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(Jared Szuba)   (https://www.al-monitor.com/authors/jared-szuba.html) Jared Szuba   Oct 1, 2026        (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.al-monitor.com%2Foriginals%2F2026%2F10%2Fpentagon-deploys-thousands-more-marines-another-aircraft-carrier-mideast)     (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Pentagon%20deploys%20thousands%20more%20Marines%2C%20another%20aircraft%20carrier%20to%20Mideast&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.al-monitor.com%2Foriginals%2F2026%2F10%2Fpentagon-deploys-thousands-more-marines-another-aircraft-carrier-mideast&via=AlMonitor)     (mailto:?subject=From%20AL-MONITOR.com%3A%20Pentagon%20deploys%20thousands%20more%20Marines%2C%20another%20aircraft%20carrier%20to%20Mideast&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.al-monitor.com%2Foriginals%2F2026%2F10%2Fpentagon-deploys-thousands-more-marines-another-aircraft-carrier-mideast%0A%0ARead%20more%20at%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.AL-MONITOR.com)     (https://google.com/preferences/source?q=https://www.al-monitor.com/)   Add AL-MONITOR on Google         (Jung Yeon-Je/Getty Images)      Crew members stand on the flight deck during a press tour of the USS Makin Island, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, at a South Korean naval port on March 23, 2023, in Busan, South Korea. — Jung Yeon-Je/Getty Images    (https://www.al-monitor.com/ar/originals/2026/10/albntaghwn-ynshr-alafaan-adafyt-mn-mshat-albhryt-fy-alshrq-alawst-ma-yjb-mrfth) عربي  (https://www.al-monitor.com/zh-hans/originals/2026/10/wujiaodalouxiangzhongdongzengpaishuqianminghaijunluzhanduiyuannixuyaolejieshenme) 简体中文  (https://www.al-monitor.com/es/originals/2026/10/el-pentagono-despliega-miles-de-marines-mas-en-oriente-medio-lo-que-debes-saber) Español     WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is sending several thousand more US Marines and Navy sailors as part of the Amphibious Ready Group led by the assault ship USS Makin Island to the Middle East alongside an additional aircraft carrier, the USS (https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2026/09/new-us-aircraft-carrier-heads-middle-east-iran-war-stretches) Theodore Roosevelt , a US official confirmed to Al-Monitor on Thursday. The Makin left port at Naval Base San Diego on Monday carrying the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, just one day after the Roosevelt was dispatched to cross the Pacific. The Roosevelt will likely need at least two to three weeks to reach the Arabian Sea, where it is expected to relieve at least one of the two other US Navy aircraft carriers currently operating there. The Japan-based USS George Washington and the USS George H.W. Bush are already in Middle Eastern waters, backed by roughly 18 other surface warships that have been enforcing a blockade of Iran's southern coast, part of the Trump administration's open-ended economic pressure campaign against Tehran. The three carriers may briefly overlap and orders for current deployments could be extended at any time. The Pentagon has extended several deployment cycles amid the war with Iran, most notably the USS Abraham Lincoln, which spent more than 300 days at sea. There were previously three US carriers in the region for roughly a week in late April before the one of them departed.    SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE   Continue reading this exclusive analysis   Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish    (https://www.al-monitor.com/checkout?utm_alm_paywall_content_type_source=article&utm_alm_subscribe_form_referrer=paywall_tier_3) See Offers         Read By   (White House logo)  (NATO Logo)  (World Bank logo)  (European Union logo)  (United Nations logo)  (Foreign and Commonwealth Office logo)  (Harvard University logo)         Related Articles      (In this handout released by the US Navy on July 15, 2010, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits the Pacific Ocean.)    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