Three US troops killed in Jordan and a fourth killed in Iraq mark the deadliest week of American casualties since the conflict with Iran resumed, as the Pentagon quietly moved the new deaths into a separate accounting category distinct from Operation Epic Fury.
US Troops Killed in Jordan on 17 July
US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that two service members were killed on 17 July 2026 when American and partner forces ‘defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks’ in Jordan. A third service member was reported missing after the same attack.
Four service members were medically evacuated to local hospitals but have since been discharged. Others with minor injuries returned to duty.
The Hill reports that Iran struck two separate military bases in Jordan during the attack. MS NOW identifies the site of the attack as Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.
Task & Purpose names the three soldiers killed in the Jordan strike as Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas; 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii; and Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad. MS NOW reports that Feehan died on the Sunday following the attack.
CENTCOM said it will ‘withhold additional information, including the identities of the fallen warriors, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified.’
A follow-up CENTCOM statement said a thorough search had located unidentified remains at the site where the missing service member was last seen in Jordan, with an examination process under way to verify them.
A Fourth Death in Iraq and a New Pentagon Casualty Category
The same CENTCOM update confirmed a separate fatality in northern Iraq on 18 July. A service member was killed during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance recovered from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. A second service member involved in the operation was wounded and continued to receive treatment for a minor injury.
The four July deaths have not been recorded under Operation Epic Fury. The Jerusalem Post reports that the Pentagon listed them separately on its Defence Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) website under a new category labelled ‘Overseas Operations,’ distinct from the 14 fatalities attributed to Epic Fury.
NBC News reports that the two Jordan service members were not technically classified as part of Operation Epic Fury by the Pentagon, even as President Trump said they were killed ‘while ensuring Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.’ Trump told reporters: ‘Those great patriots were out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.’
NBC News also reports that Trump notified Congress in May that Operation Epic Fury had concluded. The Pentagon has not publicly named the ongoing military operation against Iran since then. The Trump administration was also reportedly weighing a renaming of the start of combat operations in a move that could affect obligations under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires troop withdrawal within 60 days if Congress was not notified beforehand.
militarynews.com reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at a White House briefing in May that Operation Epic Fury had ‘concluded,’ adding ‘we achieved the objectives of that operation.’
On the overall toll, Task & Purpose cites DCAS as recording 624 total wounded when combining both categories; militarynews.com cites the same DCAS system at 642 wounded across Operation Epic Fury and the new Overseas Operations category. The discrepancy likely reflects different retrieval dates. The conflict began on 28 February when the US and Israel launched surprise attacks on Iran.
NBC News reports that the US launched retaliatory airstrikes on Saturday at President Trump’s direction, citing a CENTCOM statement describing the intent to ‘swiftly punish’ Iranian forces for the Jordan attack.
A senior Iranian official told MS NOW that the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran is ‘no longer valid’ after days of fighting, setting up a direct test of whether any diplomatic channel remains open as US casualties under the new accounting category continue to mount.