Commander rejected plans to rebase before deadly drone strike, sources say

American service members killed and wounded in an Iranian drone strike on a Kuwaiti port had access to safer relocation sites in Saudi Arabia, but their commander chose to keep the unit at the exposed post instead, according to multiple sources who spoke with CBS News. Roughly a week before Operation Epic Fury began, most U.S. troops in Kuwait shifted to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, out of range of Iranian missiles. Leaders of the 103rd Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve logistics unit, considered two Saudi alternatives — Logistical Support Area Jenkins near Yanbu and Prince Sultan Air Force Base near Riyadh — but Brig. Gen. Clint Barnes instead opted to relocate to Port of Shuaiba, roughly 30 miles from Kuwait City and 65 miles from Iran, following a precedent set by a different unit during a brief 2025 Israel-Iran conflict.

Sources said Army intelligence had warned Barnes as early as January that Shuaiba could be targeted, yet he moved forward anyway; one service member called it "the easy button." The March 1 strike killed six troops and wounded more than 20. Prince Sultan Air Force Base was also struck, damaging an Air Force jet but causing no deaths.

Survivors and the family of Maj. Cody Khork, one of the soldiers killed, have described inadequate medical resources and force-protection warnings that went unheeded. The Army has not released the results of a completed internal probe, and the Pentagon has defended its safety measures while asking for "patience."

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News →