Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Iran war is nearing its six-month mark, far past the four to five weeks that President Trump had initially estimated.
Most Americans are feeling the effects of the war through rising fuel costs, food costs and some imports. But for the men and women in the military, the war is both more pronounced and more uncertain.
Major General Vincent Boles retired after 33 years serving in the U.S. Army. He joined Scripps News to explain the effects of the war on U.S. servicemembers, and give insight into what they may be thinking as the deployment continues its uncertain schedule.
"They'll follow the orders they're given because that's the way they're disciplined. But the challenge becomes the open-ended nature of this," Boles said. "You know, 'it's going to be over in a couple of weeks.' Then an announcement comes: 'We've defeated them. It's over.' Well, to the 50,000-plus soldiers that are there in the CENTCOM [area of responsibility] right now, it doesn't feel over. And so you wonder when will this end? When do we attack the enemy center of gravity? When do we use and move to that tragic definition of a word called quagmire, where we're in something that we don't seem to be able to get out of? I think that would be, if I were there right now, I'd be doing my duty. But at the same time might be wondering 'what's the victory look like? What does victory look like in this effort that I'm in right now?'"
"Thankfully, since time immortal, soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, members of the Space Force — they fight for their buddy next to them," Boles said. "When I would deploy, there'd be a lot of things people would say about me, but nobody would ever say I didn't care, and nobody would ever say I could have done more. I would not want to lose faith in my fellow troopers that I was with. I know that is the attitude that is there with them now. "We didn't vote to be here, but by God, nobody's going to say we're not doing our level best while we're here.' And they will do that. We have a history of doing that for quite a while when we have to. So that is what will sustain them while they're there, now."
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The Iran war is nearing its six-month mark, far past the four to five weeks that President Trump had initially estimated.
Most Americans are feeling the effects of the war through rising fuel costs, food costs and some imports. But for the men and women in the military, the war is both more pronounced and more uncertain.
Major General Vincent Boles retired after 33 years serving in the U.S. Army. He joined Scripps News to explain the effects of the war on U.S. servicemembers, and give insight into what they may be thinking as the deployment continues its uncertain schedule.
"They'll follow the orders they're given because that's the way they're disciplined. But the challenge becomes the open-ended nature of this," Boles said. "You know, 'it's going to be over in a couple of weeks.' Then an announcement comes: 'We've defeated them. It's over.' Well, to the 50,000-plus soldiers that are there in the CENTCOM [area of responsibility] right now, it doesn't feel over. And so you wonder when will this end? When do we attack the enemy center of gravity? When do we use and move to that tragic definition of a word called quagmire, where we're in something that we don't seem to be able to get out of? I think that would be, if I were there right now, I'd be doing my duty. But at the same time might be wondering 'what's the victory look like? What does victory look like in this effort that I'm in right now?'"
"Thankfully, since time immortal, soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, members of the Space Force — they fight for their buddy next to them," Boles said. "When I would deploy, there'd be a lot of things people would say about me, but nobody would ever say I didn't care, and nobody would ever say I could have done more. I would not want to lose faith in my fellow troopers that I was with. I know that is the attitude that is there with them now. "We didn't vote to be here, but by God, nobody's going to say we're not doing our level best while we're here.' And they will do that. We have a history of doing that for quite a while when we have to. So that is what will sustain them while they're there, now."
-------------------------------------
Follow Scripps News on other platforms—
Join our newsletter at bit.ly/2q1tepr
Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/scrippsnews
Follow us on X: https://x.com/scrippsnews
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/scrippsnews
Follow us on TikTok: tiktok.com/@scrippsnews
