An Army major who survived an Iranian drone strike that killed six U.S. soldiers says military leaders brushed off warnings about the outpost’s defenses, challenging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s claim that the site was “fortified.”
“I feel this is a tactical failure by the Army, our leadership, and myself — all the way down to my level,” Maj. Stephen Ramsbottom told 60 Minutes in an exclusive interview. “We just did not plan this well, and this needs to be a lesson that we learn.”
Ramsbottom sent a whistleblower complaint to the House and Senate Armed Services committees on Friday, CBS News reported. He alleged that Army leaders dismissed concerns about the defenses at Port Shuaiba, a U.S. command post in Kuwait.
The complaint also said the post “had no physician, no fixed aid station, and only one ambulance,” according to CBS News.
The March 1 strike came within the first 24 hours of the war with Iran. At a news conference the next day, Hegseth said the drone had slipped through defenses and struck a fortified command post — but insisted troops were well protected, the outlet reported.
“Every once in a while you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter that makes its way through,” Hegseth said. “And in that particular case it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified. But these are powerful weapons.”
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment to CBS on Ramsbottom’s allegations, including whether the post was adequately protected.
After reviewing the whistleblower complaint, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on Hegseth to brief lawmakers in a classified setting and turn over the military’s security assessments for the outpost.
“The families of the six fallen servicemembers, the wounded survivors, and the American people deserve transparency and accountability,” Blumenthal wrote in the Sunday letter.
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