19 hours ago
Around Military Bases in the U.S., Unease Over What Comes Next
For some families who gathered this weekend at Fort Benning in Georgia, the past few days have served as a solemn reminder of the unsettling emotions military service can bring. On Friday, a group of Army enlistees graduated from basic training. On Saturday, President Trump bombed Iran. On Sunday, service members and their loved ones pondered an uncertain future.
'People can lose their life, so I'm worried,' said Michele Bixby, 24, of upstate New York, whose brother had just graduated. 'But it's what he wanted to do; it's what he loves to do. He's going to move forward with it no matter what.'
One day after the administration announced it had carried out airstrikes at three nuclear sites in Iran, the mood in some communities around military bases on U.S. soil varied from firm support to bitter disagreement. But one sentiment stood out among those interviewed: concern for the safety of America's troops everywhere.
No one knows how the strikes on Iran could affect service members. Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, emphasized on Sunday that the administration did not want an open-ended war. But Iranian leaders have vowed to retaliate, and U.S. military installations in the Middle East, with more than 40,000 active-duty troops and civilians employed by the Pentagon, are already potential targets.
That reality, along with the potential repercussions for the entire military, was on the minds of many people around U.S. bases at home, even as service members accepted that reality as part of the job.
'A lot of the families around here are quickly realizing this is a real threat; this is something we need to be worried about,' said Meghan Gilles, 37, a self-described military brat who works in the Army Reserve's human resources division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, a training site and home to the 101st Airborne Division.
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