Military units based in Georgia would likely play a significant role if the United States joins Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear program, especially if the fighting spirals into a broader conflict in the Middle East, according to four retired generals in the state.
The military has a substantial presence in Georgia, where annual defense spending has topped $15 billion. The state is home to many major military installations, which serve more than 124,000 active duty, National Guardsmen, reservists and civilian Defense Department workers.
Georgia also features military airfields, Marine Corps logistics and submarine bases and the headquarters for key military units. Among those units are the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 3rd Infantry Division and the 48th Brigade Combat Team, all of which fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“We are not going to war in the Middle East without Georgia” being involved, said Matt Smith, a retired two-star general who served as the U.S. Army’s deputy director of operations, readiness and mobilization at the Pentagon.
The deadly fighting began when Israel carried out a surprise attack with coordinated airstrikes on June 13, reportedly killing senior Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists. Iran has retaliated with missile and drone barrages. Hundreds have reportedly been injured or killed amid the fighting between the two countries.
The Pentagon has deployed more fighter planes to the Middle East and has extended the deployment of other warplanes, Reuters reported. Israel is urging the United States to also deploy its huge bunker-busting bomb against Iran’s Fordo nuclear site, which is buried deep underground.
Though he has called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and cited the possibility of killing its supreme leader, President Donald Trump has deferred a decision on whether to get more deeply involved. On Thursday, the White House said he would decide within the next two weeks.
“The president’s top priority right now is ensuring that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and providing peace and stability in the Middle East,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Iran has threatened to retaliate if the United States joins the fight. And that could put at risk U.S. service members deployed in the region. More than 40,000 active-duty U.S. troops and civilians are working for the Pentagon in the Middle East, The New York Times reported.
The Georgia National Guard confirmed about 15 people, mostly from the 221st Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Battalion, are in the region. The Guard underscored their deployment was scheduled years before Israel’s latest conflict with Iran.
In January of last year, a drone attack in northeastern Jordan killed three Army reservists from Georgia and injured more than 40 others. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of militias backed by Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it revenge for America’s military presence in the region and the Palestinian death toll in Gaza.
“The Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Wednesday, according to The Times, which cited state news media.
Military units headquartered in Georgia, including the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning near Columbus and U.S. Army Cyber Command at Fort Gordon in Augusta, are likely well into planning for a possible armed conflict with Iran, said Bill Caldwell IV, a retired three-star general who leads Georgia Military College in Milledgeville.
“They have pulled out the maps of Iran,” said Caldwell, who led the 82nd Airborne Division and who served as the executive assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “They are contemplating where they might preposition from perhaps in the Middle East to do something, if called upon.”
Caldwell emphasized the Trump administration appears to be considering a limited role in the conflict.
“They are not looking for regime change. They are not looking for the elimination of large forces,” Caldwell said. “I just don’t believe they want to be provocative and cause any kind of escalation beyond their immediate objective of eliminating the ability to have a nuclear weapon.”
Like Caldwell, retired Maj. Gen. Randall Simmons Jr. expects any armed conflict with Iran would be limited. Whatever happens, Simmons predicted, would be “quick and decisive.”
“I don’t think there is an appetite probably anywhere for a protracted, long-term ground engagement of any type. I think that is probably one thing you could get our different political parties to agree on, when they very rarely agree on anything,” said Simmons, who led the Georgia Army National Guard and Joint Task Force North.
“At the same time, I think that Georgia units — active guard and reserve — will play a vital part in whatever happens in Iran and the greater conflict there.”
Georgia’s Robins and Moody Air Force bases and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay could play key roles, the retired generals said, if the United States limits its involvement in the conflict to air and sea campaigns.
Depending on the scope of the conflict, the Georgia National Guard could also be involved in some capacity, including its 48th Brigade Combat Team, said retired Maj. Gen. Joe Wells.
“They will use us — the Reserves and the National Guard — before they deploy some of their top troops into a situation. That is just the nature of how it is built,” said Wells, who directed intelligence and communication at the National Guard Bureau. “We would probably be the first to be engaged in some kind of way.”
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