Military personnel told last month to stop calling Iran conflict "Operation Epic Fury"

An Air Force email from August revealed the Pentagon instructed personnel to stop using the term "Operation Epic Fury" to describe ongoing military operations in Iran, three months after the Trump administration claimed the operation had concluded. The Pentagon officially ended Operation Epic Fury on May 5, the same day Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced to reporters at the White House that "The operation is over.

Epic Fury is - the president notified Congress - we're done with that stage of it. We're now on to this Project Freedom." Four days prior, President Trump informed Congress that hostilities had terminated. The Pentagon had previously refused to disclose the operation's formal end date for months. Despite the operation's official end, U.S. and Iran have continued to exchange fire, though there have been pauses in fighting, including a ceasefire beginning in early April.

The guidance to avoid using "Operation Epic Fury" was issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's central public affairs office on August 7, instructing military leaders to use broader language like "overseas operations in the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility." This raises questions about how the Pentagon categorizes service members killed or wounded after the operation's end date and why guidance on terminology came months after the May 5 end date.