Army completes investigation into deadly Iran strike in Kuwait

The Army has completed its investigation into the March 1 Iranian strike that killed six Americans at Kuwait’s Port of Shuaiba, and Gold Star families are expected to be briefed Thursday, July 10, on what commanders found. The attack hit a tactical operations center outside Kuwait City and became the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in the Iran War to date.

All six men killed were U.S. Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), based in Des Moines, Iowa, a logistics unit that moves food, fuel, water, ammunition and transportation support for deployed forces. The Army identified the dead in two stages, naming four on March 3 and the final two on March 5: Capt. Cody A. Khork, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, Sgt. Declan J. Coady, Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan.

Survivors said the warning signs came before the strike. They told investigators that the unit had asked for more medical support weeks earlier and believed some deaths could have been prevented if better resources had been in place. They also disputed the Pentagon’s description of the site as adequately fortified, saying the unit was left dangerously exposed and unprepared to defend itself when the unmanned aircraft system attack hit the port facility.

Dozens of service members were injured, with wounds that included brain trauma, shrapnel injuries and burns, and at least one wounded soldier could require an amputation. Smoke filled the building after the strike, and rescue efforts were hampered inside the tactical operations center.

Senate Democrats are pursuing their own investigation into the attack and the force-protection failures surrounding it.