The Vermont Air National Guard is in the Middle East supporting the war on Iran that the U.S. and Israel launched over the weekend, a Pentagon official confirmed on Monday morning.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, mentioned VTANG during a press conference at the Pentagon. Cain praised the resiliency and responsiveness of multiple Guard units. He noted that Vermont’s F-35s had been mobilized first to support the strike in Venezuela and then headed to the Middle East.
“In the case of the Vermont Air National Guard and the 158th Fighter Wing, they were mobilized for Operation Absolute Resolve and then were tasked to take their F-35As across the Atlantic, instead of going home, to be prepared to support this operation,” he said.
Caine said Guard units from “a variety of states,” including Vermont and Virginia, have been deployed to support “Operation Epic Fury,” the bombardment of Iran by the U.S. and Israel. Hundreds of targets have been struck and longtime Iran leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family have been killed.
Caine provided no details of any missions VTANG may have flown.
The Pentagon has said the strikes are targeting Iran’s military.
Still, more than 500 Iranians died in the attacks, including 180 in the bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. Three U.S. service members have been killed so far, according to Central Command.
The three members of the Vermont federal delegation have condemned the war on Iran.
Correction, March 2, 2026: An earlier version of this story misidentified the Iranian leader killed in the war.
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