Retired Marine Col. Mike Jernigan on FOX News Thursday, based on recent comments from the president and defense secretary, he expects U.S. forces to be on the ground in Iran soon — or at least on the ground on Kharg Island. Jernigan commanded the 1st Marine Combat Engineer Battalion in Iraq in 2003. “he Iranians, I believe, have forgotten there are two Marine Expeditionary Units in the area, 5,000 Marines, and another several thousand soldiers from the 82nd Airborne,” he said.

RET. COL. MIKE JERNIGAN: There is an expression about “mess around and find out.” I think the Iranians are about to get into the stage of “find out.” Kharg Island is significant, as your viewers know, for all the economics. That’s where the money gets out of Iran through their oil refineries. And the Iranians, I believe, have forgotten there are two Marine Expeditionary Units in the area, 5,000 Marines, and another several thousand soldiers from the 82nd Airborne. Those soldiers can drop anywhere in the country on a plane ride’s notice. And the Marines, well, they made their history taking islands. So I think this is a strong signal from the president that he is running out of patience with the Iranians’ inability to accept a deal. HARRIS FAULKNER: I always wonder with missions like this. Our military is so mighty – and I always appreciate your service, Colonel – it is so mighty that it can do several things at once. So you go in, you hit military sites. It is also giving you eyes, maybe interior to that country, that you only have when you are attacking it. And we know there are a lot of nuclear sites there that are tight, and we’ve hit one through Operation Midnight Hammer. But what else might we be able to keep an eye on when we’re hitting like this? It doesn’t have to just be at night. We can hit them in the daytime, too. MIKE JERNIGAN: Absolutely. We own the night, but we also own the day, too. And so you make a very good point — the U.S. military is capable of doing multiple planning, operation, and execution all at once. You will have entire teams developing targeting packages. To answer your question, I think we’ll see probably more strikes on some of the infrastructure, bridges used to move military forces, perhaps to reinforce Kharg Island or mount a counterattack, and see more of the same of, hey, you won’t have any air defenses. Any time you have a missile launch we see, we’ll shoot. It will be more of the same, plus more of the next level of going into the country’s infrastructure that can be used for military purposes. HARRIS FAULKNER: Counterattack to try to defend Kharg Island, yeah. You bet we could see them move it in from the sky. A mighty thing for them to try to do. It would take everything they’ve got.

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