, or accept one less E-3G in service, or finally commit to the E-7 Wedgetail. All expensive choices that may take months to years to materialise, depending on the severity of the damage and if the E-3G is even repairable or not.

Very significant hit by Iran. Suggests real-time or close to real time intelligence, given a missile (most likely ballistic missile) hit the base, and that the US is dispersing the aircraft across various air bases. I've been saying the whole time that's it's not as simple as just shooting at the base, you need this intel to actually hit something and not pound sand or tarmac. Ballistic missiles have a flight time of a matter of minutes to hit time sensitive targets. If they are accurate, don't get intercepted and intel is timely and accurate, they can land hits. It's very challenging to get all that in place, but it's still possible. As shown.

It's raining oil now in Tehran this morning, after Israeli airstrikes on Iranian crude oil storage facilities.

Thread with multiple videos and photos

This is absolutely horrendous, I guess our generations version of the oil wells burning in the 1991 Gulf War (I'm not old enough to remember that, but I've seen the images).

Unconfirmed reports of a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) operation currently taking place in Iran, all unconfirmed and unsourced rumours at this time, so I can't link anything. If true, it means that Iran shot down their first manned aircraft tonight, we'll find out the truth later.

Everyone, while this is not news, If you've been following my posts over the past few months, you can see that I've been covering the US military buildup in the Middle East against Iran quite extensively. Seeing it all come to fruition after ringing the alarm bell for months, it's nightmarish, I'm feeling sick honestly. Everyone in Iran that uses this website, please stay safe.

In case anyone's wondering why I only share or post satellite imagery or geolocations after any bombings have already happened, and am very strict about OPSEC (even to the point of not reposting posts from resistance figures or media with poor OPSEC), this is why. US CENTCOM has been using social media OSINT (twitter, telegram, WhatsApp, etc) for targeting information, resulting in innocent people dying.

Twitter source

Xcancel mirror

Remember, this is war, not a circus or videogame. Innocent people just like me and you are dying. Don't post, repost or share incriminating stuff, even if a popular resistance figure posts say, a selfie of themselves next to a US daytime bombing while it's happening (Yes, this actually happened, no, I will not share it). Don't post satellite imagery of "potential military sites". Unfortunately many people online in OSINT communities do not understand this, they either don't realise war is real or they don't consider those on the other side of the world as human.

Ultimately the responsibility is on those doing the bombings (the US Navy in this case), and a group's OPSEC is their own responsibility, and not the responsibility or fault of random twitter accounts, but still, don't play any part in the death of innocent people. There's a reason why Ansarallah in Yemen have put in place a strict official media and social media censorship campaign, which I have posted about before.

Also if the Commiejones moderator on hexbear is still around, thank you for enforcing OPSEC when you were around.

If anyone's wondering, the data I use for the daily Yemen posts comes from the Ansarallah/Houthi owned and ran Al Masirah TV.