Two airmen supporting United States operations against Iran died during October in separate noncombat incidents, the Pentagon disclosed late Thursday. Their deaths raised the number of American military fatalities connected to the war to 23.

The incidents were entered into the Defense Casualty Analysis System on Oct. 29. The system serves as the War Department’s database for tracking military casualties.

The Department of War has not publicly identified either airman. Officials disclosed only that both deaths occurred during October while the airmen were supporting operations against Iran.

Records in the casualty database describe both men as noncommissioned officers. One was in his early 30s, while the other was older than 35.

One of the men served as an active duty airman. The other was serving in the Air National Guard when he died.

An Air Force spokesperson said one of the airmen became ill and was medically evacuated to the United States. He later died from the illness, according to the spokesperson.

The second airman died within the United States Central Command area of responsibility. That death remains under investigation, and no additional cause was provided in the casualty information.

These were the first Air Force deaths connected to the Iran war in more than six months. The service previously lost six airmen during March.

Those six airmen were killed in a midair collision involving two refueling tankers. The latest two deaths bring another sobering addition to the service’s losses during the conflict.

Of the 23 troops who died while supporting the war with Iran, 11 were killed in hostile incidents. The remaining 12 deaths were classified as nonhostile, meaning nonhostile fatalities now account for more than half of the total.

Most of the American military deaths occurred during the first few months of the war. The pattern for wounded personnel, however, has shifted later into the conflict.

More than half of the more than 800 wounded service members sustained their injuries since early July. The Pentagon places those injuries within a category it calls “overseas operations.”

Earlier in October, the Pentagon revised the war’s death toll to 21. That revision added a soldier who died during the spring after suffering a medical emergency.

The soldier’s death had previously been acknowledged, but it had not been counted among the casualties from the Iran war. The October revision brought that fatality into the official total.

The other fatality added during the earlier revision involved a sailor assigned to a Navy explosive ordnance disposal unit. The Washington Post reported that her death was a suicide, although the casualty database lists the cause as pending.

Direct combat between Iran and the United States has been paused for several weeks. That pause followed a series of back and forth attacks during early September, but the war itself continues.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly discussed renewing attacks in the near future. Additional American forces are also traveling toward the United States Central Command area of operations.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt and a Marine Expeditionary Force are currently sailing toward the Middle East. Their movement comes as the United States continues supporting operations in the region despite the pause in direct fighting.

Since Feb. 28, 865 service members have been wounded in action. The latest deaths leave the official American military toll at 23 fatalities, divided between 11 hostile deaths and 12 nonhostile deaths.

The report was updated on Oct. 30, 2026, with information supplied by an Air Force spokesperson. The identities of the two airmen remained undisclosed in the information provided.

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