Defense Secretary Mark Esper was only made aware of possible brain trauma suffered by US troops during a Jan. 8 Iranian ballistic missile attack on al-Asad air base in Iraq a full 24 hours after injured service members were evacuated, the Pentagon’s top spokesman said today.
Esper was informed of the possible injuries when vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, interrupted a meeting to inform him, chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said. The 11 US troops, eight of whom were evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and the rest to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, are expected to return to Iraq after follow-on screening.