Washington – An Air Force email from August, obtained by CBS News, shows that the Pentagon was instructing staff to stop referring to ongoing US military operations in Iran as “Operation Epic Fury,” three months after the Trump administration declared it over. In response to questions from CBS News, the Pentagon said Wednesday that Operation Epic Fury officially ended on May 5, the same day Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at the White House: “Operation is over. Epic Fury – the president notified Congress – we are done with that phase. We are now in this Project Freedom.” Four days earlier, Trump told Congress that the “hostilities” were “over.” Previously, the Pentagon and US Central Command had refused to reveal the formal end date of the operation for months. The United States and Iran have continued to exchange fire intermittently since the official end date of Operation Epic Fury, although there have been long lulls in fighting, even during a ceasefire that began in early April. But the date also raises questions about how the Pentagon classifies service members who were killed and wounded after “Operation Epic Fury” formally ended, or why guidance on what to call ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran came months after the May end date. Last month, as senior U.S. Air Force leaders flew to Orlando, Florida, to attend Air Force Sergeants Association 2026, senior public affairs officers were instructed to inform military leaders not to use “Operation Epic Fury.” They were asked to use broader language to refer to the conflict: “foreign operations in the [U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility]”, according to an email containing the guidance obtained by CBS News and dated Aug. 7. The Air Force email shows that the guidance was issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s central public affairs office, headed by Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman. He reiterated that U.S. Central Command had to approve publicly released information about the Iran conflict. U.S. military officials who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity said the guidance did not was unique to the U.S. Air Force and was disseminated around the world. An Aug. 7, 2026, email about the term “Operation Epic Fury.” Operation Epic Fury had concluded on May 5. Subsequent activities have included freedom of navigation operations and attacks to further diminish threats posed by the IRGC. [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] Historically, the US military has published start and end dates for designated military operations, creating a public record of when one mission ends and another begins. Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, for example, began on October 7, 2001 and ended on December 31, 2014, before transitioning to Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. The Pentagon used those dates to establish campaign phases and eligibility for military awards, but they also provide Congress, service members and the public with a clear way to track the scope and duration of U.S. military involvement in overseas operations. Rubio appears to be the only Trump administration official to publicly and explicitly say that Operation Epic Fury had officially concluded. However, he did not say that the date it ended was May 5. On the same day as Rubio’s statement, Hegseth also briefed reporters separately at the Pentagon, differentiating Epic Fury from the new Project Freedom, which he described as a defensive maritime mission to protect commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. He referred to Epic Fury in the past tense, but did not explicitly state that the operation was over. At a Pentagon news conference a month earlier, in April, after the United States and Iran signed a temporary ceasefire, Hegseth said Epic Fury had achieved a “decisive military victory.” His current status is unclear. The date of May 5 did not mark the end of the broader conflict with Iran. U.S. forces continue to carry out missions related to the conflict that began six months ago when the United States and Israel attacked Iran. President Trump formally notified Congress that “military action” against Iran had restarted on July 7, in a message to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, president pro tempore of the Senate. The ceasefire is “over.” Iranian forces have continued attacks on US troops and commercial vessels following the collapse of the April ceasefire. The United States has also periodically attacked Iran, including two different rounds of attacks this week that prompted Iranian counterattacks. The Pentagon’s recognition of the May 5 date raises questions about why its public affairs office found it necessary in early August to explicitly instruct senior leaders not to use the Operation Epic Fury banner when discussing ongoing military operations against Iran, an operation the military now says has ended. Months earlier, the Pentagon did not comment on why the guidance was sent. Furthermore, the importance of the May 5 date also extends beyond the aforementioned operation, providing a reference point for understanding how the military has counted Americans killed and wounded in combat since the war with Iran began. In July, the Defense Department’s website that informs the public about those killed and wounded in military conflicts originally categorized four service members who died in July in the Middle East as killed in action during Operation Epic Fury, two months after it had officially been deployed. On July 18, First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, Sergeant Angel Rampersad and Private First Infantry Isabella Gonzales were killed when an Iranian missile hit their sleeping quarters at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. A few days later, the four were transferred. ” “Anomalies were being resolved.” The Pentagon also declined to say in July when Epic Fury had ended. Contacted for this story, a Pentagon official said: “Since Operation Epic Fury concluded, the Department classifies the casualties as overseas operations in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.” The Pentagon says it ended in May or why no end date is listed for Epic Fury. Go deeper with The Free Press at:
