Bahrain is the home of the Navy's 5th Fleet, making it a central hub for providing maritime security in the Middle East region, including protecting commercial shipping. The country is an island in the Persian Gulf that sits roughly 124 nautical miles away from the coast of Iran, which makes Bahrain well within range of Iranian drone and missile strikes.

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On the opening day of the war, the base, known as Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, was struck multiple times. Posts on social media showed a ballistic missile and Iranian drones slamming into the base. Satellite imagery from the company Planet shows that at least seven buildings in and around the base were struck between Feb. 28 and March 6.

In response to an NPR request, a Navy spokesman acknowledged that 1,500 sailors, their families and several hundred pets were relocated back to the U.S. from NSA Bahrain.

Sailors have been arriving in Norfolk, Va., home to the world's biggest naval base, since at least the middle of March. Several groups that provide aid to military personnel say that the sailors arrived with very little. A call went out to community groups, asking for basic supplies like hygiene products.

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"They literally told them, 'Get what you can get in the backpack. You've got to go,'" he said. "They came with no uniforms, nothing. The three we met first, they came with the clothes on their back, what they could fit in that backpack."

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When troops move overseas, they don't keep a home in the United States. The military requires service members to designate a safe haven where they will be relocated to in an emergency. Some of the sailors have gone to stay with relatives, while others remain on bases in the United States. MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., and Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina have also been hubs for returning flights.

On April 1, the Navy released updated guidance for sailors and families who were evacuated. The service has worked out how people can be reimbursed for living in hotel rooms, including families who were temporarily relocated to Italy and Germany before being transported back to the United States.