10
Loading video...
By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The U.S. Navy said its officials had "fully validated" the number of U.S. troops wounded in the Iran war after its publicly-visible count was quietly updated to show dozens more personnel had been injured in the conflict.
The Pentagon increased its casualty count of wounded service members by 37 earlier this week, the Washington Post reported on Friday. There was no accompanying announcement from the Pentagon nor explanation for the change.
Another 29 Navy sailors and eight Marines were marked as injured in the update to the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS. This database tracks U.S. troops wounded and killed in U.S. military operations.
Read More on World
"Due to standard verification protocols, updates to the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) have registered a recent statistical increase in Navy casualties," a Navy spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement.
The Navy said all 29 sailors had returned to active duty but their identities would not be made public.
As the Iran war reaches its seventh month, racking up more casualties will likely only make the conflict more unpopular with an American public preparing to head to the midterm ballot boxes. President Donald Trump this weekend said he had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane—which Iran has effectively controlled for months, wreaking havoc with global fuel supplies and prices—within a week.
...
Many news outlets, meanwhile, have pushed back against new, more restrictive Pentagon reporting rules, plus slashed access to Department of Defense sites and staff. The Pentagon has described itself as "the most transparent war department in history" despite going months without press briefings.
Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported at least four more U.S. service members had died in the Middle East since February than the Pentagon had publicly acknowledged, citing six unnamed U.S. officials familiar with the data. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the report "DISGUSTING and FAKE."
The DCAS database divides casualties from the Iran war into two distinct categories: those recorded during the months of fighting between February and June, and those killed or injured since July 7.
That date coincides with the breakdown of a ceasefire announced by President Donald Trump in June, after which the U.S. resumed airstrikes against Iran following Tehran's targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman, triggering nearly two weeks of consecutive nighttime attacks.
Those injured or killed in the Middle East after July 7 are described as Overseas Operations (OO) casualties. It effectively casts the weeks following the collapse of the ceasefire as a new conflict rather than a continuation of the war, originally codenamed Operation Epic Fury.
Some lawmakers and observers have for months argued this is an attempt to circumvent the need for congressional approval to continue military operations and minimize the perceived toll on U.S. forces in the region.
Top administration officials have veered away from labeling hostilities a war in recent weeks. "I wouldn't call it a war," Vice President JD Vance remarked in early September.
"Right now there's no active shooting," he said.
Since July 7, five U.S. personnel have been killed in the Middle East, according to DCAS. Four were killed in action, with one death described as "non-hostile."
Iranian attacks since July 7 have largely targeted U.S. military bases in the region, including a strike on an installation in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members. Another U.S. soldier was killed at a base in Iraq during what the Pentagon described as the "controlled detonation" of a drone.
The fallen service members who were killed in action were identified as 1st Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, Private Isabella Gonzales, Sergeant Angel Rampersad, and Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton.
On Wednesday, the Army identified the fifth dead service member as Capt. Bianca C. Wilkerson. She died on Sept. 18 “as a result of a non-combat related incident” while supporting overseas operations in Doha, Qatar.
In total, 443 U.S. personnel have been wounded in action since July 7, the Pentagon records show. Of these, 50 were Navy personnel and nine were part of the Marines.
Meanwhile, 418 troops were marked down as wounded in action during the phase designated by the casualty reporting database as "Operation Epic Fury." A further 14 servicemembers were killed during this period.
Update 9/27/2026 at 6:45 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines