Recent military confrontations with Iran have killed four American soldiers, all of whom served in air defence units, following ballistic missile and drone attacks on military bases in Jordan and Iraq.
The casualties come amid a fundamental shift like warfare across the region, with increasing pressure on air defence systems and the physical protection of US bases. President Donald Trump has also indicated that American forces relied on another country’s air defence systems to intercept incoming missiles.
A Changing Battlefield
Unlike the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where infantry patrols and military convoys faced the greatest danger, many of the latest casualties have come from air defence units.
These soldiers had never entered Iranian territory. They were killed inside military bases located hundreds of miles from the main battlefront.
Since the war began in late February, Iran has launched approximately 8,500 missiles and drones at various targets across the Middle East, according to The Washington Post.
Despite interception efforts, around 100 attacks penetrated the defensive systems operated by the United States and its allies, according to a military official familiar with interception figures who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the information.
Brad Bowman, an army veteran and senior director at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said the change in warfare had placed severe pressure on the US military, particularly the army’s air defence units, to adapt rapidly.
Bowman said personnel operating these systems had become among the most heavily deployed and frequently serving forces in the army because of the changing nature of the conflict.
“These units have had to assume new responsibilities,” he said, pointing to Iran’s use of short-range drones and the difficulty involved in detecting and destroying them.
“Autonomy, artificial intelligence and mass production are making an already difficult mission for US Army air and missile defence personnel even more challenging.”
Political Dispute and Operational Weaknesses
Trump also sparked political controversy over the management of regional air defence operations.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he suggested that US forces may have depended on another country’s defence systems to intercept missiles, although he did not identify the country.
“If we had had different operators, that would not have happened,” Trump said. “When you let others do your work, sometimes things do not go well.”
The attacks have nevertheless renewed scrutiny of force protection and the preparedness of American facilities across the Middle East.
A military official told The Washington Post that these facilities were generally not designed to withstand retaliatory strikes. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, combat was concentrated inside those countries rather than at the regional installations supporting military operations.
Before the war with Iran, the Pentagon moved many personnel away from major bases in anticipation of possible Iranian retaliation against those facilities.
Iran’s response, however, proved broader than expected. Large and small military installations were struck, along with civilian infrastructure, while Tehran threatened to attack any country supporting US military operations.
Jordan and Iraq Under Fire
Iran has increasingly targeted Jordan in recent days because the United States was in the process of transferring additional aircraft there, according to a US official cited by The Washington Post.
In Jordan, Private First Class Isabella Gonzalez, 19, from Carrollton, Texas, and First Lieutenant Tyler James Fehan, 25, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, were killed after an Iranian missile struck Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on Friday, officials said.
The mission of the unit in which one of the soldiers served illustrates the scale of the operational challenge.
The unit was responsible for managing and operating integrated air defence systems combining the widely known Patriot system, designed to counter long-range ballistic missiles, with the less familiar Avenger field defence system.
The Avenger consists of weapons mounted on military vehicles equipped with Stinger missiles and a heavy machine gun.
Although the system was designed around 40 years ago as a final line of defence against helicopters and low-flying warplanes, the US military has been forced over the past decade to modify and upgrade it for use against drones, which have become a primary threat and generated sharply increased demand for the system.
A soldier who had previously been deployed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base told The Washington Post that many buildings there consisted of metal trailers and thin-walled tents that could not withstand missile, rocket or drone attacks.
Even newer structures at some regional bases, which now include multiple layers of thick walls, cannot protect personnel from a direct ballistic missile strike, the soldier said.
“There is no expectation that these bases will be attacked,” he added. “The theatre is not prepared for this kind of prolonged threat. That is why you are seeing the strikes we are taking.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing US officials familiar with the matter, that the Iranian ballistic missile attack that killed two American soldiers at the Jordanian air base struck prefabricated accommodation units where troops had been sleeping.
Iraq was also targeted.
Iran struck Erbil Air Base, where a sergeant was killed during the controlled detonation of an Iranian one-way attack drone, officials said.
Iran’s Pressure Strategy
According to analysis by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the attacks reflect an Iranian strategy of punishing regional countries that host American military forces, with the aim of forcing the United States out of the region.
The significant improvement in Iran’s long-range strike capabilities appears to have provided Tehran with a means of using force more openly against regional rivals and imposing greater costs on them.
According to the foundation’s analysis, Tehran’s preferred approach has been to portray attacks on these countries as being limited to military facilities used by the United States to strike Iran.
Jordan and other regional countries have rejected that justification, describing the attacks as a clear violation of their national sovereignty and international law, and as a threat to regional stability.
