Tag: pentagon

Army survivors of deadly attack in Kuwait dispute Pentagon’s account, say unit “was unprepared” to defend itself

Survivors of the deadliest Iranian attack on U.S. forces since the war began have disputed the Pentagon’s description of events and said their unit in Kuwait was left dangerously exposed when six service members were killed and more than 20 wounded.

Speaking publicly for the first time, members of the targeted unit offered CBS News a detailed account of the attack and its harrowing aftermath from the perspective of those on the ground. 

The members CBS News spoke to disputed the description of events from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who described the drone as a “squirter” — in that it squirted through the defenses of a fortified unit inside Kuwait.

“Painting a picture that ‘one squeaked through’ is a falsehood,” one of the injured soldiers told CBS News. “I want people to know the unit … was unprepared to provide any defense for itself. It was not a fortified position.”

That service member, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of rigid media restrictions within the military, said that in spite of the carnage that ensued, those inside the charred and splintered compound responded with swiftness, ingenuity and valor that saved lives.

“I don’t think that the security environment or any leadership decision diminishes in any way their sacrifice or their service,” the member of the Army’s 103rd Sustainment Command said in an interview. “Those soldiers put themselves in harm’s way and … I’m immensely proud of them, and their family should be proud of them.”

These first eyewitness accounts, along with photos and videos of the attack’s aftermath obtained exclusively by CBS News, offer the first descriptions of what occurred March 1 at the thinly fortified Kuwaiti port facility on the day of the Iranian drone strike.

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Pentagon’s UFO Office to Be Eliminated Under New Bill

Representative Tim Burchett moved to dismantle the Pentagon office that investigates UFOs under legislation introduced this week.

The bill written by the Tennessee Republican would eliminate the Defense Department’s All‑domain Anomaly Resolution Office and redistribute its responsibilities across the Pentagon, while also prohibiting the creation of any future office that holds centralized authority over investigations into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), often referred to as UFOs.

Newsweek reached out to Burchett’s office and the Pentagon for comment via email on Wednesday afternoon.

Why It Matters

Burchett has been a long-time advocate for transparency around the U.S. government’s investigations into UFOs, and has claimed that a multi-decade cover-up has been perpetrated by federal agencies. A recent spate of disappearances of people linked to UFO research has heightened scrutiny around the topic.

Burchett’s bill aims to terminate the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which sits within the Department of Defense, currently styled as the Department of War by the Trump administration.

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Pentagon calls Individual Ready Reserve a ‘mobilization asset’ in new policy

A new Pentagon policy for veterans still in the Individual Ready Reserve puts a sharper tone on how the Pentagon views inactive soldiers, moving from a last resort to a backup source for manpower.

“First and foremost, the [Individual Ready Reserve] is a mobilization asset. Deliberative plans will be in place that account for the use of the IRR, especially in plans for full mobilization,” according to a Department of Defense instruction released March 23.

The Individual Ready Reserve, or IRR, is made up of service members who have left active duty or traditional reserve roles with remaining time on their original service contract. IRR members return to civilian life and are considered veterans rather than military members, but are subject to recall to active duty in times of war or national emergency if needed.

The updated IRR rules arrive just months after Congress directed the military to do a 21st-century mass mobilization exercise. 

Though the day-to-day policies in the new guidance are largely unchanged from the last decade, including the rules around attending musters, the language reflects a “new philosophy” for the Inactive Ready Reserve, said Steve Minyard, director at Reserve Organization of America.

“The IRR used to be a place where you would just go and sit and the military didn’t really care what you did, and they didn’t care your skill set, because you just sat there to fulfill your full contract,” said Minyard, a former senior enlisted advisor for the Pentagon office that oversees IRR policy and guidance. “You may have done four years on active duty, and then you owe four years into the IRR, you don’t want to actively drill, so you just sit there.”

But laying out a vision for the Inactive Ready Reserve as a “mobilization asset” suggests a new role.

“That is new,” Minyard said. “That was not in the other one. So this isn’t just a place for people to ride out their contract.”

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Latest Operation Epic Fury Data: 365 US Troops Wounded in Action, 13 Dead

The Pentagon has added Operation Epic Fury to its casualty database, as of April 3 showing 365 U.S. troops wounded in action and 13 killed.

