At least one soldier who was killed in the Iranian strike on a US military outpost in Kuwait could have survived if requests for medical supplies weeks before had not been ignored, survivors said, in a report CBS published on Tuesday.
According to several soldiers, neither their unit nor the facility was prepared for the strike, which killed six US soldiers and wounded 20, the day after the war began on March 1.
The unit had expressed concerns weeks before about both the number of medical personnel on hand and the availability and accessibility of medical supplies, CBS wrote. They received no response.
Additionally, Master Sergeant Ann Marie Carrier told CBS that the Army had no plan for a mass-casualty event and that there were no run-throughs or rehearsals before the start of Operation Epic Fury.
“We didn’t have any training,” Carrier said. “There was really nothing in place for something like that to happen.”
Civilian vans used to reach local hospital
According to CBS, Carrier described the aftermath of the strike as unorganized and chaotic, with soldiers commandeering civilian vans and trying to find a local hospital for the wounded.
Major Stephen Ramsbottom told CBS that he believed one of the fallen soldiers, Master Seargant Nicole Amor, could have survived if there had been more medical personnel and supplies at the post.
Amor was one of the wounded who had to be transported in a civilian van. According to Carrier, when they set out for the hospital, Amor was still breathing. However, while a medic did join them, he did not have the proper supplies to treat or stabilize her, and she was no longer breathing when they reached the hospital.
“I think if she would have gotten an ambulance, I think she might have lived,” Ramsbottom told CBS.
US intelligence warned as early as January that the post would be an Iranian target, CBS cited several sources as saying, and several soldiers began to ask leadership for more drone defense.
The post was structured with concrete barriers around the building to shield soldiers from mortar and rocket fire, but it had little in the way of aerial defense, soldiers said.
“We had no overhead protection to keep anything from falling on us. We had a tin roof. That’s all we had,” Ramsbottom said.
However, they were told not to worry about protection, he added.
Pentagon claims drone got through fortified defenses
The Pentagon has maintained that the department had taken great steps to protect US soldiers before and during Operation Epic Fury.
"No plan is ever perfect, but accusations suggesting blatant disregard for the safety of our forces are unfounded and inaccurate," wrote Captain Tim Hawkins of US Central Command in a statement, according to CBS.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the drone as a “squirter” the day after the attack, explaining that it had squirted through the defenses of a protected unit.
Hawkins wrote that an investigation into the attack is ongoing.