Navy corpsmen wrap the wrist of a simulated casualty during an exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., on March 4, 2026. Approximately 200 American troops have been wounded in the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, according to U.S Central Command. (Mary Torres/U.S. Marine Corps)
Approximately 200 American troops across seven Middle Eastern countries have been wounded in the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran known as Operation Epic Fury, a U.S. Central Command spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
Ten of those troops were seriously wounded, said Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, chief spokesman for CENTCOM. The vast majority had minor injuries, and more than 180 of them have already returned to duty, he said.
Since the start of the war on Feb. 28, Iran has retaliated with thousands of drones and missiles aimed at U.S. bases in the region. Troops have been injured in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq and Israel.
Six Army reservists assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) were killed in a drone attack on Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on the second day of the war.
Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Bradley Clancy, left, wraps the wrist of a simulated casualty during an exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., on March 4, 2026. Since the start of the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran on Feb. 28, about 200 American troops have been injured, including 10 who were seriously wounded, according to U.S. Central Command. (Mary Torres/U.S. Marine Corps)
Another soldier, Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, died after being wounded during a March 1 attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Six airmen were killed last week when their KC-135 Stratotanker crashed in western Iraq. The crash was not due to hostile or friendly fire and is still under investigation, the Pentagon said.
Most of the injuries resulted from strikes with one-way attack drones, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Friday.
The U.S. has struck more than 7,000 targets in Operation Epic Fury as of Monday, including military headquarters, intelligence sites, Iranian ships, air defense systems and weapons production sites, according to CENTCOM.
