Several soldiers from a U.S. Army reserve unit say they warned leadership weeks before an Iranian strike that their post in Kuwait needed more medical support — and that those warnings were ignored. Survivors tell CBS News that at least one of the six service members killed in the March attack might have survived if more medical resources had been available on site.
The strike — part of the Pentagon’s campaign it calls Operation Epic Fury — killed six U.S. service members and wounded about 20, the deadliest attack on American troops since the Iran war began. Members of the Army’s 103rd Sustainment Command who were stationed at a small outpost at the Port of Shuaiba describe chaotic, hurried medical evacuations and say they had expected a larger medical response that never arrived.
“This was a failure,” said Major Stephen Ramsbottom, a career soldier who was at the post. He said he believed Master Sergeant Nicole Amor, who was mortally wounded, could have survived had there been a doctor, a fixed aid station, or more than a single ambulance on site. “She could have been saved,” he said. “She fought the whole way and was trying to stay alive.”
Ramsbottom and others said they anticipated ambulances or a medical convoy rushing in after the blast. Instead, he said, “It was like, oh man, we’re on our own.” Eight soldiers from the unit have disputed the Pentagon’s account of both pre-attack preparations and the immediate response in interviews with CBS News.
Two soldiers speaking on condition of anonymity said their requests to leadership focused on increasing the number of medical personnel and improving access to medical supplies. Master Sergeant Ann Marie Carrier, another survivor, said the Army had not rehearsed mass-casualty procedures ahead of the Iranian campaign and that no realistic run-throughs took place.
“We didn’t have any training,” Carrier said. After the blast, she and others said they had to commandeer civilian passenger vans and rush wounded to the nearest hospital, Adan Hospital south of Kuwait City, because a formal medical response was not in place.
Accounts of the attack: alarms and a tin roof
Soldiers described the sequence that day as terrifying and disorienting. Before dawn, missile alarms sent roughly 80 to 100 troops at Port of Shuaiba into a cement bunker when an incoming Iranian ballistic missile passed overhead. Around 9:15 a.m., an all-clear was sounded and personnel returned to the command post. Minutes later, a drone embedded with explosives struck the workspace, punching through a tin ceiling and spraying shrapnel.
“It went black,” Ramsbottom recalled. He suffered a piece of glass lodged in the back of his head. Carrier remembers the lights going out and the smell of blood as she scrambled to find and help colleagues; she was seated next to Amor. “When I got up, I know I instantly started screaming her name,” Carrier said. She described Amor as a close friend. Survivors said Amor was still breathing when they lifted her into a passenger van, but medics who rode with them lacked the supplies to stabilize her airway, and she died after arrival at the hospital.
Ramsbottom said he believed if an ambulance or a better-equipped medical team had arrived sooner, Amor might have survived. He said he is speaking out to push for changes so other units are not left similarly exposed.
Concerns about protection and prior warnings
About a week before the operation began, several dozen members of the 103rd were moved from Camp Arifjan, a large U.S. base, to the smaller Port of Shuaiba outpost. The post was surrounded by steel-reinforced T-walls, barriers designed to protect against ground-based mortars and rockets but not against aerial attacks. Soldiers told CBS News U.S. intelligence had warned as early as January that Iran might target their position.
At operations and intelligence meetings two weeks before the strike, soldiers said they raised concerns about drone defense and overhead protection. “We were told: Don’t worry about protection,” Ramsbottom said. He and others disputed a description offered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the weapon “squirted” through defenses, arguing the outpost had effectively no overhead shielding — just a tin roof.
Pentagon response and investigation
A Pentagon spokesperson said the department took “extraordinary steps” to protect U.S. forces before and during Operation Epic Fury and called accusations of blatant disregard for troop safety “unfounded and inaccurate.” Capt. Tim Hawkins of U.S. Central Command said an investigation into the Kuwait attack is ongoing.
Those who survived say they feel let down by their leadership and worry that without changes, other units could face the same gaps in planning and medical readiness. “It’s saddening, disheartening,” Carrier said. Ramsbottom added that sharing his account is intended to prompt better planning and prevent future loss of life: “It’s a lesson learned. There could be other units in this very similar situation in the future. And if they plan properly, they can save more lives than we saved.”