The U.S. military has deployed more than 50,000 service members to the Central Command region since launching Operation Epic Fury against Iran on Feb. 28, according to a Pentagon Inspector General report released in mid-September 2026. The conflict has cost roughly $38 billion through Aug. 1 and killed 18 U.S. personnel, with hundreds more wounded. More than $22 billion went to munitions, highlighting stockpile shortfalls and logistical bottlenecks. The report says Iran conducted more than 600 attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, directly or through proxy forces, while strikes damaged hundreds of buildings and dozens of aircraft at bases across eight countries, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon also oversaw the evacuation of approximately 9,000 American citizens. The new assessment broadly overlaps with the Congressional Budget Office's estimate of about $38 billion, including $21.7 billion for replacing munitions, $10.4 billion for additional military flying hours and roughly $2 billion to $3 billion for each further month of fighting, depending on intensity. CBO also estimated higher energy costs would lift first-quarter 2027 PCE inflation by 0.5 percentage points above its February 2026 projection and core PCE inflation by 0.3 percentage points.