Major Jeffrey O’Brien of Waukee was one of the six service members killed in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, “during an unmanned aircraft system attack,” the U.S. Army Reserve Command said in a news release on Wednesday. Like the four soldiers killed in the attack identified by the Pentagon on Tuesday, O’Brien served in the 103rd Sustainment Command. The unit “provides food, fuel, water, and ammunition to forces as well as transportation of equipment and supplies,” according to the Army Reserve.
The Iranian drone attack that killed the six service members came the day after the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury, their combined attack on Iran.
O’Brien was “commissioned in the Army Reserve as a Signal Corps Officer in 2012,” the Army Reserve said in its statement.
“O’Brien’s awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with ‘M’ Device.”
Jeffrey O’Brien was manager of Defensive Cyber Operations at ProCircular, a cybersecurity company in Coralville. He was 45 years old. NPR reported on Wednesday night that O’Brien’s family said they will be issuing a statement later.
O’Brien is one of two Iowans who were killed in the March 1 attack. Sgt. Declan Coady of West Des Moines, a 20-year-old Drake University student, was one of the four soldiers identified by the Pentagon on Tuesday, along with Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, all of whom served in the 103rd Sustainment Command.
The sixth soldier killed in Sunday’s attack has been provisionally identified as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan of Sacramento, California. “Positive identification of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Marzan will be completed by the medical examiner,” the Pentagon said in a news release late Wednesday afternoon.
During a news conference on Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke briefly about the attack that resulted in the first American deaths of Operation Epic Fury, saying, “that particular incident was, you know, you have air defenses and the lots coming in and you hit most of it. And we absolutely do.”
“We have incredible air defenders,” the secretary said. “Every once in a while you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter, that, that makes its way through. And in that particular case it happened to hit a — a tactical operation center. That was — that was fortified. But these are powerful weapons.”
Reporting by the Washington Post and other media organizations has called into question how well fortified the tactical operations center where the six soldiers were killed actually was.
The Post described the center as “a prefabricated, triple-wide trailer-style structure … flanked by tall concrete barriers to protect against ground threats … lacking overhead protection to defend against” drones.
“The Army’s counter-drone manual, updated last year, makes clear that troops and commanders should assess which sites are likely to be attacked and build overhead protection, which often includes steel reinforced roofs and coverings,” the Post wrote. “Protecting important structures like operations centers helps shield from enemy observation and limits ‘the damaging effects of an aerial attack,’ the manual says. Images show that the building struck in the attack was not protected by such structures.”
According to the Post, “The Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.”
CBS News reported that three officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the March 1 drone strike, said that “prior to the attack, there were discussions on the ground about whether the tactical operations center in question should not have been used, as it concentrated too many U.S. troops in a location that wasn’t defendable.”
The Pentagon did not respond to CBS News’s request for comment, beyond directing it to the statement on Tuesday naming four of the soldiers killed in the drone attack. But later, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell did dispute the reporting by CBS in a post on X.
“Every possible measure has been taken to safeguard our troops — at every level,” according to Parnell.
