Gold Star Parents Demand Army Report
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Cody Khork, 35, was killed March 1 when an Iranian drone struck a tactical operations center at the Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait. His parents are now calling for the Army to publicly release its investigation into the attack. U.S. Army Reserve courtesy photo.
The parents of an Army Reserve captain killed alongside five other U.S. service members in Kuwait say their son repeatedly warned that troops should remain in protective bunkers before an Iranian drone struck their position.
Now they want the Army to publicly release its completed investigation into the attack.
Army Reserve Capt. Cody Khork, 35, was serving as deputy force protection officer with the Iowa-based 103rd Sustainment Command when an Iranian Shahed drone hit a tactical operations center at the Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait, on March 1.
Khork and five other Army Reserve soldiers were killed. Dozens more were wounded in one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. personnel during the Iran war.
But six months later, Khork's parents say questions remain about decisions made before the strike.
Jim and Stacey Khork told CBS News that survivors and officers who were there described Cody warning leadership that the unit should stay inside its protective bunker while air-raid alerts continued on March 1.
According to his father, Khork's commanding general repeatedly wanted him to issue an “all clear” allowing troops to return to the operations center.
“A captain can only tell the general ‘no’ so many times.”
The family said Khork had also raised concerns before the attack about the threat Iran posed to the Port of Shuaiba location. Multiple sources told CBS News that Army intelligence had warned as early as January that the port could be targeted if war with Iran began.
Separate reporting by The Washington Post has raised similar questions.
Seventeen soldiers, firsthand witnesses and people familiar with the Army investigation told the newspaper that commanders had been warned about vulnerabilities at the site before the attack. Soldiers said force-protection assessments had raised concerns about the port's defenses and that some personnel had recommended against stationing troops there.
The Post also reported that soldiers described pressure from leadership to return from bunkers during repeated alerts.
On the morning of March 1, troops had reportedly spent more than four hours in bunkers following an alert. Some returned to the operations center before an official all clear because they wanted to resume work.
Soldiers told the Post that leadership also pushed for an all clear to be issued.
The drone hit the operations center after troops returned.
The Army has not publicly confirmed the family's version of those events.
U.S. Army Central has previously defended the decision to use the Port of Shuaiba, saying it was selected under operational plans, had been fortified and had enough bunker capacity for the personnel stationed there.
The Pentagon has also disputed claims that troops were left essentially undefended. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell previously said “every possible measure” had been taken to safeguard U.S. personnel and pointed to six-foot protective walls surrounding the facility.
The Army completed an internal investigation into the attack in early July.
The report, ordered to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the strike, has still not been publicly released. The Army says it is coordinating briefings with the primary next of kin of those killed and has declined to discuss specific findings while that process continues.
Earlier reporting indicated that Army officials had privately briefed some Gold Star families in July, but the underlying report remained withheld from public release.
Khork's parents are now publicly demanding greater transparency and accountability.
“My son died unnecessarily,” Stacey Khork told CBS News.
Her husband said the family believes speaking publicly is now one of the only ways they can advocate for their son.
Khork had enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 before commissioning as a Military Police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014. His previous deployments included Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo Bay and Poland.
He had returned from Poland shortly before taking the Kuwait assignment with his fiancée.
When tensions with Iran rose in February, much of the force at Camp Arifjan was dispersed. Khork was among a small group sent to the Port of Shuaiba while his fiancée was moved out of Kuwait.
The strike killed Khork, Maj. Jeffrey O'Brien, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, Master Sgt. Nicole Amor, Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens and Sgt. Declan Coady.
For Khork's family, the question now is whether the Army's completed investigation will explain why troops were at the port, what commanders knew about the threat and whether anything could have been done differently before six Americans were killed.
Sources: CBS News; U.S. Army Reserve; The Washington Post
(Source: OAF Nation)
