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

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.

One Navy spouse, who has two small children, says she is now on her eighth relocation in less than six months. Like many families, they initially went to Europe and then to various locations in the U.S. NPR is not using her name because she worries about the impact on her husband's career. Her husband is in the Navy and is still in Bahrain.

"I need to take control over my life again and not just be at the whim of the administration, and I need to make plans and move on from this," she said. "I don't want to be dragged around in this anymore. I feel like my spouse is holding up his end of the deal."

School is about to start for the couple's two children. She expects to spend more out of pocket just to stay in a single location throughout the coming school year.

"I'm all alone and in a state that doesn't really have a military presence," she said. "No one really gets what's going on or even knows where Bahrain is."

People in the community occasionally notice the higher gas prices, but otherwise the war has no real impact on them.

On Tuesday, the State Department will end the ordered departure which governs the evacuation.