Pentagon Adds Two Noncombat Airmen Deaths, Raising U.S. Iran War Toll to 23

The Pentagon's official count of U.S. military deaths in the Iran war stands at 23 after two Air Force airmen were added to its casualty database in updates logged Oct. 28 and 29.

Both deaths were classified as non-hostile, meaning they did not come from direct combat. Both occurred in October.

Of the 23 dead, 11 were killed in hostile incidents and 12 in non-hostile ones. Non-hostile deaths now narrowly outnumber combat deaths.

What the Air Force has said about the two airmen

An Air Force spokesperson said one airman was on active duty and the other served in the Air National Guard. The Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) lists both as mid- to senior-enlisted, grades E5 to E9. One was between 31 and 35. The other was older than 35.

One airman became ill, was medically evacuated to the United States, and died there. The database lists that death as illness or injury.

The other airman died inside U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility. That cause is listed as "pending." The spokesperson said the death is under investigation but did not say which agency is handling it.

The Air Force has not released either name. Defense Department policy normally calls for names to be made public 24 hours after next of kin are notified. The spokesperson declined to say why the names are being withheld or whether the families have been contacted. CENTCOM referred questions to the Air Force.

These are the first Air Force deaths in the war in more than six months. The last were six airmen killed March 12 when two KC-135 refueling tankers collided over western Iraq and one crashed.

Two buckets, one war

The Pentagon splits war casualties into two categories. Operation Epic Fury covers the opening campaign that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. It lists 15 deaths and 417 wounded.

A second category, "Overseas Operations," covers casualties since July 7. It lists eight deaths, four hostile and four non-hostile, and 448 wounded. The two new airmen were placed there.

A Pentagon official told Military Times the split exists because the U.S. considers Epic Fury concluded. A defense official previously put the end date at May 5. Officials have not publicly explained how that date was set.

Democratic members of Congress have criticized the arrangement. They accuse Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of trying to hide casualties by moving them out of the Epic Fury column. The Pentagon's stated reason is that the original operation ended and the current effort is a different one. Combined, the database shows 23 deaths since Feb. 28.

The count has also been revised. Earlier in October the Pentagon raised the count to 21. That revision added a soldier who died in the spring of a medical emergency, a death the department had acknowledged but not counted as a war casualty. It also added a Navy explosive ordnance disposal sailor. The Washington Post reported the sailor's death was a suicide. The database lists the cause as pending.

The wounded and the front

The Pentagon lists 865 service members wounded in action since Feb. 28. More than half of them, 448, were hurt after July 7, during what the department now calls Overseas Operations. That is the period the Pentagon describes as continued pressure on Iran, not the original war.

Iranian missile and drone attacks have killed U.S. personnel at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.

Direct fighting has been paused for several weeks after a burst of back-and-forth attacks in early September. The U.S. has kept a blockade of Iran in place since early April. The war is not over by any practical measure.

What comes next

The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 28 that President Donald Trump met with Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper on military options beyond the blockade. At a midterm campaign event, Trump said, "We may do another little Epic Fury."

More forces are already moving. The USS Theodore Roosevelt and a Marine Expeditionary Force are sailing to the Middle East.

Two questions remain open. The Air Force has yet to say who the two airmen were or what killed the one who died in the Central Command region. Any new strikes would also force a decision on which category the Pentagon uses to count the casualties.