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The government of the United States officially released the names of four of the six soldiers who died during the Operation Epic Fury, the military campaign launched on February 28, 2026 against Iran. The announcement was made by General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a briefing at the Pentagon broadcast live on Fox News on March 4, 2026.
The four identified soldiers belong to the 103rd Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Reserves, based in Des Moines, Iowa. All died on March 1, 2026 in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, during an Iranian drone attack carried out in retaliation for American and Israeli bombings against Iranian territory.
The fallen are Captain Cody A. Khork, 35 years old, originally from Winter Haven, Florida; Staff Sergeant Noah L. Tietjens, 42 years old, from Bellevue, Nebraska; Staff Sergeant Nicole M. Amor, 39 years old, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Sergent Declan J. Coady, 20 years old, from West Des Moines, Iowa.
The Department of Defense, now known as the Department of War under the Trump administration and with an official website at war.gov, published the formal identification of the casualties. The names of the other two soldiers who died in the operation have not been disclosed so far.
During the briefing, General Caine expressed, "It is with profound sadness and gratitude that I share the names of four of our six fallen heroes, all from the 103rd Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Reserves based in Des Moines, Iowa: Captain Cody Khork, Staff Sergeant Noah Tietjens, Staff Sergeant Nicole Amor, and Sergeant Declan Coady. To the families of our fallen, we mourn with you today."
The Epic Fury Operation was ordered by President Donald Trump with the declared goal of dismantling Iran's nuclear facilities and missile capabilities. In the first 72 hours of the campaign, U.S. forces attacked more than 1,700 targets in Iranian territory, according to Fox News.
Iran responded to the attacks with what it termed "Operation True Promise 4," launching ballistic missiles and drones against U.S. military bases in Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan. In Kuwait, the defenses intercepted 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones, according to data from the context of the operation.
The 103rd Sustainment Command is a logistics unit of the U.S. Army Reserves subordinate to the 79th Theater Sustainment Command, overseeing between 6,000 and 7,000 soldiers in the U.S. Midwest. Its involvement in the conflict underscores the scope of the mobilization of reservists in this campaign.
The Governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, paid tribute to Sergeant Declan Coady, 20 years old, identified as the only soldier from that state among those confirmed killed so far.
The total confirmed U.S. military casualties in Operation Epic Fury has risen to six soldiers dead. General Caine himself warned on March 2 that in combat operations of this scale, additional losses should be "expected," indicating that the conflict could extend with further human costs for U.S. forces.
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