Six months on, U.S. Navy families who evacuated Bahrain remain in limbo

A U.S. Navy ship, the USS Rafael Peralta, takes part in a maritime blockade against an Iranian-flagged ship attempting to sail toward an Iranian port on April 24. The photo was provided by U.S. Central Command. U.S. Navy/Getty Images hide caption

NORFOLK, Va. - At a virtual town hall meeting, Navy families who abruptly evacuated from Bahrain six months ago had many questions. They said they still aren't getting enough answers.

NPR has reviewed a recording of the meeting, along with a full list of questions the families were asking Navy officials.

The families left Bahrain on short notice with few possessions shortly after the U.S.-Iran war began. Many are still living in temporary conditions, at hotels and short-term rentals, both inside the United States and in other parts of the world. About 580 people participated in the call last week, where Navy leaders tried to provide some answers but also left many unsure of what comes next.

The head of the Navy's Fifth Fleet , Vice Adm. Curt Renshaw, acknowledged the hardships brought on by the rapid evacuations and that the Navy is "making it up as we go because nothing is conceived to go on this length of time." He also went on to say, "these are complex problems and the solutions have not been exactly obvious."

When the military and the State Department ordered the evacuation of dependents on March 2, Renshaw told families the Navy expected only a brief displacement, similar to when the U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran's nuclear facilities in June 2025. That war lasted 12 days.

"Unfortunately, this has just stretched on and on, and has evolved into something greater and a bigger challenge," Renshaw said during the conversation. "When we talk about that challenge, we've delayed making some hard decisions because we didn't want to close the door on getting people back into Bahrain."

The Iran war has left the Navy scrambling to figure out what to do with 1,300 dependents who left just about everything behind in Bahrain, the headquarters of the Navy's Fifth Fleet. The number doesn't include the sailors and civilian workers, who were also displaced.