U.S. Deploys Over 50,000 Troops to Middle East, Largest Force in 20 Years

Elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit were conducting exercises near Taiwan when the order came to change course. Within two weeks, the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship normally based in Japan, had crossed into U.S. Central Command's operating area, carrying about 2,500 Marines along with transport and strike fighter aircraft and amphibious assault assets, Central Command announced Saturday.

The Tripoli's arrival pushed America's presence in the Middle East past 50,000 troops, a force level the region had not seen in more than 20 years. Two aircraft carriers and several other warships were already operating there before the amphibious ship arrived.

The buildup was accelerating as casualties mounted. The number of American service members wounded in the Iran war had grown beyond 300, with more than two dozen troops injured this week from attacks on a Saudi air base, according to Associated Press correspondents Aamer Madhani, Samy Magdy, and Ben Finley.

More reinforcements were still in transit. The USS Boxer and two other ships, along with another Marine Expeditionary Unit, had been ordered to the region from San Diego.

Not every vessel was moving toward the theater. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the nation's newest aircraft carrier, had recently departed the Middle East for repairs and supplies in Europe after a fire in a laundry room that affected some of the ship's sleeping quarters. USNI News reported the Ford was operating near Croatia while the repairs were underway.

The diversion of Marines from Taiwan exercises alongside a fresh West Coast deployment and a carrier sidelined by a shipboard fire illustrated the competing demands on U.S. forces at a moment when Central Command's regional commitment was only expanding.