Military bases on American soil have banned service members from wearing their uniforms off base as threats of retaliatory attacks against soldiers bubble up since the United States jointly launched its war in Iran.
Following the United States and Israel's initial attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, U.S. bases in the Middle East came under heavy fire from Iranian missiles and drones, killing seven U.S. soldiers stationed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Six soldiers were later killed in an air tanker crash in Iraq, and at least 200 have been wounded across the Middle East.
Threats to U.S. troops have not been confined to the war zone. Bases on American soil have shut down in response to reports of active shooters, suspicious packages and other unidentified threats. Since the war began, a growing number of military bases in the continental United States clamped down on security, banning visitors and ordering service members to change out of uniform when they leave the premises.
See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.Bahrain
Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Syria Syrian children stand on the wreckage of an Iranian rocket that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces in the southern countryside of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, close to the town of Ghadir al-Bustan." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Iraq A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. Loud explosions were heard early on March 1 near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Iraq Members and officers from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Explosives Directorate inspect the fuel tank of a rocket that landed in a rural village in the Siyahi area near the city of Hilla in the central Babil province on March 1, 2026. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the U.S. and Iran, warned that it did not want to be dragged into the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Qatar A prayer appealing to God for protection is projected on the dome of al-Hazm shopping mall in Doha on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Qatar Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Bahrain A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Saudi Arabia The empty terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is pictured on March 1, 2026. Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the region into a new conflict. In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses U.S. military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates A food delivery bike drive close to a plume of smoke rising from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. Attacks have damaged tankers, and many ship owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Oman Smoke billows from an oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, that was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Kuwait Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the U.S. Embassy is located in Kuwait City on March 2, 2026. Black smoke was seen rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City on March 2 after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, an AFP correspondent saw," style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Saudi Arabia A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia March 2, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Turkey People make their way after crossing from Iran into Turkey at the Kapikoy Border Gate in eastern Van province,Turkey, March 2, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Delivery persons ride motorcycles along a road as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Pieces of missiles and drones recovered after Iran's strikes are displayed during a press briefing by the UAE government held in Abu Dhabi on March 3, 2026. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across the Middle East on March 3, as the US president warned it was "too late" for the Islamic republic to seek talks to escape the war. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and U.S. embassies in the Gulf, Washington's ally Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jamaa Islamiya offices in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon on March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
See how the Iran war's fallout is hitting the Middle East
See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of thewar launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.BahrainSmoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.
Fatal shooting, suspicious packages at US bases
On March 16, areportof a suspicious package near an entrance gate at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base, the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, prompted a gate closure. The FBI's Tampa office laterstatedthat "possible energetic materials" were found inside the package. MacDillissueda shelter-in-place order two days later on March 18, citing an unidentified targeted "threat."CENTCOM is the military branch leading operations in the Iran war. It's unclear if the threats were related.
On March 17, officials at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in southern New Jersey said that "suspicious packages"were foundon the base, prompting a lockdown. They later determined the packages did not pose a threat.
Reports of an active shooter sent Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexicointo lockdownthat same day. A military veteran was killed and an active-duty service member was injured, according tonews reports.
It's not clear if any of these incidents were linked to the war in the Middle East. Local authorities said investigations are ongoing. But a handful of separate U.S. attacks since the war began, including a shooting at a Virginia Reserve Officers' Training Corps class, are being investigated as terrorism. Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a class instructor, was killed on March 12 whena man who'd served time in prisonfor colluding with the Islamic State allegedly opened fire on an ROTC class at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.
Uniforms banned for soldiers off base
Military installations have tightened security, banning service members from wearing their uniforms off base in some locations. Fort Huachuca, an Army base in Arizona where more than 5,600 service members are stationed, received an order on March 13 prohibiting soldiers from wearing uniforms away from the base "to ensure force protection efforts align with current global events," according to a copy of the order obtained by USA TODAY.
"This prohibition applies to all off-post activities, including but not limited to dining, shopping, and appointments," according to the order.
The Army's Combined Arms Command issued a similar order to its members the same day, according to spokesperson Lt. Col. Bryen Freigo. The order is "a prudent and proactive measure intended to reduce their visibility and is not in response to any specific or credible threat," he told USA TODAY in an email.
The Pentagon referred questions about these bans to U.S. Northern Command, which said there was no across-the-board ban at U.S. bases.
A temporary ban was also issued Feb. 28 at Shaw Air Force Base, east of Columbia, South Carolina, saying that military members were "no longer authorized" to wear uniforms off base. The baserescindedthe policy on March 15.
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The Navy declined to say whether it had banned the use of uniforms off base but said it was "implementing additional force protection measures," including changes to uniform policies in specific situations, "to reduce the vulnerability of our personnel," according to an emailed statement. The day the war started, Naval Support Activity Annapolis, across the river from the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, announced increased security at its entrance gates and halted all public visits "as a result of current world events," according to a Facebookpost.
Recent US-based attacks connected to Middle East conflict
At least two other attacks in recent weeks reportedly had connections to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
A gunman who police said killed two people and injured more than a dozen others at a bar in Austin on March 1was wearing an Iranian flag shirt, according to videos and photos shared online.
Less than two weeks later, police said Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, slammed his truck into a Michigan synagogue and exchanged fire with police before he was killed. According to local leaders in Dearborn Heights,Ghazali's family membersin Lebanon had been killed days earlier in Israeli attacks that have blanketed the country and killed hundreds in another front of the Iran war.
Uniform bans common in recent US wars
Steve Gabavics, a retired Army colonel who served for decades in the military police, estimated that threats to bases have increased by 10% to 15% as a result of the Iran war.
It's nothing new for the military to clamp down on security at bases or installations in response to U.S. wars abroad, including restricting service members from wearing uniforms off base, according to Gabavics. "I've seen it every time we've had a major international conflict," he said.
More:How much is the Iran war costing taxpayers? Here's what estimates show
Gabavics, who commanded military police across the Military District of Washington, said during his time in the role, there may have been dozens of sleeper cells tied to Iran scattered across the Washington, DC, region, and around a hundred across the country.
But the greater threat to service members, he said, likely stems from "lone wolf" attackers inspired by ideology.
Last November, two uniformed National Guard soldiers on patrol were shot blocks from the White House. Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old from Summersville, West Virginia, was killed, and another soldier suffered serious wounds. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan man arrested andchargedin the shooting, had worked with violent,CIA-backed "zero units"during the U.S. occupation of his country.
Service members in uniform do "create a target," Gabavics said. "We're trying to prevent having an easy target for somebody who does want to do something like this."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Some soldiers prohibited from wearing uniforms off base amid Iran war