About 40 members of the Arizona National Guard were wounded in Sunday’s aerial drone attack in northeast Jordan, including one critically injured, the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs said Tuesday.
Injuries to the Guard members ranged from cuts and bruises to traumatic brain injuries, but 34 of the injured were able to return to duty, Arizona Guard spokeswoman Capt. Erin Hannigan said.
Three injured service members were expected to arrive at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on a U.S. Air Force Aeromedical Evacuation flight Tuesday evening and be transferred to nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
One of the injured service members is reported in critical condition, however, all three are reported to be stable, DEMA said.
After further examination by the center’s trauma team, a determination will be made by medical staff if any of the injured servicemembers will require evacuation back to the U.S. for further treatment.
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is the largest U.S. Department of Defense hospital outside the continental U.S, serving as the sole military medical center and only forward-stationed evacuation and treatment center for more than 205,000 health care beneficiaries throughout Europe.
The remaining injured are undergoing continued observation to ensure they are recovering so they may return to duty, Hannigan said.
The injured Guard members serve in the Arizona Guard’s 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment “Bushmasters,” which was deployed in September in support of Operation Spartan Shield.
The regiment is based in Phoenix with dispersed companies in Tucson, Florence, Prescott and Buckeye.
Hannigan said that under Pentagon rules the identities of the injured servicemembers will be withheld.
President Joe Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the Jan. 28 attack, which killed three Army Reserve engineers from Georgia, though Iran on Monday denied it was behind the strike.
The Pentagon identified those killed in the attack as Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia.; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia, all of whom were assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade in Fort Moore, Georgia.
___
(c) 2024 The Arizona Daily Star
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
