A U.S. Army major has alleged that military leadership’s “tactical failure” contributed to the deaths of American servicemen in the war with Iran.
Maj. Stephen Ramsbottom filed a complaint with the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, and spoke to CBS News’ 60 Minutes about his allegations.
An Army major accused leaders of ignoring concerns over lax fortifications at a site which saw the deaths of six U.S. servicemen in a drone strike.
Ramsbottom survived the March 1 Iranian drone attack on the U.S. command post in Kuwait known as Port Shuaiba, where six of his fellow service members died.
The strike was the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in the conflict thus far and occurred within the first 24 hours after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28.
“I feel this is a tactical failure by the Army, our leadership, and myself—all the way down to my level,” Ramsbottom told 60 Minutes’ Norah O’Donnell in an interview set to air in full Sunday night.
“We just did not plan this well, and this needs to be a lesson that we learn.”
In his complaint, obtained by CBS News, Ramsbottom alleged that Army leadership ignored concerns about thin fortifications at Port Shuaiba.
The Shuaiba port base (photographed in July 2021) in Kuwait was attacked on March 1, and Army Maj. Ramsbottom described the fatality level as a ‘tactical failure.’
Staff Sgt. David Simon/U.S. Army
The document also states that the command post “had no physician, no fixed aid station, and only one ambulance.”
Ramsbottom’s account raises questions about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s description of the military’s defenses following the deadly attack.
Speaking to reporters the day after the strike, Hegseth said: “Every once in a while you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a ‘squirter,’ that makes its way through.
“And in that particular case it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified. But these are powerful weapons.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
Hegseth has not yet publicly addressed Ramsbottom’s complaint, but Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has called for him to appear at a classified briefing.
The day after the attack, Hegseth said that the event was a ‘squirter’ of ‘powerful weapons’ that made its way through fortifications.
According to CBS News, a letter from Blumenthal dated Nov. 15 states: “The families of the six fallen servicemembers, the wounded survivors, and the American people deserve transparency and accountability.”
Ramsbottom’s filing came just three days after a House vote on Hegseth’s impeachment, in which the absence of several Democrats helped the defense secretary narrowly escape the political reckoning.
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