WRAL News is working to find out if troops from North Carolina are involved in military operations in Iran.
WRAL News asked Gov. Josh Stein about it on Monday, and he could not say for certain.
“At this point, I don’t [know],” Stein said. “Although … I do know. I just don’t know specifically which ones,” he said, referring to which companies or battalions will deploy to the Middle East.
“There is no conflict in this world where residents of North
Carolina are not at the tip of the spear. Whether it’s Camp Lejeune [with]
Marines or Fort Bragg [with] our Army.”
A WRAL News viewer named Adam sent in an email, saying, “I
wanted to write in as a resident of Wayne County. There is a great possibility
that Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is involved in the Iran conflict. While it
may seem smaller than Camp LeJeune or Fort Bragg, it does have a large presence
in this county and in history. [I] just wanted to speak my mind and make sure
we weren’t forgotten about.”
The Air Force has not said whether airmen from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base are involved. However, fighter squadrons would typically respond to situations like the War on Iran.
North Carolina is home
to a large military footprint. It includes:
Fort Bragg (U.S. Army)
It is the largest post in the U.S. military, one of the biggest in the world. Fort Bragg covers more than 160,000 acres and is home to the 82nd Airborne, the 16th Airborne Corps, United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), the U.S. Army Reserve Command, the 18th Aviation Brigade, 4th Medical Command and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
Fort Bragg has 50,622 active-duty troops and 14,076 civilian
personnel.
Nearby Pope Army Airfield (Air Force) has 2,100 active-duty
troops and 500-plus civilian personnel.
Camp Lejeune is home to Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard commands
and multiple training schools. It’s the largest marine corps base on the East
Coast with 35,186 active-duty troops and 5,704 civilian personnel.
Air Station New River (Marine Corps) has 5,607 active-duty
troops and 186 civilian employees.
In Goldsboro, the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base has about 4,100 active-duty troops. It is the home of F-15E Strike Eagles. The 4th Fighter Wing squadrons can deploy worldwide on short notice.
In Craven County, Air Station Cherry Point has 5,973
active-duty troops and 5,422 civilian personnel.
In Pasquotank County, there is the Coast Guard’s Air
Station Elizabeth City and the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point in
Southport. The Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point is the largest military terminal
in the world.
The Army also has offices in Charlotte and Durham.
The National Guard also has 11,000 members across the state,
with its main office in Wake County.
The Outer Banks is also a U.S. Coast Guard sector.
In all, there are more than 100,000 active-duty, reserve and
guard members across North Carolina.
Other worldwide missions, operations and conflicts that NC
troops are involved in
Iran is the big military story right now, but there are many other recent military operations worldwide that involved troops from North Carolina.
It includes the Operation
Southern Spear, which is a counter-narcotics enforcement operation in the
Caribbean. Some 2,200 Marines are part of the operation, including several from
North Carolina.
The July
2025 military surge in the Pacific included fighter squadrons out of
Seymour Johnson.
When the U.S. captured deposed
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Marines and special operations units
connected to North Carolina were part of that.
When the federal government needed help with immigration
enforcement in Florida, troops from New River mobilized to work with the United
States Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE], providing logistical and
administrative support.
The National Guard is often deployed to help North Carolinians
recover from a hurricane. It includes the damage from Hurricane Helene in
September 2024.
Economic impact of military presence in North Carolina
According to the
North Carolina Military Business Center, North Carolina’s military
footprint is the second-largest sector in the state, generating $79.7 billion
in 2024. It accounted for 12.8% of the state’s GDP.
Eighty-one of North Carolina’s 100 counties are home to a
company that has a
prime contract with the Department of Defense.
The North
Carolina Department of Instruction estimates there are 100,000 school-age
children of active-duty military.
The UNC System reports it
has 23,000 military-affiliated students.
Every year, 20,000 service members transition out of
the military into other industries in North Carolina. There are at least 700,000
veterans in North Carolina, the eighth-largest veteran population in the U.S.
There are countless medical providers set up for
service members, including the VA, TRICARE services and others.
Entire North Carolina municipalities have been built to
service military families: Restaurants, retail, real estate and others.
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