2 airmen died in noncombat incidents while supporting Iran war operations

Two airmen supporting U.S. operations against Iran died this month in noncombat incidents, the Pentagon revealed late Thursday, bringing the total number of American military fatalities in the war to 23. 

The incidents were logged in the Defense Casualty Analysis System, the Defense Department’s casualty database, on Oct. 29. The Department of Defense has not identified the two airmen. Or the specific time and location of their deaths, except that they occurred in October.

According to details in the casualty database, both airmen were noncommissioned officers, with one man in his early 30s and the other older than 35. One served as an active duty airman, and the other was serving with the Air National Guard. One airman died due to “illness/injury” while the other’s cause of death is listed as “pending.”

The two are the first Air Force deaths in the war in more than six months. Six airmen died in March in a mid-air collision between two refueling tankers. 

11 of the 23 troops who died while supporting the war with Iran were killed in hostile incidents, while the other 12 were non-hostile deaths. The majority of the dead died in the first few months of the war. However, more than half of the more than 800 wounded service members were injured since early July, in the category the Pentagon refers to as overseas operations. 

Earlier this month, the Pentagon revised the death toll to 21. The new figure added a soldier who died in the spring in a medical emergency and whose death had been acknowledged but not previously counted among the war casualties. The other death was a sailor with a Navy explosive ordnance disposal unit. The Washington Post reported her death was a suicide, although the database currently lists the cause as pending.

Direct fighting between Iran and the United States has been paused for several weeks, after a burst of back-and-forth attacks in early September, although the war continues. President Donald Trump has repeatedly talked about renewing attacks in the near future and more forces are en route to the U.S. Central Command area of operations. The USS Theodore Roosevelt and a Marine Expeditionary Force are currently sailing to the Middle East.

865 service members have been wounded in action since Feb. 28.