Rapid Alerts

UNITED KINGDOM — U.S. European Command said on October 4 that the bombers deployed to RAF Fairford were redeploying to their home stations, and a U.S. Air Force statement the same day said every U.S. bomber that had been deployed there had redeployed to home stations in the United States.

The Air Force statement said operational security had precluded confirmation of the movement in real time. It also said U.S. Air Force bombers routinely operate around the world for readiness and operational requirements.

CARIBBEAN — According to U.S. Southern Command, Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere struck a go-fast vessel, a small fast boat, in the Caribbean on October 4.

The command said confirmed intelligence showed the boat was taking part in drug trafficking on routes it called established trafficking routes, and that the strike killed four people it called “narco-terrorists.”

YEMEN — A company security officer reported that a tanker sighted multiple explosions close to the ship about 69 miles (111 km) south of Al Mukha, Yemen, on Sunday, October 4.

The officer reported the crew safe and no environmental impact. The warning says authorities are investigating, and it advises ships to pass with caution and to report suspicious activity.

MIDDLE EAST — On October 1 a maritime reporting center received a third-party report that an unknown projectile had struck a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway between Iran and Oman, and that a fire had started.

The report said the crew was safe, and it left the damage assessment and any environmental effect unknown. It did not name the tanker, the projectile, or who fired.

MIDDLE EAST — U.S. Central Command completed the orderly departure of U.S. forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq on September 30, marking the end of the Operation Inherent Resolve mission in Iraq, the command said.

The U.S. Department of War stated the same day that the United States and Coalition partners formally concluded Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, consistent with the September 2024 U.S.-Iraq joint statement.

VIRGINIA — A mishap during aircraft recovery operations aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) occurred at approximately 6:18 p.m. EDT (10:18 p.m. UTC) on September 28 off the coast of Virginia, the U.S. Navy said on September 29.

Two naval aviators assigned to Carrier Air Wing 3 (CVW-3) ejected from their aircraft and were recovered by search-and-rescue personnel, according to the Navy. Both were returned to the ship and were being evaluated by medical personnel.