The update marks the first time the Department of Defense has publicly included Operation Epic Fury in its official casualty tracking system, offering the clearest snapshot yet of the human toll tied to the operation. The figures provide new insight into how the military is tracking wounded and killed troops as the conflict unfolds.

The update follows weeks of rising casualty reports tied to the operation. On Friday and into Saturday, a search remained ongoing for one of two F-15E crew members taken down in Iran. U.S. officials said March 1 that three service members had been killed and five seriously wounded. By March 2, the number of those killed had risen to six.

Reporting later in March put the death toll at 13 and the number of wounded near 300, highlighting a steady increase as the operation expanded.  

Military.com sought clarification on how the Pentagon defines those killed in action, died of wounds, or non-hostile deaths. A Defense Department duty officer directed questions to U.S. Central Command.

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Why US Pilot Rescue Op Is Far From ‘Success’

The Pentagon has a long habit of “disguising and hiding the fact that they have been losing significant numbers to injury or even death of personnel,” and it can’t be ruled out that losses are written off as contractors, Stockholm University professor Isa Blumi told Sputnik.

“There are many people who work for the US military who have been taken out, who have been forced to leave their sites of operations. In that regard, we need to distrust most or everything that comes out of Washington,” Blumi, a renowned expert on modern Middle East affairs explained.

“That obviously includes information about deaths — of either the pilots of the original plane or the search and rescue mission itself, considering how many aircraft were actually destroyed,” the observer said.

Saturday’s operation can be characterized as a “success” only in so far as its coverage by the corporate media, “owned by the same people pushing for war on Iran,” diverted attention from other crises and scandals, including the war’s impact on ordinary Americans, Blumi said.

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Congress demands Dept of War release 46 secret UFO videos: ‘You’re gonna see some weird f–king s–t’

Members of Congress are demanding 46 military videos from the Department of War which insiders say offer convincing proof that advanced, non-human craft are operating on Earth.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) requested the long list of explosively titled files on Wednesday, which include 45 previously unreleased military clips.

The presence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena “in and around the sensitive airspaces of US military installations poses a threat to the security of the armed forces and their readiness,” according to the April 1 letter addressed to Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Those with knowledge of the long list of videos — which include titles like “Several UAP in vicinity of Columbus OH airport” and “UFOs in formation over Persian Gulf” — said the clips are shocking.

“You’re gonna see some weird f–king s–t,” a source who has viewed the videos told The Post.

The wildest clips include radar footage from thermal sensors, satellite images, and underwater photos of swarms of Unidentified Submerged Objects, the insider said.

One video shows several USOs going in and out of the water near a highly classified submarine, according to the source.

Some of the clips are in clear, full color, setting them apart from previously released footage. None show alien creatures.

One video on the list, titled “Syrian UAP instant acceleration, 2021,” was released on Feb. 3 by independent journalist Jeremy Corbell.

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Pentagon officials ‘cover up’ mounting casualties of troops in West Asia: Report

Nearly 750 US soldiers have been injured or killed since October 2023, The Intercept revealed in a new investigation released on 1 April – citing a defense official as saying that Washington is engaged in a “casualty coverup.”

At least 15 soldiers were injured last week in an Iranian attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia, two officials confirmed to the outlet, adding that “Hundreds of US personnel have been killed or injured in the region since the US launched a war on Iran just over a month ago.”

The report adds that CENTCOM’s updates have been outdated. 

“Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 303 US service members have been wounded,” CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins said at the start of this week. 

The Intercept found that “The comment was three days old and excluded at least 15 wounded in the Friday attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia,” adding that “The command did not reply to repeated requests for updated figures.”

The US military also refused to provide the outlet with a number of deaths since the start of the war on Iran. The Intercept says it is “no less than 15.” Washington has not publicly admitted to more than 13 deaths.

“This is, quite obviously, a subject that [War Secretary Pete] Hegseth and the White House want to keep under major wraps,” the anonymous defense official said. 

The report accuses the US Army of “hiding losses.”

The Intercept said that in 2024, the the government of former president Joe Biden provided it with detailed information regarding the attacks on US bases which began after the start of the Gaza genocide. 

