Wall Street Journal: The U.S. military says it has helped more than 3,000 commercial vessels transit the strait over the past six months, enabling Persian Gulf oil exports to surpass prewar levels in recent weeks. Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, flew over the waterway last weekend as Central Command marked 1.5 billion barrels of oil exported since the summer.
But the unrelenting pace of flight operations—spread across two aircraft carriers, an amphibious assault ship and air bases across the Middle East—is putting a strain on aircraft and crew members, as well as on a vast network of mechanics and maintainers charged with ensuring the planes can fly day in and day out, according to U.S. officials familiar with the missions…