April 29, 2026
FROM SENATOR GILLIBRAND: U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is launching an investigation into reports of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s failure to protect our troops during Operation Epic Fury. This week, she opened a new inquiry with the Department of Defense to demand answers from Secretary Hegseth on reports indicating that he failed to take basic steps to protect troops during Operation Epic Fury, including during a strike that killed six service members and injured twenty in Kuwait. “Secretary Hegseth’s reckless behavior and poor judgment put U.S. service members in danger and jeopardized our national security,” said Senator Gillibrand. “His incompetent leadership left troops without the support and preparation they needed to survive, and he must be held accountable for his blatant and callous carelessness.” On March 1, days into President Trump’s illegal war on Iran, an Iranian drone hit a U.S. military post in Kuwait, killing six American service members and injuring at least 20. The attack reportedly came with “no warning or sirens to alert troops to evacuate or get into a bunker.” After the attack, service members reported triaging their injuries themselves and having to “commandeer() civilian vehicles to drive the wounded to two local Kuwaiti hospitals.” Secretary Hegseth described the attack as a “powerful” Iranian drone hit that was able to get through “fortified” U.S. defenses. But survivors of the attack described his account as a “falsehood,” saying that the unit “was unprepared to provide any defense for itself” despite making requests “for more capabilities to defeat incoming drones.” Accounts from survivors and other officials indicate that the risks to service members in the region were known, but leadership at the Pentagon failed to take steps to prevent harm that could come from Iran’s retaliation. One service member recounted seeing intelligence revealing that “the post [they were relocated to] was on a list of potential Iranian targets.” Three other officials raised concerns that troop positions “concentrated too many U.S. troops in a location that wasn’t defendable.”
Survivors of the Kuwait attack have made clear that basic steps were not taken to keep U.S. troops safe, despite previous requests for more defenses against drones. In another case, the Pentagon failed to warn American ships of imminent attacks from Iran, a break from precedent that left the ships no way to evacuate service members and left them stranded for a month. “We are concerned that this is part of a larger pattern in which this administration has failed to protect Americans in the region from Iranian retaliation,” wrote the senators. The Pentagon also reportedly failed to warn troops of imminent attacks from Iran, a break from precedent that left the ships no way to evacuate service members and left them stranded for a month. One source said of Pentagon leadership that, “(t)hey literally do not think about the second-, third- or fourth-order implications” of these major operations. “The safety and well-being of our service members should be a top priority for DoD leadership. That requires careful consideration of major operations like Epic Fury and plans to prevent possible harm from foreseeable attacks, like retaliation with drone strikes,” said the senators. The senators asked Secretary Hegseth to explain the decision to place troops in Kuwait, why requests for additional protections were denied, and how the Pentagon is ensuring the protection of U.S. troops during Operation Epic Fury by May 11, 2026.
