DAKAR, Feb 3 - The U.S. has sent a small team of troops to Nigeria, the general in charge of the U.S. command for Africa said on Tuesday, the first acknowledgment of U.S. forces on the ground since Washington struck by air on Christmas Day.

The U.S. Army has stood up a rotational force in the Philippines, according to recently released defense media. Army Rotational Force-Philippines, a previously unknown formation, was revealed for the first time Thursday following a meeting last month between the ground service and Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia in Manila.

As President Donald Trump considers a major strike on Iran after discussions about limiting that nation’s nuclear program and ballistic missile production haven’t progressed, the US military has accelerated a weeks-long buildup of military hardware in the Middle East,

Congress is backing increases to the size of the military, having passed and proposed final legislation that will raise and fund rises in end strength.

The scale of the buildup seems aimed at readying forces for expansive operations, analysts said.

The Pentagon has sent a host of U.S. military assets into the Middle East over the past several weeks, including an aircraft carrier group and its thousands of troops, as

U.S. Africa Command’s Gen. Dagvin Anderson did not say if the loss of military bases in nearby Niger has hampered security efforts in the region.

U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll writes that the service, despite raising standards and eliminating barriers in 2025, has "only scratched the surface."