CENTCOM adjusts posture

U.S. Central Command has shifted ships, aircraft and surveillance coverage around the Gulf as it tightens protection for commercial traffic near Bahrain and the Strait of Hormuz. (centcom.mil) The move comes after CENTCOM announced a mine-clearance mission in the Strait of Hormuz on April 11 and a blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports on April 12. On April 19, it said U.S. forces disabled a vessel trying to enter an Iranian port in violation of that blockade. (centcom.mil) U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, based in Bahrain, is the Navy headquarters for the region, and Combined Maritime Forces in Manama says its 47-member partnership covers about 3.2 million square miles of water that include some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. (cusnc.navy.mil, combinedmaritimeforces.com) Publicly visible military activity around Bahrain has picked up this year. Naval Support Activity Bahrain held the annual Citadel Protect exercise on Feb. 4, and a separate Vigilant Resolve emergency-response drill ran on Jan. 27 with NAVCENT participation. (centcom.mil, dvidshub.net) The immediate problem is maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said in January that roughly 100 merchant vessels pass through the strait on a typical day, and the command warned Iran’s naval activity to avoid creating risk for international shipping. (centcom.mil) That traffic has already been disrupted. USNI News reported on April 16, citing the Joint Maritime Information Center and Lloyd’s List tracking, that some cargo ships and tankers were still transiting while other vessels turned around after the U.S. blockade announcement. (news.usni.org) The naval piece is only part of the posture change. CENTCOM’s public media pages in April showed carrier flight operations, fighter sorties and tanker support tied to Operation Epic Fury, the campaign it says began after the President ordered strikes on Iranian targets. (centcom.mil, centcom.mil) Outside analysts and flight trackers have pointed to C-5 and C-17 movements as signs of an air bridge into the theater, but those flights are not fully detailed in official U.S. releases. What the command has confirmed on the record is a larger regional operation involving warships, aircraft and partner coordination from Bahrain. (flightaware.com, centcom.mil) The posture shift also sits against a broader campaign to show escorts can continue and chokepoints can stay open. USNI reported on April 11 that the destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen and USS Michael Murphy entered the strait to help establish a route for merchant ships. (news.usni.org) For now, the clearest through line is that Bahrain has become the hub for a more visible U.S. maritime-security effort as Washington tries to keep merchant shipping moving under military cover. (cusnc.navy.mil, combinedmaritimeforces.com)