New DoD records detail US troop wounds in first phase of Iran war: head trauma most common

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The United States recorded at least 17 life-threatening casualties during the first phase of the war with Iran, according to newly obtained Defense Department records that provide the most detailed accounting yet of troops wounded in the conflict. More than 400 casualties were recorded between February 28 and April 8, with Army personnel accounting for the majority.

The data, obtained by The War Horse, details the specifics of troop injuries from the beginning of the war through the second week of April, when the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. Although U.S. military operations continued in the region and several more troops were wounded, hostilities remained subdued until earlier this month, when President Donald Trump declared the truce over on July 8.

The records, obtained by The War Horse through a Freedom of Information Act request, include service members' branch, rank, injury type, and the date they were wounded. Each record accounts for an individual casualty incident, not a person, according to the DoD FOIA Analyst who processed the request, meaning that one person may have been injured multiple times.

Army Casualties

• More than 270 of the roughly 400 casualties were Army soldiers
• Approximately one-third of those were reservists
• Enlisted soldiers accounted for most Army casualties, including:
• 57 sergeants
• 53 specialists
• 64 Army officers were wounded, including:
• 20 captains
• 13 lieutenant colonels or colonels

Head Trauma, Shrapnel, Smoke: Wounds of the Iran War

The U.S. military logged more than 400 casualties from the beginning of the conflict in late February through early April.

That level of detail is absent from public reporting in the Defense Casualty Analysis System, which provides monthly totals for the conflict with limited demographic data. Until now, those sparse updates were the only public statistical accounting of the war's toll on U.S. troops.

"When you look at most of our wars, the Army does the vast majority of the fighting and dying," said John McManus, a professor and military historian at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

While McManus said it is typical for more troops to be wounded than killed in modern warfare, the ratio in this conflict is particularly high.

Casualties by Branch

| Branch | Casualties | Notes | |--------|------------|-------| | Navy | 64 | None classified as seriously injured | | Air Force | 51 | Injury type or cause not listed | | Marine Corps | 19 | Injury type or cause not listed |

Unlike the Army, the other branches did not list the type or cause of injury.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees forces in the Middle East region, did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails from The War Horse requesting comment.

'We Broke All the Tactical Level Rules'

The data obtained by The War Horse provides new details about the aftermath of several Iranian attacks, including some that had not been previously reported.

U.S. troops suffered shrapnel wounds, broken bones, smoke inhalation, and other injuries. But one category appeared far more often than any other: head trauma.

At least 170 troops sustained head trauma between the start of the war and early April, according to the data.

One of them was an Army colonel who was sitting at a desk in an operations center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on March 1 when an Iranian drone slammed into the building. The strike killed six U.S. service members in what remains the deadliest attack of the war.

"Everybody inside the build—"