CENTCOM announced that three U.S. service members were killed in action and five were seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury.
The command said the totals were current as of 9:30 a.m. ET on March 1.
Several other personnel sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and were in the process of being returned to duty.
CENTCOM added that, because the situation remains fluid and out of respect for the families, additional information will be withheld for 24 hours while relatives are notified.
CENTCOM Update
TAMPA, Fla. – As of 9:30 am ET, March 1, three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury.
Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
Details about the circumstances of the fatalities remain limited, with officials describing the deaths only as occurring “in action” during combat tied to Iranian retaliation against U.S. and partner forces.
Initial assessments on February 28 had reported no U.S. casualties despite hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones launched toward regional targets.
By Sunday morning, updated reporting confirmed the losses.
CENTCOM had not pointed to a single site where the casualties occurred as of this report.
The Patriot air defence systems at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar are working hard to down Iranian ballistic missiles tonight.
This video shows them intercepting several targets but one of the Patriot missiles also clearly misfires to the surprise of an American soldier pic.twitter.com/OCFbPXNqVJ
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 28, 2026
Operation Epic Fury was launched at 1:15 a.m. ET on February 28 with precision strikes from U.S. air, land, and sea assets.
The strikes employed Tomahawk missiles, HIMARS systems, long-range standoff weapons, and drones.
Targets in Iran included IRGC command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, missile and drone launch sites, military airfields, and remnants of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Israel conducted parallel operations under the codenames ‘Lion’s Roar’ or ‘Roaring Lion,’ focusing on leadership targets.
Iranian state media and U.S. officials confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a strike on his Tehran compound, an event President Trump described as a decisive blow against the regime.
Within hours of the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes, Iranian forces targeted multiple U.S. military installations hosting American personnel and assets across the Persian Gulf and beyond.
Strikes were confirmed in Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters, and footage uploaded to social media showed multiple Iranian missiles landing at the base on February 28.
No casualties were reported from those Bahrain attacks as of that reporting.
Al Udeid Air Base also came under attack with multiple plumes of smoke observed near storage and industrial areas.
Bases and related infrastructure were also targeted in Kuwait, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, with three foreign nationals confirmed dead in attacks on the latter country.
Iran also launched strikes on supporting infrastructure such as Oman’s Duqm port and an oil tanker near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.
Massive clouds of black smoke billow from the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet Headquarters at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Juffair, a major district in Manama, Bahrain. pic.twitter.com/3HdT1dKdGm
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 28, 2026
