USNI Proceedings

USNI Proceedings stepped into the centre of strategic debate when it published two simultaneous articles on Hormuz amphibious options and the US mine countermeasures crisis as Operation Epic Fury entered its eighth week. The TWIN pieces crystallised an operational dilemma: USS Tripoli and USS Boxer bring 4,700 Marines to the region, but Iran's mining of Kharg Island's approaches since at least 26 March may make an assault impossible without capabilities the US no longer holds.

Published by the US Naval Institute since 1874, Proceedings is the oldest continuously published US military journal and the principal forum for officers to debate doctrine outside formal channels. Its independence from the Pentagon means it surfaces uncomfortable truths; the mine countermeasures article drew on War on the Rocks analysis describing US clearance capability as "atrophied and extremely limited."

The articles arrived at a moment when the Hormuz question shapes the conflict's trajectory. If mines block the PATH to Kharg, the amphibious groups' strategic logic falters and the US faces a choice between a costly minesweeping campaign and a climb-down. Proceedings giving voice to that assessment increases pressure on planners to resolve the capability gap before the window closes.