So why did Trump wait so long to bomb Kharg Island if it was so central to his war strategy? LOL, these newbs need to come up with a better argument.
Kharg Island is what military planners would have (likely) deemed a "Strategic Center of Gravity", for Iran. COG is defined in US joint military doctrine as: "
The source of power that provides moral of physical strength, freedom of action, or will to act.".
There can be multiple and they are identified (and different) at the strategic, operational, or tactical levels. In WWII, for example the US industrial base/manufacturing capability was a COG. It couldn't be attacked directly by the axis but, operationally the flow of goods from that industrial base to England could be targeted. So the allies (if they had the doctrine) would have considered the German U Boat fleet as an Operational COG.
90% of all iranian exports flow through kharg. No kharg, no economy. No $$ for the government to fund a military or even govern for that mattter.
Because something is a COG, doesn't necessarily compel it's attack on day one. Operations are phased and there is a tempo to things with actions based upon how operations have unfolded thus far, if proper conditions have been set, and also based upon the commander's read of the battlefield.
In the case of Kharg... There was nothing compelling it to be bombed right off the bat and there were big reasons not to. An attack on Kharg is immediately ecalatory and risks Irans retaliation against the straight of hormuz or oil infrastructure in the region. There is also the environmental aspect as well. Also once achieve total air superiority, that target is always at risk at any time of the day or night. So attacking it initially removes it as a future option for ecalation attack on the enemy's national will.
The attack agains the military sites an not the oil infrastructure itself was a message, a reminder to Iran that we can strike it and ruin your economy permanently... while still leaving that option open. So it can always get worse. Moving marines and alerting the 82nd are also signals and interjects more bad news and general activity in the enemy's decision making process... and if the Iranians were thinking that "they won't bomb it it would be an ecological disaster", now they have to consider that we might just take it intact and sit on it. My $0.02.