Bay Area Rep. John Garamendi Confirms Travis Air Force Base Used by US in Iran War

Bay Area Rep. John Garamendi confirmed Wednesday that aircraft from Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield are involved in ongoing United States military operations in Iran and criticized the administration’s attacks on civilians.

“The refueling programs and planes at Travis most definitely are involved, and undoubtedly the transports are also,” Garamendi, who represents parts of the East and North Bay, which includes the base, told KQED. “As of [Wednesday] morning, no service members directly associated with Travis have been injured or killed. That may change.”

Officials with the base directed KQED to the U.S. Central Command, who did not respond to questions about Travis’s role in the war or the scope of the base’s involvement.

Garamendi also confirmed reports that a refueling aircraft from Beale Air Force Base, north of Sacramento, was involved in an incident that resulted in the death of six service members last week.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement at the time that two KC-135 refueling tankers were flying over friendly airspace when one of the planes crashed in Iraq, killing all six aboard. The other, from Beale, landed safely in Israel.

“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” Central Command said.

Pictures of the plane that landed, published by Israeli media, show a damaged tail fin and markings identifying it as coming from Beale AFB.

“The crew apparently was not from Beale,” Garamendi said, “and the plane that did crash was not from Beale.”

After the start of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, U.S. Northern Command ordered heightened security measures at military installations across the country.

A spokesperson for Travis told KQED earlier this month that valid identification would be required for all personnel and visitors and warned people to expect delays.

Garamendi, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been highly critical of America’s attacks on Iran and of its handling by top members of the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The entire operation is illegal, unconstitutional,” Garamendi said. “In this case, the president simply woke up one morning and decided he’s going to go to war. [He] never consulted Congress, and the result of that is the chaos that exists. Chaos within the operations, the missile strike on a school. We undoubtedly will have additional casualties, civilian casualties.”

President Donald Trump has deflected questions about whether America was responsible for a missile strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed roughly 170 civilians, mostly young girls. When asked, he suggested that Iran was responsible for the strike.

But the New York Times has reported that preliminary findings from the military investigation into the strike point to the U.S.

“The final report from the Department of Defense has not been issued,” Garamendi said. “All of the information that has been gathered, both public and private, would lead to the conclusion that it was an American missile.”

Garamendi and other members of Congress recently signed a letter to Hegseth requesting information on this specific bombing and on the U.S. efforts to minimize civilian casualties. The congressman said he hopes to get answers soon.

“Here we are in week three of this war, and it looks as though there’s going to be more days ahead and more deaths. Hopefully no more schools, but we’ll see.”