By Jonah Kaplan and Michael Kaplan
Updated April 9, 2026 / CBS News
Members of the Army’s 103rd Sustainment Command who survived the March 1 attack in Kuwait say the Pentagon’s public description of the incident understates how exposed their unit was when six U.S. service members were killed and more than 20 were wounded.
For the first time, multiple soldiers from the 103rd spoke to CBS News about the blast and its aftermath, saying the compound at the Port of Shuaiba lacked sufficient defenses against aerial threats. They challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s portrayal of the strike as a single drone that merely “squeaked through” a fortified position, saying that characterization misrepresents the site’s vulnerabilities.
“To say one just slipped through is not accurate,” an injured soldier said on the condition of anonymity because of military media rules. “The unit was not prepared to provide its own defense. It was not a fortified position.”
Photos and videos obtained by CBS News show smoke, fire and structural damage at the small outpost south of Kuwait City where the unit had set up a tactical operations center. Soldiers describe the facility as similar to older expeditionary bases—lightweight metal and wood structures inside perimeter barriers made of T-walls, which can blunt mortar or rocket blasts but offer little protection from weapons attacking from above.
According to survivors, the morning of the strike began with incoming missile alarms that sent roughly 60 troops into a cement bunker as a ballistic missile passed overhead. At about 9:15 a.m., an all-clear was issued and many removed helmets and returned to a makeshift workspace the width of about three trailers. Roughly 30 minutes later, witnesses say the compound took a direct hit from what they identified as a Shahed-style Iranian drone.
“Everything shook,” one soldier recalled. “Your ears are ringing, your vision is fuzzy. There’s dust and smoke everywhere.” He described severe head wounds, heavy bleeding, perforated eardrums and shrapnel injuries to multiple personnel.
Survivors said immediate medical care was improvised: bandages fashioned from clothing, makeshift splints and tourniquets, and comrades using civilian vehicles to rush the wounded to hospitals in the Kuwait City suburb of Fahaheel. Some said they worried not all the dead and injured had been evacuated during the initial chaotic response.
The 103rd members also questioned planning decisions that placed their unit within known Iranian strike range. About a week before the offensive known as Operation Epic Fury, most U.S. troops in Kuwait were repositioned farther away and told to “get off the X.” Several dozen soldiers from the 103rd were instead ordered to relocate to Port of Shuaiba to manage logistics—moving equipment, munitions and personnel across the area. Troops said they had seen intelligence indicating the post could be a potential target.
“We moved closer to Iran, to a deeply unsafe area that was a known target,” a service member said. “I don’t think there was a good reason ever articulated.”
Pentagon officials, including officers and Assistant Secretary of Defense Sean Parnell, have said precautions were taken and described the facility as fortified with six-foot walls. A Defense Department spokesperson declined to comment to CBS News on the soldiers’ specific claims, citing an ongoing investigation into the Port of Shuaiba attack.
Survivors said the public framing of the strike as a single drone that somehow slipped past defenses does not match the experience they lived through or the compound’s limited capabilities. One soldier said he did not want to undermine morale or disparage the Army broadly, but that acknowledging failures was necessary to prevent future losses.
When asked whether the danger they faced was an inherent risk of combat, the soldier agreed it was. Asked if he believed the strike was preventable, he answered, “In my opinion, absolutely, yes.”
Despite their criticisms of planning and protection, the survivors emphasized the courage and sacrifice of their fallen comrades. “I am very sad for their loss and it’s something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life,” one said. “I’m also immensely proud of them and their sacrifice, and their families should be proud too.”
James LaPorta contributed to this report.