US surges forces to Middle East as Pentagon warns Iran fight ‘will take some time'

More U.S. forces are headed to the Middle East, according to Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as the U.S. escalates its campaign against Iran. 

"The flow of forces continues today. In fact, Adm. Cooper will receive additional forces even today," Caine said during a Pentagon briefing Monday morning, referring to Central Command chief Brad Cooper. 

Caine declined to provide troop numbers, saying, "I don't want to talk specifics, because that would tip the enemy off. We have more tactical aviation flowing into theater just based on the time it took to get it out there."

"I think we're just about where we want to be in terms of total combat capacity and total combat power for Adm. Cooper."

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Caine said the additional forces build on a monthlong repositioning of U.S. assets across the region, including carrier strike groups, advanced fighter aircraft and air defense systems, as the U.S. prosecutes what officials described as "major combat operations" that have already resulted in the death of 555 Iranians, according to an Associated Press count, as of Monday morning. 

Caine said the U.S. mission in Iran is to "prevent Iran from (the) ability to project power outside its borders."

"This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it today," added War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

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Hegseth said the mission was to destroy ​​Iranian missiles and missile production, destroy its navy and ensure it has no capability to pursue a nuclear weapon. 

The general warned the operation "will take some time" and acknowledged, "We expect to take additional losses." Four U.S. service members have been killed in the operation that began in the early hours of Saturday Eastern Time. 

Hegseth said the service members were struck by an Iranian missile that penetrated air defenses at a tactical command center.

Asked whether there are American boots on the ground in Iran, Hegseth replied, "no," but said the administration would not telegraph future options.

It's "one of the fallacies" that "this department or presidents or others should tell the American people — and our enemies, by the way — 'here's exactly what we'll do,'" Hegseth said. "It's foolishness." 

At the start of the operation known as Epic Fury, Caine said more than 100 aircraft launched from land and sea in a synchronized wave, including fighters, tankers, electronic attack aircraft, bombers and unmanned platforms. U.S. cyber and space forces first conducted non-kinetic operations designed to disrupt and degrade Iran’s ability to communicate and respond, he said.

Tomahawk missiles fired from U.S. Navy vessels struck Iranian naval forces along the southern flank, while coordinated precision strikes targeted command and control infrastructure, ballistic missile sites and intelligence facilities.

Caine said the opening phase struck more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours. American B-2 bombers flew 37-hour round-trip missions from the continental United States to hit underground facilities with penetrating munitions, he added.

"We are now roughly 57 hours into the operation," Caine said Monday, adding that U.S. forces have launched hundreds of missions and delivered tens of thousands of pieces of ordnance as the campaign continues to scale.