At least 175 soldiers were injured or killed as a result of those attacks, including the three who died in January 2024 when an Iraqi drone struck a base on the Jordan–Syria border.

This number does not include contractors. “Statistics show that there were almost 12,900 cases of injuries to contractors in the CENTCOM area of operations during 2024 alone. More than 3,700 were the most serious non-fatal injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, requiring more than seven days away from work,” the report reveals.

Eighteen contractors were also killed, all of them in Iraq, according to The Intercept. “The numbers are likely significant undercounts, but if even the fractional number of known contractor injuries is added to the tally, the casualty count for Americans and those on US bases may top 13,600.”

Numbers released by US President Donald Trump’s government, on the other hand, “lack detail and clarity.”

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Pete Hegseth Cancels Suspension of Aircrew in Kid Rock Helicopter Flyby; “No Punishment. No Investigation.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday evening he is lifting the suspension of the aircrew involved in the flyby of 2 Army AH-64 Apache helicopters near music icon and Trump supporter Kid Rock’s Nashville, Tennessee area home on Saturday. Rock has also done several USO tours to perform for troops overseas in war zones.

NBC News reported earlier Tuesday that the Army had suspended the aircrew pending an investigation.

“Thank you @KidRock. @USArmy pilots suspension LIFTED. No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots”

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Hegseth Slashes ‘Faith Codes’ in Move to Make Chaplains the Spiritual Backbone of the US Military

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says his latest reforms will allow the Chaplain Corps to fulfill its mission of being the spiritual backbone of America’s military.

The number of faith codes used in the service has been winnowed down to 31, according to a War Department news release.

In 2017, the Pentagon issued a list of 221 groups that qualify as a religious group. The list included Wiccans and atheists, according to Stars and Stripes.

“The previous system had ballooned to well over 200 faith codes,” Hegseth said Tuesday.

“It was impractical and unusable, and many codes were never used at all,” Hegseth said, adding that most of the 82 percent of service members who identify as being religious used six of the codes.

The reduction “brings the codes in line with its original purpose, giving chaplains clear, usable information so they can minister to service members in a way that aligns with that service member’s faith background and religious practice,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth added that the chaplains will display their religious insignia on their uniforms instead of their ranks.

“A chaplain is first and foremost a chaplain, and an officer second. This change is a visual representation of that fact,” he said.

“While they will retain rank as an officer to those they serve, their rank will not be visible.”

Hegseth said his Chaplain Corps reforms are not over.

“These two reforms are big progress, but we’re not even close to being done. These are the first steps toward restoring the esteemed position of chaplain as moral anchors of our fighting force,” Hegseth said.

“Theirs is a high and sacred calling, but they can only be successful if they are given the freedom to boldly guide and care for their flock.”

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Pete Hegseth’s Christianity Is Not the Christianity of the Bible

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [fleshly]. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

The Apostle Paul

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sees himself as a crusader. He calls himself a Christian. He believes his faith instructs him to “kill the infidels.” And as did the crusaders in the Middle Ages, Hegseth views the “infidels” primarily as the Muslim people. But Hegseth’s “Christian” crusade goes well beyond that. If he were able to annihilate every Muslim on earth, he would then set his sights on anyone who does not share his heretical Christian Nationalist ideology.

With a “divine” mission to “kill, kill, kill” (Hegseth’s words), there is no need and no room for rules of engagement. In fact, Hegseth calls the rules of engagement “stupid.” There is no need and no room for Just War. There is no need and no room for international law. There is no need and no room for constitutional law. As Hegseth sees it, his wars are “anointed” by God.

Back in 2001 and 2003, GW Bush and the neocons in his administration justified the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by accusing the Muslims in those regions of being “religious fanatics.” And in truth, the fanatics within Islam are almost exclusively subgroups within Sunni Islam—including the members of ISIS, ISIL, al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, etc. You know, the Muslim fanatics that are supported by Donald Trump and the U.S. government, the ones that Trump helped to put in power in Syria. But they are rarely found (at least in large numbers) within Shia Islam.

Today, however, the “religious fanatics” are located in Washington, D.C., and in Christian Zionist evangelical churches, personified in Pete Hegseth.

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