The United States moved all its long-range bombers out of the United Kingdom after authorities uncovered a planned terror attack. At the same time, wounded U.S. soldiers from an Iranian drone strike described gaps in military readiness and medical care. The developments expose separate strains on the U.S. war effort: a threat President Donald Trump linked to Iran, and injured troops who said they struggled to get timely treatment after the March 1 strike at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Bomber move and drone threat
Trump said Monday that the United States had moved all its long-range bombers out of the United Kingdom in response to “a threat.” Asked who made it, he replied, “They would be linked to Iran.” The Associated Press reported Sunday that the Air Force withdrew all B-1 bombers stationed at an air base in southern England after an investigation uncovered a planned terror attack. The aircraft returned to their home bases in the United States. They had been used in strikes on Iran.
The March 1, 2026, Iranian drone strike at Port Shuaiba killed six U.S. soldiers and injured dozens. It was the deadliest known strike on U.S. troops since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, 2026. The attack came on the second day of the U.S. war with Iran, which began the day after the United States and Israel started the war. The soldiers were providing logistical support for critical supplies.
The Pentagon has released few details about the strike. Maj. Stephen Ramsbottom and three other people familiar with high-level briefings told the AP that generals focused more on defending against missiles and weren't prepared for drone warfare. They requested anonymity because they feared reprisal.
Wounded soldiers describe treatment
Nine wounded U.S. service members spoke on the record to the AP. Soldiers and family members described failures to recognize the seriousness of injuries, a poor plan for taking wounded troops to hospitals and red tape that hindered follow-up care. The Pentagon said the medical care was appropriate and that troops arriving at its medical facilities receive evaluations. Admission decisions, it said, depend on injury severity and physicians following “healthcare-industry practices.”
Army Lt. Col. Arturo Lincón was about 7 feet (2.1 meters) from the blast. Shrapnel lodged in his jaw and neck, severed an artery and lodged in a vertebra. His damaged left vertebral artery supplies blood to the brain and put him at risk of a stroke. The Army didn't consider his injuries serious enough for admission to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Lincón said a nurse there marveled that he was alive, but staff sent him to nearby Army barracks and told him to arrange outpatient appointments. “I was just kind of on my own, at least it felt like that,” he said.
Lincón spent a week hospitalized in Kuwait and had surgery to remove shrapnel from his jaw. Medical staff told him the blast caused a traumatic brain injury, ruptured his eardrum and briefly blinded him. He said he went days without pain medication and brought a CD of his Kuwait medical records to an emergency-room doctor at Landstuhl. The doctor was concerned that a trauma team hadn't evaluated him.
Maj. Stephen Ramsbottom said he waited more than four months for MRI results after doctors removed shrapnel from his head. “I've had to build my own case for everything,” he told the AP. “It's very frustrating.” Chief Warrant Officer 4 Rodney Bearman said shrapnel remained embedded from his face to his legs. After the attack, Kuwaiti medical facilities briefly saw him and other soldiers. They were then sent to homes of U.S. government employees because Iranian missiles and drones made evacuation flights risky.
Medical capacity and delayed diagnoses
About 10 days after the attack, the soldiers traveled on a cargo plane, sitting on the floor with straps. Bearman said he could barely eat or lie down. In Germany, they learned staff hadn't documented them as wounded in combat, so Landstuhl wouldn't admit them; instead, they were sent to barracks and told to obtain outpatient care. Bearman said a coding error caused the designation. “Some sacred trust that I thought would never be broken was broken,” he said.
A Pentagon official said Landstuhl's mission, particularly during battlefield-casualty situations, is to stabilize patients for transfer to a U.S. military hospital for specialized treatment rather than admit them. Major U.S.-run medical facilities in the region had closed after years of disinvestment and drawdowns by administrations and political leaders seeking to end U.S. involvement in the Middle East. Air Force Theater Hospital at Joint Base Balad in Iraq was handed over to the Iraqi government in 2011.
After about a week in Germany, many injured soldiers went to Fort Hood in Texas for the Army demobilization process. Medical records shared with the AP showed Ramsbottom and another officer weren't diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries until Fort Hood. Maj. Billy Key said he didn't receive specialized care until mid-April. “It took too long,” he said.
The war had lasted seven months, and its economic effects remained major concerns for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. The AP reported that high costs and gas prices were major issues for rural voters, while Trump continued dismissing those concerns on the campaign trail.