Army cites glaring failures in drone attack in Jordan that killed US troops
By ALEX HORTON THE WASHINGTON POST •
A drone attack that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan last year was most likely preventable, according to a military investigation that determined numerous failures — from complacency and indecisiveness to outright negligence — contributed to the worst assault on American troops since the fall of Afghanistan.
The small outpost, known as Tower 22, is along Jordan’s border with Syria and Iraq, and largely had been spared from the assaults on American positions in those countries by Iranian proxies furious with the United States for its support of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. However, on the morning of Jan. 28, 2024, while most of the base’s 350 troops slept, there were indications an attack might be imminent, Army investigators learned.
An intelligence report transmitted to Tower 22 approximately 90 minutes before the strike warned that militia groups had discussed openly on social media their intent to target U.S. forces in the area, prompting Tower 22’s second-in-command to tell the watch team to “stay vigilant.”
But when their radar picked up an unknown object heading toward the base, no one assessed it as a threat — and, vitally, no one issued an order for everyone to take cover, the investigation found. Four minutes later, a powerful explosion throttled the base’s living quarters.
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https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2025-04-06/army-report-failures-tower-22-attack-17388003.htmlSource - Stars and Stripes
