In the early days of the war, Iran launched unexpected attacks on Bahrain that surprised U.S. Navy families and sailors. On the first day of the conflict, Iran targeted the Navy’s Middle East headquarters in Bahrain before the U.S. government had fully evacuated military families living there. Some families had to wait a week or more to reach safety, according to several who spoke to CBS News. One military spouse described the experience as frightening, recalling the sound of ballistic missiles being fired over the course of the week. Iranian missiles and drones continued to target Bahrain for several days, according to another spouse. The scale and duration of the attacks caught the U.S. government off guard, according to multiple sources who were in Bahrain at the time. Although the military had anticipated some retaliation and had evacuated the headquarters’ buildings, one U.S. official said they weren’t expecting such a large-scale assault. Several military families still lived off the base nearby, and some described seeing missile trails in the sky or hearing the explosions from attacks. The spouses who spoke to CBS News were granted anonymity out of fear of retaliation. While no military personnel were killed in the attacks, images shared on social media—believed to be authentic—showed extensive damage to the base, including an explosion on the first day of the war that targeted a key radar system. The Pentagon has not released a public estimate of the damage, as officials say they are unsure what will be rebuilt. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao recently told The Epoch Times that Iran’s attacks “blew the hell out of Bahrain.” Naval Support Activity Bahrain has been the headquarters for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet since the 1990s and has served as a logistics hub for Middle East operations, including during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The facility is home to about 8,300 military personnel, civilian employees, and their families. The damage to the base has also affected sailors at sea. Earlier this year, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier faced food shortages as the Navy rerouted supplies away from Bahrain. Some supplies now have to be delivered from Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean nearly 2,200 miles away. This longer route requires 14 to 18 days to deliver supplies to ships, compared to 5 to 7 days from Bahrain, according to a Pentagon report. While there are other logistics hubs in the region, Bahrain had been a key location before the war began. Admiral Daryl Caudle, the Navy’s top officer, acknowledged during a town hall that the service has had to restructure how it supplies ships in the Middle East. He said the Navy now has a more efficient logistics system in place, though officials have no immediate plans to return to the same level of presence in Bahrain. Since the war began, the Navy has helped evacuate about 1,450 service members and families from Bahrain. Many are now in a financial struggle, as they are paying for two households—one in Bahrain and one in the U.S. “We have burned through our savings,” one spouse told CBS News, adding that they have started using money from their children’s college funds to cover bills. The Pentagon is providing some benefits to reimburse housing costs in both locations, but families said claims can take weeks or months to process. A Navy spokesperson said the Navy is in close communication with affected families and continues to provide relocation support. Families have until the end of November to move into a designated residence to continue receiving housing and separation benefits. Even those who have not faced severe financial strain have been uprooted from their homes. Many were evacuated to Norfolk, Virginia, a major Navy hub, or to Tampa, Florida, where U.S. Central Command is based. Non-profit organizations like Blue Star Families have supported evacuees in Tampa, providing supplies such as school items, clothing, and kitchen appliances to help families adjust. “We gave them air fryers and crockpots so they could cook in hotel rooms until they could move into something more permanent,” said Suzy Malloy, executive director of Blue Star Families in the Tampa Bay region. While evacuees are beginning to settle into their new locations, many remain in a state of uncertainty. None of the families CBS News spoke to blamed the military for their challenges, but they expressed frustration over the prolonged evacuation and the lack of clarity about the future. “Nobody expected this to go on so long,” one spouse said, highlighting the emotional and logistical toll on military families caught in the conflict.