WASHINGTON – In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Congressman Pat Ryan (D, NY-18) and 12 other House Democratic veterans on Thursday called for an investigation into what they allege were force protection failures that led to the deaths of six U.S. service members in Kuwait.
Six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from the 103rd Sustainment Command were killed in a drone strike at a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait on March 1. The attack, which occurred during the opening hours of the war with Iran, targeted a tactical operations center.
“Secretary Hegseth owes the American people, especially the families of the six brave patriots who lost their lives in the attack on a U.S. military site in Kuwait, honest answers and full accountability,” said Ryan. “As President Donald Trump continues to escalate the war in the Middle East, it’s essential that we get answers on the department’s failure to understand and mitigate the widely known risk posed by one-way Iranian attack drones. With more than 50,000 troops in the region, we must urgently address these gaps.”
Ryan also accused Hegseth of refusing to take accountability for the deaths in Kuwait and misleading the media about the nature of the attack. A Pentagon official told Mid-Hudson News on Thursday afternoon that the incident remains under investigation.
“We have received the letter, and we welcome the opportunity to respond directly to their questions,” the official said.
In the letter, Ryan and his colleagues said that, based on direct testimony from service members injured in the attack and public reporting, “it is clear that there was a deadly failure to protect our troops from known and predictable Iranian capabilities.”
The members of Congress requested that all physical evidence from the Kuwait attack, operational data, firsthand accounts and after-action reviews be included in the probe. They also asked the Defense Department to outline the steps it is taking to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, asking for a written response from Secretary Hegseth by May 22.
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